SHI BA ZI ZUO 8-inch Professional Cleaver - Stainless Steel Meat & Vegetable Knife with Non-stick Finish and Anti-slip Wooden Handle

I've long wanted a Chinese cleaver, ever since watching Martin Yan on the famous "Yan Can Cook!" TV show that appeared all across American public television when I was a kid. His knife skills are insane! And he almost always used a cleaver. In the back of my mind, I always knew that there would be a day when I would own a cleaver too. I'm a knife nerd, and own almost fifty different kitchen knives off all types and kinds, made in various countries: Spain, Portugal, USA, Germany, Japan, France, Switzerland and even one made in Brazil. But one knife making country was missing from my collection: CHINA. So when I decided it was time to buy a genuine Chinese cleaver, I wanted one made in China. Since there are tons of Chinese made knifes on Amazon, that seemed like the place to start my search. But I did NOT want a Chinese knife from an American based importer, so Mercer, Dalstrong, Zelite, Kessaku and Nexus were disqualified immediately, along with all similar types of brands. Not that any of the for-mentioned brands make bad knives, it's just that I wanted a Chinese cleaver, made by a Chinese company, that were proudly selling Chinese made knives. So pulling up all the listings for "chinese cleaver" on Amazon.com, I finally found a company that met my criteria: SHI BA ZI ZOU, a Chinese company happily selling their Chinese made knifes to American customers via Amazon.com I have a knife block with a 3.5" (89mm) slot for a cleaver, so that was my limiting factor in choosing a blade--no wider than that. Looking at the various offerings from SHI BA ZI ZOU, I found two cleavers right away that really appealed to me: the 9" F208-1, and the 8" F208-2, but only the 8" would fit in my knife block, so that's what I ended up buying. I've never anxiously awaited the arrival of a knife so much as this one, and it didn't disappoint. It's a very traditional cleaver, with a "beehive" wooden handle, full tang, and a very plain, BIG, rectangular blade of made of heavy gauge Chinese stainless steel. It's a cinch to use with the traditional pinch grip, and is quite the workhorse. The knife came in a very nice brown cardboard box, very suitable for gift giving, and actually much nicer than any box that my $$$ Japanese or German knives have come in. All the lettering and packaging is in Chinese characters. Right out of the box, the blade was SUPER SHARP. The craftsmanship was also extremely nice for the pricepoint. SHI BA ZI ZOU uses a san mai type blade construction, with hard 80Cr13 high-carbon steel on in the middle, sandwiched by softer 10Cr17 steel. You can actually see a Yaxell Mon-like "wavy line" where the two steels come together near the blade edge. The SHI BA ZI ZOU Chinese characters are deeply etched into the blade, and there is also a very nicely done bit of laser marking with the company's web site emblazoned right on the blade. The handle is rosewood, and the strange beehive shape is extremely comfortable to hold, and surprisingly non-slip. As soon as I started using this beast, I was in love! The knife is HEAVY, weighing in at heft 335g, which is a lot more than my favorite Japanese knife, a Shun Classic 7" Santoku that is a mere 205g. But I really like the extra heft, and it makes prep work almost too easy. The spine is just 2mm thick, but the blade is super stiff and hard, no flex at all. It can handle, with ease, any fruit or vegetable you can throw at it, as well as any protein. But it's not a meat cleaver, and it is NOT to be used to hack through thick bones, though it can go through chicken bones with great ease. But the most amazing thing about using a Chinese cleaver rather than a typical chef's knife or guyoto, is that they are surprisingly safe. The giant blade is hard to miss, and there's plenty of room to press your knuckles against the blade in the typical claw grip fashion. Lots of blade to pinch as well, and it's shocking what kind of control you can get with this thing. If you're skilled enough, no need for a mandolin anymore. The blade has an 12°-15° degree double bevel, with a very nice taper--looks like something Global would make! It just cuts with the greatest of ease and is an absolute joy to use. Though this knife will prep food for any cuisine, I find myself making more Asian dishes to find excuses to use the knife more often. This knife is a true workhorse, it's not the type of knife you are going to post photos of on Instagram, you just take it out of the box, and start putting it to work immediately. So far I've been maintaining it with just a F. Dick sharpening steel and a leather strop; haven't needed to put it on a stone yet. Might be a while... Since getting this knife, all my other knifes just sit in their block, ignored and unused. Other than my favorite pairing knife, my boning knife, my slicer and bread knife, I could probably give all my other far more expensive knives away and never miss them. Yep, this chopper is that good. I'm seriously considering buying a second one. FINAL WORD: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Buy one, you won't regret it. Absolute BEST BUY in the entire knife universe.

