The weird thing I see people doing with their boning knives

Okay, this might sound small, but I see it all the time in videos and even with some new guys at the shop. People treat their boning knife like a cleaver when they're working around the hip bone on a beef round. They're trying to muscle through the connective tissue with a sawing motion and it's just... wrong. I learned from an old timer in Omaha that you need to find the natural seam with the tip, then use a smooth pull cut. Trying to force it dulls your edge in minutes and leaves a ragged cut on the meat. I watched a guy ruin a beautiful top round last month because he was hacking at it, and it made me cringe. The right way feels almost like drawing a line, not cutting one. Am I the only one who gets a little twitchy seeing this?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancycooper5d ago

My buddy totally wrecked his blade doing that, and @clark.alex is right about the awful sound.

clark.alex5d ago

Man, you are spot on. Watching someone try to saw through that silverskin with a boning knife is pure pain. It's like they think it's a mini machete. Saw a guy at a local spot just grinding away on a pork shoulder, trying to separate the blade bone. He was putting his whole body into it, and the knife was just skidding over the surface. All you gotta do is pop the tip in the joint and let the edge do the work. That grinding sound alone is enough to make my teeth hurt.

matthew1664d ago

Ever notice how people force stuff instead of finding the right spot? Happens with tools, tech, even opening jars.