Farm Life

JBM, it is a Prairie Rattler. Very toxic, on the level with a Mojave. No, diamonds. Their color pattern are similar to a Diamondback but the spots
are more of a broken circle. My veterinarian said, since we didn't see the snake that bit my dog. It had to be a Diamondback. Because if it was
a Prairie Rattler she would not have made it. DM
 
I've been testing Buck's/ SK's new blue Titan 110 with s90v blade processing some heavy hens. These weigh 8.75 lb. and 7.75 lbs.. DM
 
Thanks, jb. This hen weighs 8.75 lb.. I processed this one and another using SK's new 110 w/ s90v steel. It sliced, skinned and malleted very well. Removed all the cuts at the joints except, separate thighs, split breast, decapitate and separate wishbone. These hens being on the large side, made it difficult for me to force the blade edge thru it's bones. So, I pounded it with the heel of my hand. Which only worked somewhat.
I then used the point of the knife and malleted that with my heel. This created a perforation type cut weakening the bone so I could then force the blade on thru. This worked. To decapitate I used a slicing motion cut. Which was a zip thru, at the first vertebra right below the jaw. A large neck bone but it cut completely thru in one slice. So, with little trauma and complete flush-out. I thought this knife preformed well on these hard cuts and did delicate work too. Like skinning, trimming fat off the gizzard and raking out internals. I had a poly cutting board under the chicken that prevented point damage during this processing. Still, I was concerned about this so, later I examined the point edge after clean up. And found there are burrs along the first 1/4" of the blade at this area. Which I'll easily strop off. Then after washing it I did not dry it.
Because I wanted to see how it handled water and bird oils. Hours later I examined it for rust specks. There were none.
Conclusion: I really liked the way this knife preformed and handled this work-load. Skinning and slicing is what a blade is built to do. Forcing a blade thru bones (ribs and those larger than a cigar) is no walk in the park for a blade to pull off. Fryers purchased in the store are half this size. It would do these-- no problem but these were the size of young turkey. So, making some of these cuts will be harder and this knife handled it. I'm pleased, I forced it to work hard in pulling this off. I still, prefer using my hatchet for some of this work coupled with a knife like this. I think those using it on a deer this fall will have no problems. Nor, will those using it around the home. A real winner and worth every penny I paid for it. The handle stayed grippy during all the work and I like it with no pin heads. Thank you SK. DM
 
Ok, I went ahead and lightly back honed the first 3/8" of the blue's 110 blade. I did it on a 1X3" fine diamond plate. It responded well to this technique. Removed the burr in about 1 min.. Now the edge is back to original. Man, this blade has some nice, exact edge angles. I don't know
what type guide they used but it was done very nice & consistent. And no, it is not difficult to touch up. Maybe rebeveling would be a different kettle of fish. DM
 
Thank you Norm for this.
I'll give you guys some hints why this young hen was culled. If you look her over in the photo you'll notice she has a large comb and she's trying to doze-off when I had just caught her. This points to some developmental problems that are manifested in low egg production. DM
 
Back in the olden days before bean counters intruded into the poultry business, you could buy roasting chickens at the meat market. Somebody figured out that if the weight gain of a chicken was not commensurate with its food consumption, you needed to bring it to market. The result is we have fryers (spring chickens) and laying hens. The fryers are in the store; the laying hens go to Campbells for soup. Nothing in between.
My mother used to cook roasting chickens in the oven with no spices. She skimmed the fat out of the pan and then seasoned the bird. That fat made the best melt in your mouth oatmeal cookies. This all had to do with shortages of lard, shortening, and butter during WWII.
The best thing about roasting chickens back then was that they were plucked and had a nice thick layer of skin (fat). When I did more bird hunting, it was a pain to pluck birds. So we skinned them. To compensate for the leaness of the meat, we made fancy sauces and/or marinades. My favorite sauces include dried Morels reconstituted in Cognac, blended with butter, cream, and drippings as well as oily marinades with wine and fresh herbs.
 
Tiguy, your Mother knew some things. I hired on in 1990 making lower wages. Newly married and later a baby! I took on odd jobs, anything that paid. Back then laying houses would sell played out layers for .25 cents each. I'd go and buy $5.00 worth and the'd give me one or 2 extra.
Later they would sell the whole laying house to Campbell Soup or Purina. I processed a lot of chickens each year raising our children. All with a Buck 107 Scout. My wife would pressure cook them or crock pot them and bone them for enchiladas, tacos or soup. Going out to eat was out of the discussion. But we got through it and I think my rural life roots remained. One can really feed a lot of family raising chickens. DM
 
When you bought 25cent chickens, was that on the hoof? Did you have to pluck them? I do not know if the skin on game birds is worth saving. I have eaten little wild "skin" mostly duck. If I were processing a lot of domesticated birds, I would be inclined to make a plucking machine.
 
That was for a live chicken. My Grandparents thought plucking was the only way to do chickens. So, I plucked a lot when I was young. Which I
got tired of. So, now I skin them. Gedlicks, has a plucking machine and does it in that manner. He likes it. I feed my chickens longer (not 4 lbs.)
getting them to weigh 8 lbs.. To put more more meat in the freezer. I use 2 basic tools and keep it simple. One can go the other route as well,
no problem. Thanks, DM
 
View attachment 763861 The only thing messier than plucking chickens is making down pillows.
When I worked in the meat market, they dismanteled chickens with a 6" boner. But those were fryers. If we had processed older birds, I bet they would have used a cleaver on the stubborn parts. The one above has a 6" blade.
 
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Buck should make a cleaver. I would buy one. :thumbsup:

Nice workout for that new knife David. Glad it performed as expected!
 
Tiguy, I do have a cleaver and I think it would preform well on large chickens. I like my hatchet because of it's wide poll. Which allows me to
pound on it and push it thru bones using the heel of my hand. A surface less narrow will cause some pain to my hand. Thanks, DM
 
Who coulda thunk it? Batoning chickens! If you get a graduated set of mallets, you do not have to use force.
 
Yes, malleting with my hand is precise cutting. I think I've seen a set of mallets something like you mention. DM
 
I cut some limbs with ole blue this week off of Skunk bush. They were mostly the size of my little finger. Which created some burrs on the blade. I've noticed hard cutting creates burrs on this steel. So, you'll have to get good at stropping on a diamond stone or back honing. I tried some other mediums I use on other knife steels but normal stopping on SiC slurry doesn't work as effective as on a fine diamond stone. This removes them quickly. Just letting you know it's characteristics. Every steel has it's characteristics, if you run into some concerns with this steel just leave me a profile message and I'll get back with you. Enjoy using your Titan. DM
 
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