Boning Knife Recommendation
Boning Knife Recommendation
Please answer the following questions when you create a knife recommendation post. The more information we have the better we can guide you the perfect knife .
1)Pro or home cook? Home (Everyone in the house is right handed).
2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santoku, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.) Boning to clean up ribs, roasts and brisket. I generally don't "French" my rib roast bones (lamb, pork or beef) as I usually let the butcher do it for me. A less brittle blade might be helpful for "Frenching" but I so seldom make a crown roast that it's low on my list of requirements. I can use one of my old beater knives if needed.
Separately I also want to try a wa handled laser Gyoto or Kiritsuke (210-240) to see if I like the Japanese style before spending bigger dollars.
3) What size knife do you want? 150-165mm (fairly stiff boning)
4)How much do you want to spend? <$100-150 (My son is asking what I want for Father's day)
5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction? Reactive is fine for my use, though less reactive would be better for family members. Edge sharpness and retention is preferred.
In the future, I want to try a less expensive but high performance Japanese style high carbon Gyoto or Kiritsuke to see if I like the style. I also want a prep/chef's knife where food doesn't stick to the blade as much as my Ken Onion and Henkel Chef knives.
6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle? Aren't boning more often Western handled? Ready to try Wa handle on Chef Knife. Like the Wa on Santoku.
7)What are your main knife/knives now? 50% German (40 yr old Henkel 10" Chef, 10" carving, 6" slicing, 4" paring) and Wustoff (8" carving and 8" serrated bread knife) and 50% Shun (Classic Santoku with Wa, Ken Onion curve handled 6" and 9" chef's). Bunch of old beater and paring knives to take to the beach for BBQs. One Kanehide Honesuki single bevel high carbon knife that I honestly don't use as much as I planned (don't break down as many chickens as expected) but works just fine. Probably should have bought a Hankotsu or a curved blade boning instead.
8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair? Good to better than average for home cook.
9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter? Depends on product and knife. Chopper with Santoku, probably more push/pull with small chef's, slicing for carving and taught rocker technique when I worked restaurant prep and line. This will be mainly used for breaking down pork, lamb and beef roasts, and prepping ribs and briskets for BBQ. Sharpness and functional is most important but pride of ownership in a specialty knife is still appreciated.
10)Do you know how to sharpen? Yes. Shapton Glass 500, 1000 and 4000. Flattening diamond stone. Leather piece for stropping but looking to add stropping kit. No sure if I need a more fine stone if I add the strop kit. Both steel and ceramic rods. Also need a more coarse stone as my wife and son tend to microchip the Shun blades as they often leave knives on the cutting board or even counter after use (They don't use the reactive Honesuki). Thinking 220 grit or so.
Please also add any additional pertinent information that can help everyone with suggestions. I hope that isn't too much detail, but I do plan to add few more specialty knifes to my collection in the future. Thanks to everyone.
1)Pro or home cook? Home (Everyone in the house is right handed).
2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santoku, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.) Boning to clean up ribs, roasts and brisket. I generally don't "French" my rib roast bones (lamb, pork or beef) as I usually let the butcher do it for me. A less brittle blade might be helpful for "Frenching" but I so seldom make a crown roast that it's low on my list of requirements. I can use one of my old beater knives if needed.
Separately I also want to try a wa handled laser Gyoto or Kiritsuke (210-240) to see if I like the Japanese style before spending bigger dollars.
3) What size knife do you want? 150-165mm (fairly stiff boning)
4)How much do you want to spend? <$100-150 (My son is asking what I want for Father's day)
5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction? Reactive is fine for my use, though less reactive would be better for family members. Edge sharpness and retention is preferred.
In the future, I want to try a less expensive but high performance Japanese style high carbon Gyoto or Kiritsuke to see if I like the style. I also want a prep/chef's knife where food doesn't stick to the blade as much as my Ken Onion and Henkel Chef knives.
6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle? Aren't boning more often Western handled? Ready to try Wa handle on Chef Knife. Like the Wa on Santoku.
7)What are your main knife/knives now? 50% German (40 yr old Henkel 10" Chef, 10" carving, 6" slicing, 4" paring) and Wustoff (8" carving and 8" serrated bread knife) and 50% Shun (Classic Santoku with Wa, Ken Onion curve handled 6" and 9" chef's). Bunch of old beater and paring knives to take to the beach for BBQs. One Kanehide Honesuki single bevel high carbon knife that I honestly don't use as much as I planned (don't break down as many chickens as expected) but works just fine. Probably should have bought a Hankotsu or a curved blade boning instead.
8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair? Good to better than average for home cook.
9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter? Depends on product and knife. Chopper with Santoku, probably more push/pull with small chef's, slicing for carving and taught rocker technique when I worked restaurant prep and line. This will be mainly used for breaking down pork, lamb and beef roasts, and prepping ribs and briskets for BBQ. Sharpness and functional is most important but pride of ownership in a specialty knife is still appreciated.
10)Do you know how to sharpen? Yes. Shapton Glass 500, 1000 and 4000. Flattening diamond stone. Leather piece for stropping but looking to add stropping kit. No sure if I need a more fine stone if I add the strop kit. Both steel and ceramic rods. Also need a more coarse stone as my wife and son tend to microchip the Shun blades as they often leave knives on the cutting board or even counter after use (They don't use the reactive Honesuki). Thinking 220 grit or so.
