What to buy? How much to spend?

[SandraMort]

I'm working on budgeting for this project and realized I need to buy:

- A knife to slit the throats
- A knife for boning
- A pair of poultry shears
- A cleaver
- A sharpening device

I'm used to buying pre-cut pieces of chicken for myself so I don't have any of these tools. I'm trying to figure out where the higher end of quality meets the lower end of price, if you know what I mean?

 

[jackiedon]

So far we have used a hatchet to chop the head and a box cutter with lots of blades. I cooked those in a crock pot.

Sorry no advice.

jackie

 

[ChickenToes]

I haven't looked at them myself, but I've heard quite a few people on BYC are happy with the knives on this web site:

www.homeandbarnbasics.com

 

[silkiechicken]

Well... I have this large cleaver knife thing that looks like a stereotypical Asian butcher's knife that cuts meat that hangs in windows. It's my mom's and has been sharpened so many times over the years that the blade is a good quarter inch shorter than it's pair which is kept in reserve. I use it for cutting off heads, making cuts to gut the birds, and to cut the birds in pieces... and pretty much everything except peeling fruit/veggies. So, I think you could do it with one quality good knife.

 

[Alaskan]

Quote:
A super sharp paring knife, or even a super sharp pocket knife is all you need for the throat.

I think that even a super cheap knife (if sharpened well) will do just fine. I think the main difference in price is
1. how long the knife will keep an edge
2.easy to sharpen
3.strong (don't break and the pieces don't fall apart)

I like the Wusthof knifes which run from $100 to $50 for one 5 inch boning knife. (they have different lines of knives) But if you look around you can often get them on super sale (like this one http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=5789 ).

But truly, a super cheap knife will work too, as long as it is sharp.

But an expensive knife should last forever. (As long as the kids don't try to cut metal with them

)

 

[Poler]

Quote:
Hi,

You can easily use, one knife for most of those purposes. I prefer a breaking knife for most duties. It can be honed to a very sharp edge, it has a curve to it, and i use my forcshner in place of a cleaver, just roll the knife over what you want to cut and apply pressure.

I'm not sure what you'd need the poultry shears for. I've never heard of them.

The best sharpenning device that I've found is the old fashioned oil and stone. Instead of an expensive steele, simply use the back of another large knife. Look at your knives the ones that have the sharp corners on the back of the blade is the best for this task.

This knife should do for your chore. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=753 Its only 36 bucks originally and 26 on sale. Not bad.

 

[greenthumb89]

really any sharp knife will do most if not all of the work you are asking. if you clean and sharpen the knife as you are using it you can get away with a 10 dollar knife. my parents bought me some cheap knifes and i learned how to sharpen them and as long as they are sharp they do everything.