Broke a 20 dollar cleaver trying to split a chicken breast last Tuesday

I was in a rush and tried to force a cheap cleaver through a frozen bird and the handle snapped clean off at the bolster. After cussing for ten minutes I grabbed a serrated bread knife from the kitchen and it went through like butter, no cracking or splintering. Has anyone else ditched their heavy knives for a serrated blade on tricky cuts like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

gibson.sarah25d ago

My grandpa used to break down whole chickens with a rusty old hacksaw blade with a rag taped around one end for a handle. Swore it was better than any knife he ever owned because the teeth never slipped on skin or cartilage. I tried it once on a cold thigh and yeah, it worked weirdly well, took a little elbow grease though. Just something about those serrated edges grabbing instead of sliding off, I guess.

victor_jones9925d agoMost Upvoted

I get why serrated stuff works for people in a pinch, but I'd push back on ditching heavier knives entirely. A cheap cleaver snapping is more about the tool being junk than the method being wrong. I've split plenty of chicken breasts with a halfway decent chef's knife and it never gave me trouble as long as the bird was a little thawed and I took my time. Serrated blades tear up the meat fibers more, leaving a ragged edge that can dry out faster when you cook it. For me, a sharp non-serrated knife with a proper tough cut is still king for clean results. But hey, if a bread knife got the job done and you're happy, that's what matters at the end of the day.

grantp2817d ago

...yeah I did something similar but with a frozen pork shoulder last fall. Had this cheap stamped cleaver from a discount store and the blade literally bent sideways when I tried to hack through the bone. Took out my grandma's old serrated steak knife with the black plastic handle, the one with the worn down teeth, and it sawed right through the cartilage and fat no problem. The cut was definitely jagged and messy but for a slow cooker stew that got shredded anyway it didn't matter at all.