Processing knife/sharpener

[CaryHaven]

I had no idea my knives were as dull as they were until I processed a few chickens last week. Can anyone recommend a great knife/sharpener ? What kind of sharpener do you use for your knives? We had actually sharpened them before processing but apparently not enough. I’m thinking about just using poultry shears next time, but I would still need a boning knife I’m assuming. I know I could just get a cheap disposable one and get a new one every time, but I would like to have one that I can sharpen and re-use. I’d like to pay for quality as I have read about sometimes breaking in half during use. Thanks for the input!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I bought a couple of these a few years ago and they hold an edge well and can be easily sharpened with a steel. A very good value, IMO.

 

[Brooks_]

THIS and I can't find my electric one online but look for one that can adjust for degree.

 

[Perris]

I use a bench grinder. Much more successful than a variety of other sharpeners I've tried, and much quicker too.

 

[raingarden]

I only use a good pair of poultry shears for butchering. The rest is done when the bird is being prepared for cooking and the kitchen knives come into play. The boning knife above and/or the fillet knives made by the same company are handy.

If you keep up with a knife, you only need a steel hone or whetstone to touch up the edge. If they are too far gone or have been sharpened at the wrong angle then you need something aggressive (like the belt sander) to reshape the edge.

 

[CNJ]

I think it depends on what kind of steel your knife is made of. I can cut a chicken perfectly in half with my cleaver. I use a sharpening stone that I bought online from amazon, It has 400 coarse and 1000 fine on one stone. Also, check out how to sharpen knives on youtube.

 

[iwltfum]

I had no idea my knives were as dull as they were until I processed a few chickens last week. Can anyone recommend a great knife/sharpener ? What kind of sharpener do you use for your knives? We had actually sharpened them before processing but apparently not enough. I’m thinking about just using poultry shears next time, but I would still need a boning knife I’m assuming. I know I could just get a cheap disposable one and get a new one every time, but I would like to have one that I can sharpen and re-use. I’d like to pay for quality as I have read about sometimes breaking in half during use. Thanks for the input!

For hand sharpening the dmt diamond stones are really good and they stay flat. If the edge is really bad I will use a pull through manual sharpener or the bench grinder to reshape the edge but I always find that honing with the stones and strop afterwards gives a nice sharp edge. Hand sharpening can be tedious and it's a learned skill. If you go with electric sharpener, dont skimp on the price. The good ones are WAY better. Some of the cheap ones will make your knife more dull than it started.

 

[svh]

I have been sharpening knives for many in the the community I live in, for many years, and use either the KME system - https://www.kmesharp.com/kme-knife-sharpening-system--diamond-kit.html
or the Ken Onion Work Sharp - https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-K...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583657823603609&psc=1

Both are excellent, but a bit pricy, that's why I charge $4 to $5 an INCH of blade length to reprofile to scary sharp, and $2 to $3 an inch for touch ups ..... I give free Band Aids with every sharpening job !!!

The KME is slower, but more precise, and the Work Sharp makes quick work of it, but with a bit less accurate, in my opinion.

Most people have never had a TRUELY sharp knife, one that you can pop off individual arm hairs, and surgically remove finger tips, so be careful !!!

 

[CaryHaven]

Thank you So much for all this info! I’ve actually been reading up on the honing versus the sharpening and ordered a couple products listed here. I’m also looking into the others as well. I want to find a good system that I can reliably use with us little fuss as possible for as long as possible. Really appreciate all the links! I’m looking into all of them

 

[Torinik]

I would suggest using a good manual pull through sharpener. That's what I use on my butchering knife, and I've had it for some 30 odd years. Mine has those carbide bits on one side, similar to those found on lathe chisels and milling tools, and round ceramic bits in a V-shape on the opposite side to give it the finishing touch.
I only use the carbide side when the knife is really dull, which hardly ever happens. Using the carbide side, there's actually visible little chips of metal coming off. If I would use that every time before butchering, after 30 years there would be no knife left. I do pull it through the ceramic side, gently, about 10 to 20 times every time before butchering. That's sharp enough for me, whether I'm doing 1 or 2 chickens. I very rarely do more than that and can't remember if it needed a bit of sharpening for the 3rd and successive birds. If it does, all you need to do is pull it through with the almost certainty that it's sharp again instead of even more blunt.

