Knife for processing

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floridaclipper

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Dec 17, 2013
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I have a 1/2 of a pig that has been quartered being brought to me this weekend. It will be my first time trying to manage the task of putting it up for storage in manageable portions. I'm heading out today to try and find the appropriate tools to make this a bit easier. What type of knife/knives/tools are best suited to the task? My little collection includes a BHK small work horse, A white river caper, mora companion. I doubt my other fixed blade are appropriate for the task. Did I mention I'm Vegan? I'm not looking forward to this but I love my man.
 
depending on how you are chopping it up, a good boning knife (or a fillet knife) to clean off the bones, and a decent sized chief's knife will get you through. Basically you want enough knife to slice the larger chunks, not too heavy that you get fatigued, and one that can cut all the way to the table or cutting board without bashing your knuckles. A smaller knife is also handy for more delicate stuff like removing sinews and the like, especially if you are not as comfortable with a larger knife.

Do you have a plan for the disassembly? there should be lots of resources around to give you the details if you are looking for specific cuts. Also, if you are doing things like ribs and chops, you'll need a saw of some sort. a clean hacksaw with a reasonably course blade should do the job. Not gonna lie, that's not the funnest part, good on you for giving it a go.
 
gadgetgeek said:
depending on how you are chopping it up, a good boning knife (or a fillet knife) to clean off the bones, and a decent sized chief's knife will get you through. Basically you want enough knife to slice the larger chunks, not too heavy that you get fatigued, and one that can cut all the way to the table or cutting board without bashing your knuckles. A smaller knife is also handy for more delicate stuff like removing sinews and the like, especially if you are not as comfortable with a larger knife.

Do you have a plan for the disassembly? there should be lots of resources around to give you the details if you are looking for specific cuts. Also, if you are doing things like ribs and chops, you'll need a saw of some sort. a clean hacksaw with a reasonably course blade should do the job. Not gonna lie, that's not the funnest part, good on you for giving it a go.
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Add in a heavy cleaver if you are going to split bone. Don't use your other knives for that. You will be sorry if you do.:grief:
 
Good points. Its been a while since I've been involved with any butchery (we used to process most of our own meat on the farm, but I've been a city slicker far too long)
We had meat saws, so we didn't use cleavers. And most of the cutting was done with either a 10 inch old hickory butchers knife, or an 8 inch old hickory boning knife, or whatever else was at hand, more than a couple Buck 119s as I recall. A great many pounds of stewing and grinding beef got cut up that way.
 
Ok 6-8" boning knife, 8-10 inch butcher knife, and a chef knife. The hunt begins for the 1st 2. When I went to the knife store today they suggested a BK 15. Out the door I went. Went to another store and totally got side tracked. I'm doing some homework on those knives and and will try again on Friday. The individual bringing the meat will bring a sawzall? to cut through bone to get me started but I'm on my own for the rest. Does one need to cut through quite a bit of bone? I was thinking of cutting through the joints. Wouldn't a saw leave bone chips or dust in the meat and be rather messy?

As for cuts I'm glad you mentioned it. I hadn't thought that through. I'll add that to my search. He'd like ribs, boston butt for bbq pork/ carnitas, chops, tenderloin and roasts. He loves when I make a crown pork roast or a standing roast. He has sodium restrictions so I'd like to try and make sausage without salt. No ham or bacon. He likes it but the sodium is too high. If there is lard I could try soap making but we can't cook with it.

I'll take any suggestions I can get. The web has been tough. There are just some parts of it I'd rather not see ie kill/skin/gut. The info is there but the filter is not so I move to the next site.

Is a vacuum sealer best for freezing the meat or is there a less expensive option for long term storage? Is a 7 cu ft chest freezer big enough to hold it all?
 
for freezing up to six months maybe to a year, tightly wrapped in butchers paper (waxed one side brown paper) is enough, but its hard to do, you do sort of a fold and roll, tape it shut with masking tape, and it should be fine. Vac and freeze is easier, but as you mentioned $$. butcher paper is pretty cheap. You can also do open top plastic freezer bags, then paper, the paper provides a bit of abrasion protection to the plastic.
You can get away with just doing at the joints, its really up to you. Saws do leave some muck behind but you can scrape it off. The main thing is its far easier for something like ribs, but since this is sort of an experiment, its not like you need to get it perfect. If you have a local butcher, they may be able to run the ribs through their bandsaw for a small fee, especially someone who also processes wild game, as its more in their business model. They may also have a few pointers to get you started.

Sorry I'm not more help, the last time I helped butcher a pig I was probably 15-16 and that was about that long ago again. The memories are fuzzy.
 
You should be looking at kitchen knives. Old Hickory knives are sold at Walmart. Keep them sharp. When you first started this thread, I immediately thought of the BK-15 because I own one. It is shaped much like a typical boning knife. Some of the big knife stores will sell kitchen type knives.

If I were looking for a permanent edition to my kitchen, I might look at the higher end kitchen knives. Knives Ships Free sell some, but you're talking some $. I viewed this as a short termed need or you probably would already have basic cutlery in your kitchen.