My SHI BA ZI ZUO professional cleaver has seen a lot of use in my home. The heft & weight of the knife makes cutting easy & efficient. The balance of the blade is ergonomically designed, and the edge retains sharpness after repeated usage. The length & width protects from injury & acts as a scoop to transfer food. The SHI BA ZI ZUO is my favorite knife I own and highly recommend it!

Love this knife. Extremely sharp and easy to cut tomato in slices. Not heavy. Will be my primary knife to use daily!

I absolutely love this knife. I mostly cook Asian food, and saw a lot of professional Asian chefs using this type of knife. I wasn't sure if I would like it, so I bought a cheap generic Chinese vegetable cleaver from the supermarket for about $10... used it for 2 years and fell in love. It's the optimal knife for Asian food and basically any cuisine. It makes prep go by quickly and is even enjoyable. The biggest function though is its use as a bench scraper. Made my kitchen skills so much more efficient. I mostly chop vegetables and meat (no bones) and the Chinese style cleaver makes short work of it. While that cheap knife served me well and is still great today, I found that it didnt retain a sharp edge very well. Also the handle was cheap. So I did some research and came across this brand - still affordable but used in both Chinese professional and home kitchens everywhere. So I bought it and it came in a nice box. Extremely sharp. I've been using it for about a month now and it's still super sharp. I've only had to hone it once so far. We'll see how long it can go without needing to be sharpened by my whetstone. Well worth the money. I love it. The handle feels good quality and sturdy.

I got this knife because I wanted a blade that could be used to cut anything I wanted, and this one does the job. Here are my thoughts after using it for a few months. Pros: - Very sharp out of box. - Easy to sharpen. Just a few passes on my Spyderco Ceramic Medium stone works well. - It has a large flat, used for picking up chopped/diced vegies and meat. - caftmanship is better than anything I've ever used before in the kitchen - Beautiful design, I like the rectangle shape and the wood handle. Cons: - If you hold the knife blade with your thumb and index finger, the vertical choil digs into the middle finger, and it makes the knife a bit painful to use. I might use a dremel later to round the edge a bit. I did get used to it though, after a few weeks of use. Not a big deal. - it's not full tang, it's just a wire that goes through and is bent at the end. I knew this before I bought it. Maintenance: - I make sure I wash it thoroughly and dry it completely, then I put it back in the box it came in. Ready for use for the next day. I do the same thing with my cast iron skillet and carbon steel wok. Maintenance is important for everything you want to keep in good shape. Conclusion: Get this knife if you want a very sharp all-in-one blade. You probably won't be disappointed.