There's degrees to sharpness, and I've explained in another topic why I don't like my knives razor sharp anymore. Proper sharp is sharp enough for me.

If you want to use a stone, make sure you practice and become skillful by the time you butcher. Or have a bunch of sharp knives ready. Or both. It's a very personal tool that one tends to get very used to. At least, I feel that way. Mine is no more than a decent french pocketknife. I'm sure there's many other blades out there that are much more suited for the job, but I'm used to this.

You can get any piece of metal sharp, and even razor sharp. How long it will stay sharp depends on the metal and what steps have been taken to modify the quality of the metal. Some will get blunt by just sitting on the counter reacting with whatever it finds in the air to react with. Others you can do a cut with, to find it utterly useless for a second cut. Some will last a while, and some will seem to last forever. Note that I used the word metal (whether ferro or non-ferro) and not steel!

This being said, I would go for a steel blade, stainless or not. Both splendid in my opinion. By which I mean, don't go for copper or brass, or worse.
Even a mild steel is fine, though it will not keep an edge as long as a harder steel. I have a knife in the drawer of the mildest steel ever, if you try to chop a chicken bone with it you will bend or chip the sharp edge. My father sharpened that one to razor sharp some 40+ years ago and actually shaved with it that day while taking it to the strap a few times. It's been sitting in the drawer ever since. It has a clumsy handle and the only thing it's likely good for is slipping your hand of the handle onto the blade. That's not a tool, that's a souvenir.

Practice on every knife in the house and develop a 'feel' for the steel. A butter knife is usually a horrible thing to sharpen and will usually lose it's edge very quickly. But sometimes you run into surprises. Leave some butter knives alone to use with butter.

The kitchen knifes they give away in welcoming gifts, or good customer gifts, and the likes (so the really dirt cheap kitchen sets) are sometimes of the best stainless knife steel. At least when keeping an edge is concerned and not so much how fancy they look.
The one razor sharp knife left in the house is one of those tiny kitchen knives that I got because I bought a coffeemaker or something. It keeps its edge remarkably long and is easy to re-sharpen. I only use it when I need it.

I would use the finest stone you have laying around, as long as you can tell you're actually cutting metal.
If the blade needs reshaping, use a grinding disk with a worn lamellar sandpaper disk. A grinding stone will do the same, just more aggressive, so go very, very gentle.
And be careful, some of the things I see on youtube with angular grinders scare me. It's a dangerous tool, all of them are, so use common sense and good practice, and be very careful.

The fine stone will also help with muscle memory, because that's all it is. You don't really need a guide, you need to train your muscle memory. Take your angle and try to keep it there while you move over the stone. Don't worry about mistakes too much, it's a fine stone so you have more than enough opportunity to keep correcting yourself. Keep going until you have a burr. If your stone is fine enough, the burr might come off on the stone. If not, it's time to go finer. Always keep your angle, make sure you don't round the edge by lifting the back of the blade or you will be dulling instead of sharpening.
You can take it to the strap now for the finishing. Again, keep your angle, this cannot be stressed enough. Don't round your edge or you will have to start over on the stone, if razor sharp is what you want, that is.

Make sure you practice until skillful or you might actually be dulling your blade instead of sharpening it when you most need it.

My job has taken me to a few slaughterhouses over the years and as metalworkers we always wondered why these people weren't taught the basics about steel and sharp edges. Most of them hack away at their knives with their honing steel and actually damage the knife, thinking they're sharpening it. All the honing steel is for is to straighten a sharp edge if you happen to bend it while cutting. I actually use a stainless steel plate leftover from a lapping job for this purpose. You could even use another knife and it would do exactly the same thing. Think about it and try to picture the process.
So, they actually blunt the blade and then have to take it to an electrical, be it professional, pull through sharpener of all things. To start the whole thing over again. Those knives have very short lifespans.

It's not uncommon these days to see people blunting their knives while trying to sharpen them. If you want to use a stone, be patient, keep your angle and don't stop sharpening until you have a burr on your edge. Use a magnifier or a microscope if you need to, so you can picture what you're after.

Good luck.