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Warning: I was told to never sharpen my boning knife past a certain angle
My old boss at the shop in Dayton insisted that a 25-degree edge on a boning knife was perfect and going sharper would just make it chip. I stuck with that for years, even though I felt like I was working harder than I needed to. Finally, after a frustrating week of trimming 40 briskets, I tried a 20-degree edge on my Victorinox. The difference was night and day. It glided through silver skin and fat like nothing, and I haven't had a single chip in six months. Has anyone else found that the 'standard' sharpness advice for boning knives is too conservative?
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rubyshah2mo ago
Reminds me of how we get locked into "right ways" of doing things. My mom still washes good knives in the dishwasher because a salesman told her to in 1982, and they're all ruined. We follow rules from some authority figure, often from a specific time and place, and never question if they fit our actual situation. The original advice probably saved a lot of apprentices from wrecking cheap blades, but it's not a holy law. Finding what truly works for your own hand and your own tasks is always the real skill.
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wendysanchez2mo ago
My uncle ran a custom knife shop in Toledo for thirty years. He saw a lot of guys come in with chipped blades from pushing angles too thin. For a boning knife that hits cartilage and works around bone, that 25-degree advice exists for a reason. A 20-degree edge might feel great on soft tissue, but one wrong twist against a rib or a joint can roll or chip that fine edge instantly. It's about safety and edge life for the work, not just how it feels on fat.
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