The Made In Olive Wood Cleaver is a $199 full-tang cleaver crafted in Thiers, France, and it fills the one gap in my knife collection - chopping meat. While my chef's knife (also from Made In) serves well as the everyday multitasking workhorse and my nakiri and santoku knives work well for chopping veggies and making short work for slicing stuff up for stir-fry and bigos ... when it comes to ribs, carne asada, and other bbq meats ... a good cleaver is a must-have in any guy's cutlery collection.
You can buy the Made In Olive Wood Cleaver directly from Made In for $199 MSRP, or on Amazon.com. A cleaver is a big, heavy blade, and a few habits keep your fingers out of the way when you bring it down. Made In is my favorite cooking brand, and I say that not just since they have been extraordinarily generous in sending me pans and knives, but also because frankly ... I've spent my own money buying some of their products as well, such as a non-stick pan a few years ago. You can read about the Made In chef knives I fell in love with a couple of years back, and I've also reviewed their 12-inch carbon steel frying pan. Promoted by FlowAds One thing that was missing from my collection, though, was a great cleaver. Honestly, I didn't quite understand why you'd need multiple different types of knives a few years ago since my Made In chef's knife is the multi-tasker do-everything tool and my nakiri knife also sorta works multi-purpose. The more I start to refine my knife skills, the more I realize that "chopping" is a much different process than "cutting" or "slicing." My santoku and nakiri knives work great for chopping celery, or even cabbage and lettuce, but none of my existing knives work as well as a good high quality cleaver. Made In says the cleaver is "optimized for cutting extremely close to the bone, chopping through tough tendons," and tackling thick-skinned vegetables. In a home kitchen, that means chopping up cooked chicken like the pile in this photo, working through a rack of ribs, or turning a grilled steak into carne asada for tacos. If you're the guy feeding your buddies on game day, or running the grill on a weekend with the guys, that's most of your prep work. I also tried buying a less expensive cleaver. It had the right blade shape, but it was too light, didn't feel firm in the hand and frankly it wasn't as gorgeous as this one. The Made In Cleaver weighs 1.1 pounds, with a 7.09-inch blade that's 3.35 inches tall and 0.15 inches thick, and a total length of 12.13 inches. You want that weight on a cleaver, since a heavier blade does more of the chopping for you. The steel is X50CrMoV15 NITRO+, which Made In describes as high-carbon stainless steel enhanced with nitrogen, with a Rockwell Hardness of 56+ and a 15-degree edge. Rockwell is just a scale for how hard the steel is. My other Made In knives use the same X50CrMoV15 NITRO+ steel. While this is a tool ... having a beautiful tool made in one of the world's best regions for knifemaking really does matter, and this olive wood handle just looks and feels incredible. Dark streaks run through the honey-colored grain, and two brass-colored pins hold the wood to the steel. You can see that steel running along the edge of the handle, because the cleaver is full tang and fully forged. Made In says the blade "extends all the way from the tip of the knife through the hilt of the handle." A knife that lacks a full tang, or a handle that isn't thick enough to grip tightly, just doesn't feel right in the hand. One of the things I really like about Made In is the brand reflects who I am. I'm not a poser trying to justify buying a $1,000 knife from brands my chef friends rave about, and I'm not buying some cheap piece of crap that will break or wear out in a couple of years that just looks good. Instead, their prices come in at a point that is very accessible and affordable for most foodies, and at $199 this cleaver fits right in that spot. Made In also has a sense of humor ... like including band-aid! It's a red Made In band-aid packed with the blade, in a box printed with the line "A Good Knife Is Rare." The cleaver also comes with an olive green leather sheath so that's a nice touch as well. Made In also tells you a bit about the traditions and culture of where their stuff is made. That matters to me, since every time I pick up my knives I think about Thiers, France, just west of Lyon, where for 700 years they've made some of the best knives in the world. I now have multiple pieces in my collection that share this tradition, and this one says it comes from a 5th generation shop, where Made In says the bladesmith hand-finishes the olive wood handle. If you're ever planning a food-focused guys trip to Lyon, look up the Musée de la Coutellerie in Thiers, a museum devoted to the town's knife history in the medieval quarter on Rue de la Coutellerie. With proper care and cleaning, plus regular sharpening, these knives are near-heirloom pieces you can pass down to your son (or daughter). For this one, that means hand-washing it, keeping the handle from soaking in water, using a plastic or wood cutting board, and rubbing a food-safe oil like mineral oil into the olive wood once in a while. Made In backs it with a lifetime warranty against defects and a 60-day trial. It also makes a fantastic holiday gift for a guy in your life, or a groomsman gift for the buddy who always ends up at the grill. Just don't wait until the last minute. Made In says the cleaver is back for a limited time, and when it first launched in October of 2021 it sold out in five hours. You can see the full specs at MadeInCookware.com, and for current pricing and availability, check Amazon.com.
Made In Is My Favorite Cooking Brand And I've Spent My Own Money On It
Made In Cookware - Cleaver - Full Tang With Olive Wood Handle - Crafted in France
Chopping Is A Much Different Process Than Cutting Or Slicing, And A Cleaver Is Built For It
A Cheaper Cleaver Had The Right Shape But Felt Too Light In My Hand
The Olive Wood Handle Looks And Feels Incredible
Made Inn Prices Their Products Perfectly - This Is An Affordable Knife For Any Foodie
Thiers, France Has Been Making Knives For 700 Years
With Proper Care This Olive Wood Cleaver Will Last A Lifetime