Mercer Culinary Asian Collection Chinese Chef's Knife with Santoprene Handle

i don't normally write reviews but i am so impressed with this knife i had to write it. i've always wanted a chinese chef's knife due to its versatility and practicality. when i did my initial research my top choice was the dexter chinese cleaver, which was very popular. in the end, i opted to try the mercer primarily because of the rubber handle.i was very happy with the knife. over time i got more interested in knives, german vs japanese steel, and i decided to "upgrade" to the ZHEN VG-10 Damascus Cleaver. the steel was noticeably sharper when you touch it, and the damascus pattern was beautiful. however, when it came time to actually cut, the mercer was actually better. the secret here is that the mercer has a convex grind, while the zhen was a more conventional V-grind. this meant that vegetables did not stick to the blade nearly as much. with the mercer, i can half a cucumber, and slice into thin slices by draw cutting through the cucumber. i could not with the zhen -- the cucumber would stick to the other side of the blade.next up, i tried the Wusthof Chinese Cleaver. i disliked it immediately -- it was very heavy. in fairness, heavy is in the title, but i didn't expect it to make that big of a difference. the fit and finish also wasn't as good; the spine was not smooth, and neither was heel...which meant holding the knife properly by choking up to the heel was uncomfortable. the mercer's spine and heel of the blade are smoothed. and speaking of weight, this is when i realized that the mercer is 8.8 ounces, which is super light. it's also only 2mm thick at the spine.still wanting to find "the best" knife, i tried the other german brand, Zwilling. this one was slightly heavier than the mercer, slightly thicker, but the balance was off. i prefer the 7 inch size of the zwilling more, but the size of the handle relative to the blade was awkward and made for weird balance. if you're holding a chinese chef's knife properly, you're pinching the blade, so in the zwilling half of the handle is sticking out the back of my hand. and this was when i realized that i really, really like the non-slip rubber handle of the mercer.next up, was the Messermeister Asian Precision Chinese Knife, 8-Inch. i don't know why i didn't try this one first before the others, since this is the knife that celebrity chef Martin Yan uses. it was the only knife that was competitive vs the mercer. it is a little bit heavier, which makes certain cutting tasks easier as the weight of the knife helps, but not so overwhelming like the wusthof. it's thicker at the spine, but it actually gets even thinner than the mercer (which you can see in the picture, is already very thin). it's full-tang, 3 rivet, with a nice "ping" when you tap on the blade vs a "thud" of the mercer, so it definitely feels like quality in your hand if you're into that kind of thing. i still liked the rubber handle of the mercer more, so i eventually ended up wrapping the messermeister handle with rubber splicing tape.5 chinese chef's knives later, the mercer and messermeister are my favorites. for the mercer, the only downsides i can think of are not really downsides at all, but personal preference. the tip is a bit more rounded than the others, not a 90 degree angle. this makes rocking and draw-cuts easier because it doesn't dig into the cutting board as much, at the expense sacrificing ease of delicate tip work. it's also 8 inches instead of 7, but i've gotten used to it.if you're looking for a thin and light vegetable cleaver, this is incredible value at this price point.

I'm used to using a western chef knife when cooking, but I've noticed that 99% of the time I'm chopping vegetables. I find that a Japanese nakiri or Chinese vegetable knives are much better for slicing vegetables. I have the cheap carbon steel Wokshop cleaver. It's thin and slices well, but it's carbon steel, so it rusts. On top of that the handle is wooden, so it's just not something you can leave in the sink. I was looking for a Chinese vegetable knife and ended up purchasing the Shibazi F208-2, a Winco KC-601, and a Daways knife (a Dexter 5198 knockoff that can be found in Asian groceries). The Winco and the Daways have a thicker blade. They are more of a heavy multipurpose knife that can be used to break down a chicken as well as slice vegetables. The thicker blade doesn't glide through vegetables the way the Wokshop cleaver does. The Shibazi and the Mercer have lighter and thinner blades and slice through vegetables with little effort. I would not use these on meat with bones. The Shibazi has better fit and finish, as well as what appears to be harder steel. I also prefer the flatter blade profile of the Shibazi. The Mercer blade is somewhat flexible, and the shape of the blade is more rounded. However, the plastic handle of the Mercer really makes it a low maintenance knife. Between the plastic handle and stainless steel, I can let it sit in the sink and not worry about the blade rusting or a wooden handle soaking up water. The softer steel means it'll require a honing steel and a sharpening stone more often, but so far the edge has really held up. It's now my go to knife.

I have had this vegetable cleaver for a little over 2 years and have recently purchased the CCK 1303 as well. They are both very similar in profile and are both extremely sharp. In all honesty, I cannot tell where the $70 cost difference come from as my CCK was $100. My Mercer is just as sharp weighing almost similar. My CCK just slightly longer and wider than my Mercer and have a tapering spine while Mercer was even thoughout. CCK might also have a very slight advantage on holding its edge but the Mercer’s handle feels better and the blade is more forgiving from moisture as my CCK being carbon steel will easily rust if left wet. You can’t go wrong with either cleaver and if price is an issue, definitely get the Mercer and don’t ever feel you are missing out. The 5 star reviews are correct. !!!!

I'm just a home cook, not a professional or anything but I gotta say this is my most used knife I own because of it's versatility.Chopping garlic is my favorite job for this knife since the blade design is so tall throughout, it's easy to use your finger knuckle as a guide for the blade. This makes doing those super quick rhythmic chops so simple, kind of like how the pro chefs chop garlic fast.After the garlic is chopped, I put some coarse salt on it, then use the flat top of the blade to scrape the garlic into a paste. A lot faster and cleaner than using a garlic press for paste consistency. After that you can just scrape the paste onto the blade and use it kind of like a flat spatula to scoop it into whatever pot you're cooking with.It also holds an edge well and cleans easier than a carbon steel blade.