Which knife is best for cutting meat?

Dr Heelhook said:
All right. What do you feel that you really need a pairing knife for in the kitchen?
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Last night I made a big salad (not the Seinfeld type) for a BBQ for 40. I halved an entire jar of stuffed green olives.

Yeah, I could have used a chef's knife -- I could have used a hog-splitter for that matter. But neither would have been as fast and safe.

Conversely, there were two of us cutting up the loaves of garlic bread. I lent my offset bread knife to the other guy, and I used my chef's knife and it performed superbly -- but it wasn't as "easy" to use.
 
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Rupestris said:
👍 The three most used and indispensable knives in my kitchen are Santoku/chef, boning knife and paring.
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Yeah, when I was a meat cutter, I had a butcher's knife, a boner, a paring and a chef's knife, along with a steel.

When I started, once Vince the meat manager trusted me to do more than mop the floors, empty the trim cans and break-down cardboard boxes, he lent me a chef's knife and a steel. I had to buy my own boner, so to speak.

That chef's knife was a 10 incher. If you get used to long chef's and butcher's knives from the very start, they really are of benefit when it comes to processing speed.
 
Dexter Russel Sani Safe knives are awesome and inexpensive. I highly recommend them. The 2093291C-CDC1-46FE-A52D-532FB024AD54.jpeg
 
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Stahlmann said:
Last night I made a big salad (not the Seinfeld type) for a BBQ for 40. I halved an entire jar of stuffed green olives.

Yeah, I could have used a chef's knife -- I could have used a hog-splitter for that matter. But neither would have been as fast and safe.

Conversely, there were two of us cutting up the loaves of garlic bread. I lent my offset bread knife to the other guy, and I used my chef's knife and it performed superbly -- but it wasn't as "easy" to use.
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That's cool. Personally, I'd prefer cutting olives with a chef's knife as well, but you might have figured out a different, better way of doing it. You can definitely cut bread with a sharp chef's knife, I just prefer to use a good serrated bread knife because the crust of the bread seems to dull a plain edge faster. I'm not sure what you mean by "offset" bread knife.
 
The white handle Dexters I have make good slaughtering knives, because they have a textured grip that I can hold onto even when my hands are all slimy.

Parker
 
Dr Heelhook said:
That's cool. Personally, I'd prefer cutting olives with a chef's knife as well, but you might have figured out a different, better way of doing it. You can definitely cut bread with a sharp chef's knife, I just prefer to use a good serrated bread knife because the crust of the bread seems to dull a plain edge faster. I'm not sure what you mean by "offset" bread knife.
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LamsonSharp USA 9.5" Fire Forged Offset Bread Knife​
 
I bought a few 10" Victorinox "pastry" knives (bread knife) with rosewood handles from a "fell off the truck" freight salvage place for about $30. each. Way too expensive at $50 street price. But they will slice your fingers to the bone in a heartbeat. dddddang! Those offset knives are cool.

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Got this Victorinox after seeing one like it used in a fine looking BBQ joint cutting ribs and brisket. I wonder how the fine tip is used, particularly on raw meat. am thinking about reshaping just the tip a bit into a semi-skinner shape. any thoughts?

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All knives will dull with use. Learning to sharpen will keep your knife in top meat cutting form (not to mention veggies etc).

Even the most expensive super steels will still dull eventually.
 
For breaking meat down I am very partial to my Spyderco South Fork, sharpened @ 15 DPS. I've seen hatchets used very effectively in meat markets too.
 
eveled said:
Dexter Russel Sani Safe knives are awesome and inexpensive. I highly recommend them. The View attachment 1591323
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+1 for this recommendation. I worked in the poultry processing industry for about 10 years, and I can say that in the slaugterhouse deboning lines they use these knives almost exclusively. Simply one of the best, affordable, and sanitary tools for the job.
 
deltablade said:
Got this Victorinox after seeing one like it used in a fine looking BBQ joint cutting ribs and brisket. I wonder how the fine tip is used, particularly on raw meat. am thinking about reshaping just the tip a bit into a semi-skinner shape. any thoughts?

11CmG0n.jpg
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Whatever makes ya happy. Or just use it as is. I don’t think you have to reshape the tip. Why reshape if you don’t have to?
 
deltablade said:
Got this Victorinox after seeing one like it used in a fine looking BBQ joint cutting ribs and brisket. I wonder how the fine tip is used, particularly on raw meat. am thinking about reshaping just the tip a bit into a semi-skinner shape. any thoughts?

11CmG0n.jpg
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What you have there is essentially a cimeter profile. I've used one extensively as a meat cutter, although most of the old school pros I learned from did not. When cutting raw meat, cimeters tend to "plow" more than other butcher knife profiles like the Old Hickory I posted herein which "glide" much better. On the other hand they're lighter, less nose heavy and more responsive. Personally I wouldn't mess with the profile of your Victorinox.
 
I have seven knife set of the white handled Dexter Russel's that I can't fined fault with. They cut well, sharpen well and clean up well. What's not to like?
 
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