Arrived extremely sharp! I've only honed it with a ceramic rod for almost a year. I'll need to perform its first sharpening soon, though. I've been hoping to make a transition from western-style soft-steel chef knives to a cleaver such as this for some time. Most cleavers, however, are way to blunt and dull, and are meant more for chopping and obtuse work... at least western-style cleavers. Ergo, my search started for an Asian-style cleaver (thinner blade, harder steel). When my search brought up this one, the price was right, and I thought that I could try it out and if I liked using an Asian cleaver for the majority of my prep work and fine cutting tasks, I could always upgrade. Happy to say that I feel no need to upgrade. This is a very fine piece, and will suit me well for many, many years. I've transitioned over to using a cleaver blade for the majority of my prep work now, and I don't regret it at all. I don't rock-cut anymore, as this blade has trained me to chop cut, and I get better and better at it the more I use it. I'm loving the ability to continue to cut and cut without the food sliding up and falling over the top of the blade to the other side. The only thing I'd caution on this blade, as well as other Asian-style knives, is that they are typically higher content in carbon steel. Hand wash them, and immediately dry. Don't soak in water. Don't use a dish washing machine. I haven't had to oil the blade, but doing so every now and again can be helpful. I would suggest oiling the wooden handle from time to time with the appropriate wood treatment. Very fine instrument. Highly recommend.

We'll start off by saying this knife isn't perfect, but it is the absolute closest thing to perfect compared to the almost thirty other cai dao I've used. It's either this or a Dexter Russell 8 inch Chinese Chef's Knife. PROS: - Fantastic edge profile that is very slightly curved. There is a 15 degeee secondary bevel and a thin grind behind the edge. When the shallow angle is combined with a hard core steel, it makes for a great balance of slicing/push cutting performance and durability. It doesn't have the odd curvature and inconsistent edge finish that can show up on Dexter Russell Chinese chef's knives. - Factory edge is relatively sharp and not over polished, resulting in a good relatively long lasting edge. Seems like it was finished at 1000 grit. - Fit and finish is on par with high quality german knives and nice japanese knives. Grinds are even and the deeply engraved markings are clean. - Barrell handle is well made and comfortable. -Required the least modification to meet my standards for a knife. CONS - The spine of the knife and choi have not been rounded over, so the coarse sanded finish on the main body of the knife and beautifully clean edges can dig into your fingers when you work, making it hard to use for long periods of time. The fix is really simple: take some 400 grit, 600 grit, and 100 grit sandpaper to round off the sharp edges. It takes 15 minutes and now you can use the knife for a full 12 hour work day without issue. A Dexter Russell 8" Chinese Chef Knife would not have this issue as all the relevant areas are rounded off making it usable straight out of the box. - The knife gets thicker faster the further you get from the cutting edge compared to a Dexter Russell 8" Chinese Chef Knife, and the blade stays thin much further toward the spine. This means this knife will require thinning much sooner than a Dexter Russell.

I love this knife. Bought it to bbn protect my fingers because the fulcrum of my previous knife (I would creep up on the blade during hard cuts.) was leading to injury. Cleaver shape solved it beautifully. Amazingly, it's also comfortable and good for veggies and mincing. It was a little larger than I was expecting, but it's just not an issue.

Excellent knife. Sharp and well balanced and thin enough for delicate tasks. Unbeatable price

SHI BA ZI ZUO polecam bardzo dobrej jakości nóż.

Nice handle. Feels firm in the grip. Cuts very well.

This is my first Chinese vegetable cleaver, got the idea to buy it from the Cooking with Lau Chanel on YouTube, thank you daddy Lau ! This knife is awesome, took it out of the box the very first time and it just felt like part of my hand, it's the only knife I've used since, no need for anything else. Some people commented that it's heavy, frankly it isn't, this is a chef's knife after all, but it is still lighter, nimbler then my 300$ Whustof. As for cutting , this knife is a bona fide razor, you could ninja chop grape tomatoes mid air with it, no joke, but please don't do it, it's very sharp, you don't want to wave it around. And the surface area is a game changer, you can scoop up everything you chopped in one go with this, absolutely brilliant. Full tang is also very reassuring and the handle gives you a firm grip. Care for this knife like you would any other high quality knife, I use a sharpening rod with a plastic handle, a 10000 grit whetstone, and I might oil the handle from time to time. This knife slices meat beautifully too, but if you have bone to cut, This company sells a nice heavy chopper as well. Bottom line, for the price, you can't do any better, yes buy it !

nickel