Professional Knives

foamheart

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Original poster

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Apr 4, 2013

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South Louisiana, on the Mississippi River

• Mar 12, 2014

• #1

I have some pretty good knives which I try to always maintain properly. But I have a professional question. With all these nice knives I usually use either an 8" chefs or a 4" parer. I split chickens weekly down the back bone and then thru the wishbone and splitting thru the breast bone. Pretty standard fare. I understand joints, but a split give a large wing section, breast, leg and thigh.

My poor 8" chefs always looking like I have been chopping concrete because of it. A boning knife has less strength in the blade like a filet. A cleaver is way overkill and I might just take a hand off hacking.

Do they make a blade for splitting chickens? I currently slice 'em in half, so is there a blade for that?

Hey, I want to learn for those who offer guidance.

Thank you in advance.

 

pc farmer

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• Mar 12, 2014

• #2

I use a set of kitchen shears. Works great for chicken. I stole the wifes pamper chief shears. So she had to buy another set, plus extra stuff to get free shipping. I actually lost that battle.

 

foamheart

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Apr 4, 2013

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South Louisiana, on the Mississippi River

• Mar 12, 2014

• #3

c farmer said:

I use a set of kitchen shears. Works great for chicken. I stole the wifes pamper chief shears. So she had to buy another set, plus extra stuff to get free shipping. I actually lost that battle.

Click to expand...

I have shears C, they work fine on the backbone, but sorta sad on the breast side.

 

pc farmer

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• Mar 12, 2014

• #4

I only spatch chicks. After the cook I just use a boning knife.

 

hambone1950

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Jul 23, 2012

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Metrowest Boston , ma.

• Mar 14, 2014

• #5

Foamheart said:

I have shears C, they work fine on the backbone, but sorta sad on the breast side.

Click to expand...

You know , foam , your idea of a cleaver isn't so bad. You don't have to swing it like a psycho killer :biggrin: but if you just lay it on the breastbone and press down on the back of the blade it'll chop right thru pretty easy. (needs to be sharp....duh.)
There's also some Chinese chefs knives that are almost like a cleaver in that they have a solid square blade , but they're not so heavy. I bet you could find one that's not too pricey.
Like so.....

 

Last edited: Mar 14, 2014

smokerjim

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Jan 14, 2014

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Northeast pa

• Mar 14, 2014

• #6

if you know your butcher good ask him if he can order you one or knows where to get a good quality knive. all we use at work to split chickens is a 10" knive.I think they are called forchner "not sure of the spelling" but they are made in germany.they are made with a good steel and keep their edge.a good buthcher knive should be around $25 

 

kc5tpy

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May 12, 2013

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Newark on Trent, United Kingdom.

• Mar 14, 2014

• #7

Hello my friend.  I am certainly no professional but I can tell you what I did.  I had your same problem so I took the opposite action to what our friend Hambone suggests.  I went out and bought a cheap ( but heavy as I could find ) chef's knife.  I only use it for things like chicken bones and even when cutting up a chicken to fry; anywhere I need a sharp knife to "hack" things up.  That way my quality knives don't take so much abuse.    I use a three corner file to sharpen it, when it gets too bad I put it on the bench grinder and start again.  The way I see it you have different knives for different purposes so the cheap knife also has it's purpose.  Well that's my solution, hope it helps.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

link

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May 7, 2008

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Michigan

• Mar 14, 2014

• #8

How about this and you will also be prepared for the zombies (it is good to be prepared).

25-inch-overall-zombie-hunter-survival-machete-954

• link
• Mar 14, 2014

But seriously, I have a decent Chicago Cutlery 10" chefs with a hard plastic handle from my restaurant days that I use for things like this and then use my good knives for everything else.

 

venture

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Central California

• Mar 14, 2014

• #9

I have an old chef knife I never really liked, but it is a very heavy one and takes an edge well.  I have it set aside for the heavy duty punishment I don't want to use my favorite chef knife for.  I don't mind the regular sharpening as I don't care how much I grind it down or how long it will last.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

foamheart

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Apr 4, 2013

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South Louisiana, on the Mississippi River

• Mar 14, 2014

• #10

See the Pro's came thru and the answer although eluding me was simply common sense.

I just need to designate a knife as a splitter. Besides I won't have to keep it razor sharp like a slicer. Course It won't work like a serrated blade anymore, but it won't look like one either!

Thanks folks. 

 

bigwheel

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Oct 31, 2009

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Foat Wuth

• Mar 14, 2014

• #11

I use a big old cheap SS serrated butcher knife to cut through the back to the breast skin and finish up wth my super sharper Forshner 6" curved boner (no snickering please). to get past that. Have also used the serrated ginzu knives..those work good too. Would not waste the wear and tear on a good knife. I can have a big old half frozen clucker split quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper.

 

Last edited: Mar 14, 2014