Review on Winco Chinese Cleaver Wooden Handle by Ben Titchenell

Bought as a joke on a promotion, thought it was a cheap experiment. I learned that this is actually a high quality kitchen tool. My entire Asian kitchen would be inconceivable without this knife and it is as versatile as everyone claims. Came in a plastic bag, in a thin cardboard envelope where it still lies. There was one big benefit. Sleeves (?) and can hold and retain a vicious edge throughout the cooking process. I sharpen it every time I use it, with just a few quick pulls it puts it back to an edge to rival my chef's knives at 5 times the price. What I didn't expect was the weight of this knife. It's 13 ounces. or 369g on a kitchen scale, which is about twice the weight of any of my other knives. However, having that much weight is actually a good thing as it is the weight of the knife that does the cutting and it makes the prep work with this knife almost easy. Chinese chef's knives use a down-and-down motion, and this knife goes through almost everything in one motion, meaning less tearing of meat (meaning more tender and juicy meat). The weight also means you have a lot of control as you actually have to move the knife to do this. This makes delicate work like chopping garlic very easy. It's listed as "Cleaver" but actually isn't at all (and shouldn't be used as such!). This is the quintessential tool of any Chinese kitchen, the one knife that rules them all. Always hand washed and dried, no sign of rust. The actual dimensions of the product I received are: 12.25 inches overall length, blade: 8 inches wide x 3 3/8 inches, 4.25 inch handle, 13 ounces overall weight. Not sure where in the product listing they got their measurements from.