Wüsthof 6-inch Meat Cleaver

A cleaver uses weight more than sharpness to do its work, and this Wüsthof 6-inch cleaver has a heavy, rectangular blade for chopping through chicken backbones and splitting spare ribs. Bring it down in one firm stroke and let the mass of the blade carry through.

At nearly 2.8 inches tall, the blade holds your knuckles well above the board, and its flat side crushes garlic or flattens a chicken breast. Wüsthof stamps this cleaver from sheet steel, and the steel is tempered slightly softer than Wüsthof’s chef’s knives, which helps the edge withstand impact on bone.

Use it on a thick wooden or plastic board that can absorb the blows, and keep your fine-edged knives off bones. For slicing and chopping vegetables in the Chinese style, see the Classic Ikon Chinese chef’s knife, which is not meant for bone. Our knife shapes guide explains the difference between meat and vegetable cleavers.