The Best Meat Cleavers

We loved this well-made, durable, ultra-keen Japanese-made meat cleaver, which effortlessly hewed through everything we put in front of it. Its grippy wood handle was comfortable for hands of all sizes to hold, even when dealing with raw, slippery chicken parts. Two tiny quibbles: Its blade is a touch shorter in height than we prefer, so it isn’t quite as easy to direct through food. And its weight falls toward the tip of the blade.

We still loved our former winner, but compared with some of the other models in this testing, its 6.25-inch blade length now seemed a bit short. Still, its well-balanced weight and very sharp, tall blade made it a pleasure to use, and it sustained relatively little wear and tear during testing. Most testers liked the steel handle, finding it comfortable and surprisingly grippy, though a few testers found it a bit too narrow and one took issue with the ergonomic bumps on its underside.

This old-school cleaver was the favorite of many testers, who loved how fluidly this well-balanced, medium-weight tool moved. Its long, tall, very sharp blade made it particularly easy to maneuver through a big butternut squash and a whole duck. It had just a few minor durability issues: Its thin blade sustained a little more wear and tear than our winner’s, and its otherwise comfortable wood handle rattled on its rivets when we chopped, though it remained intact and performed well after extended use.

This lightweight Chinese-style cleaver required a little more force to drive it through dense bone, but testers were pleasantly surprised at how effective it was, thanks to a fairly long, tall, very thin, razor-sharp blade. It wasn’t as durable as some other models—its thin blade chipped a bit, and its slightly shorter, slick plastic handle cracked—but even with these flaws, it remained sharp and serviceable at the end of testing.

This cleaver’s very long, very tall, very thin blade made it a breeze to maneuver through large butternut squashes and to halve whole ducks, though it sometimes felt a little too big for smaller chicken parts. Because the blade was so thin, its edge felt razor-sharp, but it was also vulnerable to blunting and chipping. And its wooden handle rattled when we chopped, further calling into question its durability. Still, it was generally great at chopping, and we didn’t notice any real decline in sharpness at the end of testing.

We had high hopes for this meat cleaver, made by Kai, the same manufacturer as our winner. For the most part, we liked its handle, which was a good size and shape for most hands, though it was a tad slippery, especially when wet. Its blade was long, tall, and sharp, so it performed serviceably, cleaving chicken parts well. But that same blade also had an incredibly thick spine, wedging into butternut squash instead of cutting through it cleanly. And it was on the heavy side, so it was hard to wield for long stints without our arms and wrists aching.

Testers were divided on this European-style cleaver. Some loved the power and durability afforded by its weighty construction, but others found it awkward and blade-heavy, in part because of an unusually long bolster, which threw off the balance. The blade itself was very sharp, but because it was also very thick and had a large edge angle, it sometimes wedged itself inside butternut squash instead of slicing through cleanly. Some testers also wished the blade were just a bit taller and longer.

The handle on this cleaver was great—long and grippy. But the thin blade was shaped like a machete’s and was slightly weighted toward the tip, throwing off the cleaver’s balance. It wasn’t very tall, so it was harder to direct downward through butternut squash. Worse, it was inexplicably blunt and became blunter over the course of testing. This cleaver was the lightest one we tested, which meant we had to use more force to drive it home. Still, it did a decent job of chopping through chicken parts.

This inexpensive cleaver had a reasonably long, thin blade, but because it was blade-heavy, it felt awkward in use, and the blade itself seemed a little dull. The handle was on the narrow side, and while testers liked the grippiness of the plastic sleeve encircling it, the sleeve itself limited the usable area of the handle to a cramped 4.25 inches. The blade also chipped a bit during testing.

Built like a battle ax, this cleaver was the heaviest in our testing, with the bulk of its weight in its blade. As a result, it was hard to aim consistently and to use for long periods of time. Its thick (if relatively sharp) blade was fine for cutting chicken but tended to crack butternut squash and maul delicate roast duck. The handle, while grippy, was too thick for many hands and had a large finger guard that limited its affordance. But this cleaver seemed superdurable—meant to last.

One of the largest models in our testing, this traditional-looking, blade-heavy cleaver was too big and unwieldy to use comfortably or accurately, wedging (not cutting) through squash and making uneven slices of roast duck. Its blade was sharp but didn’t always feel that way, thanks to a thick edge. And while we liked the grippiness of its handle, its ergonomic bumps and large bolster limited our grip options. Testers and butchers agreed: Unless you break down whole animals in your spare time, this knife is overkill.

This cleaver had a nice thin, sharp blade and a comfortable (if slightly narrow) handle. If only we could have supersized it! At just 5.75 inches long and weighing just 11 ounces, it felt better suited to butchering quail than chicken. As a result, we struggled a bit to summon the requisite coverage and leverage when breaking down butternut squash or duck. And while sharp, that thin blade was somewhat vulnerable to chipping.

This inexpensive cleaver did a decent job of chopping chicken parts. But at 6 inches long and 2.7 inches high, the very thin, chip-prone blade felt undersized—too small to take on butternut squash or a whole roast duck. Its blade was honed to a 22-degree angle, which meant that it didn’t always feel sharp in action even when it was. Finally, its handle was a little narrow, which cramped larger hands, and a little too slick.

This meat cleaver put grace and beauty into the most barbarous tasks. Its perfectly distributed weight and long, tall, gently curved, razor-sharp blade made for truly effortless chopping. And its long, straight pakkawood handle gave us plenty of grip options, although at times its smooth surface got a little slick. Yes, this cleaver is expensive—but you’ll never need another. Strong and durable, it breezed through testing with minimal wear.

This cleaver won over testers with its sharp, clean cuts and long, sturdy, comfortable (if slightly narrow) handle. Lightweight, it was easy to lift, but it required a little extra force to drive through bigger bones. A few testers wished its machete-like blade were a bit taller—it was trickier to direct through a big butternut squash and a whole duck, and we couldn’t scoop as much food up with it. Because the blade was thin, it chipped a little, but this knife still felt keen and capable at the end of testing.