Knives and Slicers

[willkat98]

I'd throw in a hock or two? LOL Earl.

Wrong forum, but I'm curious.

What kind of knives does a former butcher use?

 

[Dutch]

Sharp ones. :roll: :D LOL

These are the knives I had when I was working as a butcher/meatcutter-

For butchering I had an 8 inch Butcher knife and a 6 inch straight blade boning knife.

For cutting I had a 1-14 inch Cimeter knife, 2-6 inch stiff straight blade boning knives, 2- 5 inch flex curved blade boning knives, 1- 2 1/2 inch neck knife (basically a worn out boning knife) and a 12 inch knife steele. All my knives were Forschner Victorinox with fibrox (plastic) handles.

Now for my daily go-to knives I have a 6 1/4 inch Rada Stainless Steel Cookâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s knife which has a Santoku style blade, a 7 inch Cruisinart Santoku knife and a 6 inch Chicago Cutlery Boning knife and my knife steele. Also at home I have the Ronco 25 piece knife set that the Bride bought me. The Chefâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s knife, the Utility knife, the Carving Knife, the Cleaver and the steaks knives get the most use. I also have a drawer full of knives that I have collected over the years.

 

[monty]

Geez, Dutch, sounds almost like you are a knife knut! :D I also like to have a good selection of knives handy since I quite frequently process large game. My daily use knives are a set of Henckels. It includes 8 and 10 inch chef's and slicers, a bread knife, 10 inch steel, 3 1/2 inch paring knife, poultry shears and a neat cleaver as well as a 6 inch santuko utility knife. For processing I have a number of excellent quality but no name boning knives, both rigid and flexible, a matching scimitar style knife. and very importantly a really nice bone saw. Again no name but it does what I want it to do. Then of course I have a number of fillet knives from Fiskars and Rapala for processing fish. I have a four inch Rapala flexible fillet knife which works well in certain processing cuts that I must make on poultry. I think you can guess without me getting graphic. I really like my bunch of knives and do my best to keep them sharp and clean.
Cheers!
Monty

 

[monty]

OOPS! Almost forgot! I prefer bottom round for my jerky. However I will do up a properly trimmed top round. And I put it in the freezer to stiffen it then put the whole piece of meat on the slicer. When done slicing I use a slicing knife to cut out the strips.
Cheers!
Monty

 

[jim n iowa]

Monty
What brand of slicer do recommend? Never had one but my hand slicing is not consistent.

 

[monty]

Hi, Jim!
Hey, like you can go completely nuts on a slicer or with a little bit of luck find a good quality product for cheap. I have so far refrained from endorsing a cheapie but I have had it for six months now and it seems fine. My current food slicer is a Waring Pro. It does what I ask it to and of course I do not push it either. Total cost with shipping and sales tax was a bit over $117.00 out of Home Depot. You might be able to find one on the shelf of a department store for a bit less. Most of my shopping is internet because of my remote location.

Now, prior to my major lifestyle change (read in divorce here) I had a 3/4 hp Hobart slicer with built in sharpener and a lot of nice features. That machine ran me about $700 12 years ago. Prices have not changed too much so that kind of quality is still reasonable.

Just bear in mind that if you opt for a low end product you get what you pay for. Do not expect to be able to push a lot of meat rapidly across any inexpensive machine. Let the machine tell you how fast and how much to process and it will last a long time.

There are a lot of machines out there that are in the $300 to $500 range that seem to be of excellent quality. You be the judge and I hope I have helped you!
Cheers!
Monty

 

[willkat98]

Due to a previous post of mine, this thread now contains good knife info. I am requesting in PM that Earl split this into a "***Split: Knife Discussion" in General Discussion (or where he or the other mods see fit)

Earl, I now have knife envy.

Got me the basic Henkel "S" series, which is awesome (4"pairing, 7" slice, 8" chefs knife(I think those are the sizes)) for like $140 plus 25% off Bed Bath Beyond.

Got a drawer full of assorted Chicago Cutlery and assorted brands and sizes, all dull in comparision to the Henkels (sharpening stick)

Once this thread is split to a "knives" thread, lets hear from the group. I hope to get a serated slicer that is up to snuff. Looking at a Wurstenhoff (SP)

 

[monty]

Hey, Chi Bill!
SP is Wusthoff! (I think) And I agree on a "tools" thread!
Monty

 

[cajunsmoker]

A tool thread would be great. I am thinkin about vacuum packer/sealers and a tool thread would be perfect to discuss pro's and con's of different models.

 

[monty]

Hey, Cajun!
I opened up the topic on Vacuum Sealers under the General Discussion thread a bit ago. There is some good info there if you want to get a jump start.
Happy Fathers' Day!
Cheers!
Monty

 

[Dutch]

This is in request by Chi. Bill that we have a Knife Thread. Also will attemp to split part of the Jery thread in which this discussion got started.

 

[cajunsmoker]

Thanks Monty, I'll check it out.

 

[willkat98]

Thanks Earl.

This can be a great thread.

I know alot of people take their knives in once ever 1 or 2 years for a professional honing. Like $3 a knife or so.

I probably need to do that soon