How to Use a Cleaver: Chopping, Smashing and Scooping

Using a cleaver well comes down to three moves: a firm grip with your thumb and forefinger pinching the blade just ahead of the bolster, a controlled straight-down chop that lets the weight of the steel do the work, and using the flat of that wide blade to smash garlic and scoop up whatever you've just cut. Learn those three and a cleaver stops feeling like a blunt instrument and starts feeling like the most useful knife on the board.

Most cooks who own one barely use it. It sits on the strip looking serious while the chef's knife does everything. That's a shame, because a good cleaver is one of the most versatile tools in a kitchen. Here's how to use a cleaver knife properly, and the one job you should never ask it to do.

What a kitchen cleaver is actually for

There are really two kinds of cleaver. The heavy, thick-spined butcher's cleaver is built to split bone with brute force. The thinner kitchen cleaver, the kind you'll find in our 4-piece raindrop Damascus set with cleaver, is the perfect middle between the two worlds, a working prep knife with a tall blade. It slices, chops, smashes and scoops.

A kitchen cleaver earns its place on:

• Breaking down a whole chicken at the joints
• Splitting dense vegetables like squash, celeriac and cabbage
• Chopping a mountain of herbs or greens in a few passes
• Smashing garlic, ginger and lemongrass
• Carrying prepped food from board to pan

If you've read our walk-through of the kitchen knives you actually need, think of the cleaver as the knife that handles the heavier, messier half of that list.

How to hold a cleaver

The grip matters more with a cleaver than with any other knife, because there's more steel moving through the air.

The pinch grip

Wrap your middle, ring and little fingers around the handle. Then pinch the blade itself between your thumb and the side of your index finger, just in front of the bolster. This puts your hand at the balance point, so the tall blade feels lighter and you steer it from the front rather than swinging it from the back. It's the same grip you'd use on a chef's knife, just with more blade above your knuckles.

The hammer grip (for heavy chops only)

For a decisive chop through a chicken joint, some cooks slide their whole hand back onto the handle and grip it like a hammer. That gives you more leverage. Use it for those few heavy cuts, then go back to the pinch for everything else.

Your guiding hand

Curl your fingertips under, knuckles forward, so the flat of the blade rides against your knuckles. A tall cleaver blade is a natural guide here. Your fingertips never sit under the edge.

Chopping vs push-cutting

A cleaver has a flatter edge than a chef's knife, so it doesn't rock. That changes the motion.

Push-cutting is your everyday move. Start with the edge on the food, then push the blade forward and down in one smooth stroke, finishing with the whole edge on the board. This is how you slice onions, carrots and peppers cleanly. The forward motion lets the edge slice instead of crush, which is why your onions won't weep and your herbs won't bruise.

Chopping is for when you want force. Lift the blade a few centimetres, then let it drop straight down, guiding it rather than slamming it. On dense squash or a chicken joint, a short controlled drop beats a big wind-up every time. Big swings are how cleavers end up somewhere you didn't aim.

For herbs, gather everything into a tight pile, then work back and forth across it with quick, short push-cuts. Sweep the pile together with the flat of the blade and go again. Two or three passes and you're done.

Smashing garlic, ginger and more

This is where a cleaver quietly outperforms every other knife you own.

1. Lay the blade flat over a garlic clove, edge facing away from you.
2. Place the heel of your free hand on the flat of the blade.
3. Press down firmly, or give it one sharp tap with your palm.

The skin splits away and the clove is crushed and ready to mince. The same move bruises lemongrass to release its oils, cracks a knob of ginger, or flattens a chicken breast slightly for even cooking. Always keep the edge pointed away from you and your palm on the flat, never near the edge.

Scooping: the underrated cleaver move

That wide blade is also the best bench scraper you already own. Turn the cleaver on its side, slide it under your chopped onions, and carry them straight to the pan. One scoop does what three handfuls would.

One habit worth building: scoop with the spine side leading, or tilt the blade so you're sliding under the food rather than dragging the edge sideways across the board. Scraping with the edge is a quick way to roll it and dull it.

What a cleaver should never do

A thin kitchen cleaver is not a bone saw. Keep it away from:

• Frozen food and frozen bone. Frozen meat is as hard as rock. A fine edge will chip or roll the moment it meets it. Thaw first, or use a saw.
• Twisting or prying. If the blade gets stuck, don't lever it sideways. Lift straight up and try again.
• Glass, stone or ceramic boards. They'll take the edge off in a single session. Stick to wood or a good plastic board.

Use it within those limits and a well-made cleaver will keep its edge and its shape for years.

Caring for a Damascus cleaver

A Damascus cleaver is real high-carbon steel, which is why it takes such a keen edge, and why it asks for a little care. Hand wash it, dry it right away, and wipe on a light coat of oil now and then. Never leave it in the sink or put it through the dishwasher. A few seconds after each use keeps the raindrop pattern bright and the steel clean.

Because a cleaver often meets bone and dense vegetables, check the edge more often than you would on a paring knife. A few passes on a honing rod before big jobs keeps it aligned. When it needs more, our guide on how to sharpen Damascus steel knives covers the whole process, and how to clean and store Damascus knives covers the day-to-day.

Cleaver, chef's knife or nakiri?

A fair question once you own a set. Reach for the chef's knife when you want to rock through herbs or do fine, pointed work. Reach for a nakiri when you're doing nothing but vegetables with clean straight-down cuts. Reach for the cleaver when the job is heavier, messier, or ends with carrying food to the pan. Most nights, you'll use two of the three. Our chef's knife vs santoku guide goes deeper on how blade shape changes the way you cut.

A cleaver worth reaching for

The cleaver in our handmade raindrop Damascus knife set is hand-forged by artisans, with a full-tang build and a solid wood handle that settles into a pinch grip without fuss. It sits alongside a chef's knife, nakiri and santoku, so every job above has the right blade waiting. If your current cleaver lives on the strip as decoration, this is the one that ends up in your hand every night.