Cleaver Lesson 1: Smashing Garlic

The sharpness of the blade matters not in this exercise. Like I said in an earlier post, I recommend a Chinese cleaver. Remove a clove from the head of garlic, place it on the cutting board, place the blade flat on top of the clove, and SMASH! Pound your fist on the blade (carefully) and you've got a flattened piece of garlic. The shell is easily removed, or in some cases, it will remove itself, sticking to the blade (pictured). Easy, huh?

You really can't do this with any other knife unless it has a wide enough blade. You could hurt yourself!