Classic Cleaver BBQ ’26

Description

Why choose this knife

A heavy butcher’s cleaver built to do the work nothing else in the range can: splitting joints, sectioning ribs, dropping through cartilage, breaking down a primal. Sharp enough for clean slices when sharp is what you want, weighted enough to do real damage when damage is the point. The knife you reach for when the cooking starts before the fire goes on.

Dimensions

Blade 16.5cm. Overall 30cm. Depth [TBC]. Weight [TBC].

The Story

Most cleavers rely on a wide grind angle and a dull edge to compensate for poor-quality steel. We disagreed. A blade made from a carefully hardened piece of high-carbon steel can both retain its edge and lend an element of precision previously missing from the cleaving experience. The result is the Classic Cleaver: hefty enough for almost any home butchery task, sharp enough that you can be deliberate with it rather than flailing.

The kitchen version of this blade sits on a wooden handle, which is right for indoor work. The BBQ ’26 cleaver doesn’t. Micarta is the handle material used on heavy outdoor tools for over a century: axe handles, hammer grips, gun stocks, the kit chosen wherever the impact through the handle matters as much as the cut at the edge. A phenolic laminate cured under heat and pressure, denser than wood, kinder to the wrist than steel or hard plastic. For the knife in the BBQ range that gets the most violent treatment, it is the only sensible choice.

The Cleaver is the knife in the BBQ ’26 range that takes the most punishment. Micarta’s shock absorption is one of its quieter virtues, and it earns its keep here. You will feel it less than you would on a denser handle, and the handle will last longer for it.

Performance

CATRA, the global authority on cutlery performance, rank our knives in the top 2.5% of all blades ever assessed for initial sharpness and edge retention. The Classic Cleaver is hardened in-house to 60 HRC using a nitrogen atmosphere process, taking the steel from 1080°C to -75°C in a controlled cycle that maximises carbide formation, edge stability and corrosion resistance. The blade is ground to a unique concave profile, a geometry that reduces drag and improves slicing performance without sacrificing rigidity. Each knife is sharpened to 15 degrees per side.