How many of you still use one of these, at one time in the retail meat business you use one every day, many times. At one time I use to use one to trim T-bones when we still left the tails on them.
We have 4 or 5 of those where I work. A few of the guys like to cut small loin lamb chops with them. Just two or three whacks between each vertebrae does the job. Each loin chop is always one vertebrae thick. I prefer to nick the vertebrae a little (about 1/4 inch) on the band saw and finish it with a knife. A few customers like their chickens skinned and chopped up for curry, so it comes in use for that too. For me, cleavers were never a tool that I use all day or every day. Before my time, I think pork loins were always knifed and finished (choped) with cleavers. I guess that's why they are called chops?
where I used to work, some of the guys like to use them to smack cow tender fillets. They'd cut them about 3 in thick or so then beat them down to about half that! Not how I do it but different strokes fer different folks (no pun intended!)
we have a splittin one (long handled) when they use to split hogs without the tech of a saw lol or on the rare occasion it is pulled out to get buy while the splittin saw is gettin fixed..production..production lol
You can't use a cleaver on a nylon cutting board can you? I haven't worked on butcher blocks since 1981. I missed them too for they were easier on the knives. I used to use a cleaver to cut loin and rib lamb and veal chops back when we worked on wood. One slice to mark the chop, second whack to sever it. Does anyone still work on wood? How about the floors? Does anyone still work with sawdust on the floors instead of cardboard? Jim
Jimmy theres a small local shop up this way (Fort St John)that still use the sawdust on the floor and yeah in our stores the main table is still the wood butcher blocks..At the plant I work at though its the nylon cuttin boards...