Just remember, a knife is a knife. The quality of the given knife is up for grabs and depends on your budget and interest in such things. Cheaper knives will require more frequent sharpening, but sharpening plain edge kitchen knives are not hard as they typically do not use a real harden steel.
 
Do you have a Cash and Carry near you? They supply restaurants but are open to the public. They carry forschner/victorinox which is a pretty well regarded company and they're on the inexpensive side. I'm semi vegetarian myself so I've never looked for boning knives specifically but I can't imagine they wouldn't carry them.


A BK15? Really...? I just don't get it. Beckers are like a disease that rots the brain. :D
 
I do have a basic set. Its the Pure Komachi HD. It's not expensive but I was impressed on how well they cut through pumpkin, acorn and other hard squash. A boning/fillet knife wasn't included with the set. I'll check out Walmart and see what they have. I'd like one that will stay sharp enough so that I won't have to stop. Once I start I'd like to get it done quick. If what I have will work that would be great. I picked up a meat grinder today for the sausage and he salesman said 4 11" rolls would be enough to get the job done. I already have those on hand. Now I just need to figure out the cuts. I found a helpful sheet online from a butcher as to choices for a 1/2 sheet so I'll use that to help make the final decisions. Saturday is the day. I'm nervous as I want to minimize waste/maximize yield and have it look somewhat close to what one would get in the store.

I wouldn't mind a BK 15 :) but I lean more towards Esee. He wanted more than double for it than I can find elsewhere. I didn't appreciate that so I left. The store I was side tracked in was filled with everything I shouldn't be looking at as well. The last one I looked at was a Randall. The handle material was made from a NASA launch pad. The one I fell in love with was the Benchmade Emissary 470-131. I'm going to take a second look at that one.
 
Bone saw/hack saw, and a cheap boning knife is it. The bhk is what I'd use as my paring. The BK15 suggestion is unnecessary, they're just trying to sell you something you don't need
 
I would use ziploc freezer bags for storing inside the freezer. Yes, I believe you have enough room for the meat. I have a small upright freezer for such thngs and it will easily hold a deer unless I have it too full.
 
You can do all of your butchering with your Mora. If you choose to purchase a knife for butchering I strongly sugest Dick brank knives. Get a blue handeled 5-6 inch boning knife. Online they sell for about $20. You can cut joints with ease once you learn how to. I use hand saw only to split the carcass in half along the spine.
 
Utican said:
You can do all of your butchering with your Mora. If you choose to purchase a knife for butchering I strongly sugest Dick brank knives. Get a blue handeled 5-6 inch boning knife. Online they sell for about $20. You can cut joints with ease once you learn how to. I use hand saw only to split the carcass in half along the spine.
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You can't go wrong with f-dick commercial knives, good quality and inexpensive, very ergonomic handles and good steel

I use them myself as I buy my meat in quarters frequently.

They are better than the heckels and victorinox issued to me when I was cutting meat for a living

Have a look at 42 blades knifeshop here (he is a member and dealer)

Go slow and have fun learning, google some how to video's to get an idea
 
I like those knives. The handles appear comfortable and they are sealed for food safety. Why the blue vs the red? Blue is usually for seafood in food service. For now I will still try and get a boning knife locally as I'm out of time for shipping. A boning knife is not a knife I will use very often so I appreciate the the "good value" vs the "best" suggestions.
 
F.Dick, Swibo or Victorinox brands. A 6-inch boning knife or two (I like having both a straight and a curved blade handy) an 8-inch breaking and maybe a 12-inch steaking. That combination will get you through everything up a 1500 steer.
 
I like to keep things simple and what I use to process wild hog and whitetail deer are:

A boning knife made by Forschner (Victorinox) # 40515 with a 6" blade.

A fish fillet knife that is more flexible than the boning knife and about the same size.
 
I like the dexter Russell soft grips.The blades on the dexters and the victorinox are about the same but the dexter handles are more comfy.I did just order an f dick after reading this.
 
How did the processing go?

Since you said you were going to do this yesterday I'll assume its done and what I'm going to say is more for anyone else who might find this thread. Also, it applies to people who don't process much meat (1 or 2 animals a year). Larger volume meat processors have different needs so this article excludes them.

In my opinion, keep everything simple. You don't need much to process meat. Many deer have been processed in our house with just hunting knives (4 maybe 5 inches and heavy stock). I will admit a boning knife is good to have but not necessary. Kitchen knives usually work fine as well. Not so much for removing the bones but once they are removed, for cleaning up the meat. A 6 or 8 inch chef knife is fine.

Fixed blade knives are preferable because it is almost impossible to get a folder clean without taking it apart. Ask me how I know..

In my opinion bone should not ever be cut with the one exception of ribs if you want to eat them as ribs. It is not worth the hassle of dealing with the bone fragments. It really isn't that hard to cut around the bones and dismantle at the joints.

Above all else, KEEP YOUR KNIVES SHARP. A sharp knife will help exponentially here, especially if you aren't using the optimum tools for the job. Unless you are rocking a supersteel that has excellent edge holding, take a few knife sharpening breaks.
 
I'm sure you know this now, but the knives you listed were more than capable of doing the job. I've put a bunch of critters in the freezer over the years and any one of the knives you listed would do the job without issue.
 
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