Knife Question

[Dogfish]

I use a steel after every few birds and I have a diamond whet stone, medium and fine, that I use to get the blades in shape when needed.

Are you cutting on a wood or plastic cutting board, or directly on a formica or stainless steel table?

One cook that worked for me complained about knives not being sharp. I watched him through the day and noticed he had no issue cutting on a stainless table and formica counter top. He didn't like using cutting boards because they slid around, he said. I took a slightly damp rag (clean), layed it out flat and then set the cutting board on top. No more movement. Knives stayed sharper longer.

Also, are you chopping with the blade or slicing? Chopping uses brute force to cut, versus using the blade to slice. Chopping wears a blade quicker. A nice fluid slice will take apart the joint between the thing and leg. My wife wants to chop.

Sometimes it is how a knife is used, or what it is used on that is part of the issue.

I've used DR knives for years, they are fine, so are Forschners.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
I don't let my knife touch the table or cutting board, or at least not very much. The only time is when trimming the extra skin off a LQ or trimming up a boneless skinless. We use HDPE cutting boards on a galvinized table. I sliced until they got dull, then I think it was more of a chop. I think between evaluating how I am using my steel and getting a wet stone(s) to sharpen between butchering days, I'll get it figured out. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't the knives, and it sounds like it isn't.

Thank you to everyone. Your input was very helpful and I think the problem is solved. Now I just need to read up and practice my sharpening/polishing skills, or there lack of. LOL

 

[GLBRWyans]

Quote:
Certainly they can . That is a lot of knife to bone friction and you can lose an edge quick , unlike just cutting boneless meat . There are only two knives I ever used , Forshner and Chicago Cutlery . Give me a forshner any day of the week . What size are you using and is it straight or curved ? For that many birds I would move up to a smaller steak knife not a full size but would put down a boning knife and use a larger curved knife . 30 years as a meatcutter . meant to say also I used a diamond steel and it was not round it was angular , not a ceramic .

 

[GLBRWyans]

You don't have to beat a knife on the steel like a lot do , just learn to draw the knife back easily , it only takes a couple of easy smooth pulls to straighten an edge back to being razor sharp . Wish I was a better explainer with words .

 

[chickensgalore]

so what brand of knives did you buy,that may determine if they're junk or not

 

[acy0029]

I just wanted to add that a good pair of poultry shears and a heavy cleaver can go a long way when breaking down poultry, If you are completely dismantling the bird your boning knife should never need to touch bone. Use the shears for the backbone and the cleaver for the breast bone all other joints can be cracked and cut between with very little blade to bone contact.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Certainly they can . That is a lot of knife to bone friction and you can lose an edge quick , unlike just cutting boneless meat.
There are only two knives I ever used , Forshner and Chicago Cutlery . Give me a forshner any day of the week . What size are you using and is it straight or curved ? For that many birds I would move up to a smaller steak knife not a full size but would put down a boning knife and use a larger curved knife . 30 years as a meatcutter . meant to say also I used a diamond steel and it was not round it was angular , not a ceramic .

That makes sense about the bone friction. I don't think my method of getting the breast and tender out is how others do it. I have seen others just rip it out of there, but I always seem to lose some meat, so I filet the meat of the rib cage. I currently have 5 different knives. Two of them are 6", 1 being a drop point, hollow ground, which I use to get the wings off and cut the skin on the inside of the thigh, and the other is a stiff back which I use to get the backbone off chickens that are halved. The stiff back is pretty mean. I have a 4 1/2" drop point that I use to get the leg quarter off the back. And I have a 3 1/2" deboning knife I use to get the tender/breast out. I also have a 3 1/2" drop point, which I haven't found a specific use for yet. The dullest one by far is the 3 1/2" deboning, which makes sense as that one has the most contact with bone. When I ordered these from Dexter Russel, I really didn't know what I needed. THe sales rep helped me pick them, as these all come from the poultry specific section of their catalog. Prior to getting these, I was using a 6" curved Koch which I got from my uncle, also a meat cutter of over 30 years. It was sharp, but just seemed too big for cutting up a chicken.

 

[bigredfeather]

I am online looking for wet stones, but there are so many it's a bit overwhelming. Can any of you suggest a specific manufacturer and/or type.

 

[acy0029]

I prefer Arkansas Stones myself, for final honing. I'm a Knifesmith so I have a belt grinder that I use for everything up till the final hone.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Would you recommend getting just one stone or a 3 stone set? Hard or Soft or both. Am I looking at them right in saying these need oil? Pardon my ignorance, like I said before, this is all new to me.

Would this be a good choice:
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Ultimate-Oil-Stone-Kit-P320C100.aspx

Or this:
http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/India-and-SoftHard-Arkansas-Kit-P321C100.aspx