My old mentor was right about boning knives after all

When I started out 12 years ago, my first boss at Miller's Meats in Springfield told me to never use a flexible boning knife on beef. I thought he was just old school and stuck in his ways. After 2 years of wrestling with stiff blades, I bought a cheap flexible one and tried it on a top round. The blade bent sideways and I nearly lost a finger. Last week I finally went back to a stiff 6 inch Victorinox and finished a whole side of beef in under 40 minutes. Has anyone else learned a lesson the hard way from ignoring an old timer?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_joseph17d agoMost Upvoted

Bit dramatic calling it a near loss of a finger over a blade flexing. Everyone gets a little scare now and then, that's part of the learning process. You survived, you figured out what works for you, so chalk it up as a win not a warning.

wendysanchez17d ago

Honestly, I gotta push back on "chalk it up as a win." A near loss of a finger is a pretty big deal, even if it didn't actually happen. Saying it's just a "little scare" feels like brushing off something that could have gone really wrong. Tbh, part of learning is also knowing when something is a serious warning sign, not just a learning moment. Ngl, I think calling it a win downplays how scary that must have been.

blair_webb16d ago

Remember that old timer learned those lessons from his own close calls too.