Please also add any additional pertinent information that can help everyone with suggestions. I hope that isn't too much detail, but I do plan to add few more specialty knifes to my collection in the future. Thanks to everyone.
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Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
A thin petty might be what you're looking for. I didn't expect to like it so much, but I really like my Yuki petty (https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mayupe15.html) for boning. It gets into all the places you want with a boning knife, and yet the blade is pretty firm (in contrast to my Wusthof boning knife, which is a traditional 'whippy' boning knife). For breaking down large cuts (e.g., a whole packer brisket) I often will reach for 240 or 270 gyuto, but for triming, removing silverskin, and similar tasks, the petty is super handy. If you were going to be breaking down a lot of birds, a honesuki might be better, but a good petty knife is surprising versatile. Mine is made of White #2, so it gets incredibly sharp.
Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
I own a honesuki for chickens which I hardly use. I then to make spatchcock chicken way more often so chicken shears are what I use. I thought about a 150 petty as broader utility knife instead of a boning knife but thought a stiff boning knife might hold up better for breaking down a bone-in roast into steaks or deboning a leg of lamb. The family seems to like my baby back ribs and brisket so something handy to trim the ribs or a packer brisket is a pretty common event. I use the 6" Ken Onion Shun chef's knife as a utility knife but a 150-160 petty would be lighter and maybe easier to get into tight spots. Thanks for the advice. Cool looking petty.JASinIL2006 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:15 pm A thin petty might be what you're looking for. I didn't expect to like it so much, but I really like my Yuki petty (https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mayupe15.html) for boning. It gets into all the places you want with a boning knife, and yet the blade is pretty firm (in contrast to my Wusthof boning knife, which is a traditional 'whippy' boning knife). For breaking down large cuts (e.g., a whole packer brisket) I often will reach for 240 or 270 gyuto, but for triming, removing silverskin, and similar tasks, the petty is super handy. If you were going to be breaking down a lot of birds, a honesuki might be better, but a good petty knife is surprising versatile. Mine is made of White #2, so it gets incredibly sharp.
Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
If I go down the road of a Japanese petty as suggested instead of a ~6-7" curved boning knife, what would be the preferred steel for all around performance? I'm fine with reactive steels, although I would probably go with a clad blade to manage the maintenance. I do like the Tsuchime look and I would guess that it would help with sticking.
I'm asking about the blade type as I spent two hours yesterday removing microchips from our high use VG-10 Shun Santoku and 6" chefs; plus touched up my 10" Henkel Chef's, 10" carving, 6" slicing, 4" paring and two cheap Rikon paring knives. I'm afraid that a super hard blade in a petty would chip when I break down a whole bone-in rib roast into ribs and steaks when I find them on sale.
On the other side of the coin, does anyone own the Kanehide TK Gokujo Boning Knife 150mm Righty/Fibrox Handle? It looks to be the shape that I envision, reasonable steel and a relatively inexpensive boning knife. Not excited with the handle but it's a specialty tool for BBQ and prepping meat, and I already have a Honesuki for chickens. More importantly, I could afford to try a Japanese laser Gyoto, add a finer stone or add a strop kit with the savings.
I'm asking about the blade type as I spent two hours yesterday removing microchips from our high use VG-10 Shun Santoku and 6" chefs; plus touched up my 10" Henkel Chef's, 10" carving, 6" slicing, 4" paring and two cheap Rikon paring knives. I'm afraid that a super hard blade in a petty would chip when I break down a whole bone-in rib roast into ribs and steaks when I find them on sale.
On the other side of the coin, does anyone own the Kanehide TK Gokujo Boning Knife 150mm Righty/Fibrox Handle? It looks to be the shape that I envision, reasonable steel and a relatively inexpensive boning knife. Not excited with the handle but it's a specialty tool for BBQ and prepping meat, and I already have a Honesuki for chickens. More importantly, I could afford to try a Japanese laser Gyoto, add a finer stone or add a strop kit with the savings.
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Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
The older Richmond Artifex boning knife would be perfect for what you are looking for. AEB-L at 60 Rockwell, western handle, in a stiff, boning knife format. I will look to see if I have one kicking around here still.
Most of the Japanese boning knives are Honesuki types for doing poultry, not red meat, so the use/technique is a bit different than a Western style boning knife.
Tojiro has a boning knife, not sure of the blade flex on it though?
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpbokn15.html
Most of the Japanese boning knives are Honesuki types for doing poultry, not red meat, so the use/technique is a bit different than a Western style boning knife.
Tojiro has a boning knife, not sure of the blade flex on it though?
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpbokn15.html
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Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
I may get kicked off the forum for suggesting this but my fav boning knife is the Rosewood handled 6" curved semi stiff Victorinox. It is great for breaking down chickens, trimming up briskets, cutting steaks from smaller roasts etc. It is also great for breaking down venison if you like to hunt....don't discount it as a good skinning knife also. Caveat...keep a steel or steel like device handy. You will need to touch up the edge fairly often when in heavy use.
Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
When I looked at the Kanehide TK Gokujo Boning Knife 150mm, I thought it looked like the Victorinox. Lot's of trimmed and skinned meats over the years with a 6" curved semi stiff Victorinox. I kind of wanted something more cool but after prepping 4 baby backs this morning with my Kaji Shun 6" chef's, it's too heavy for boning and my old boning knife is long gone.7x57mm@gmail.com wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 3:09 am I may get kicked off the forum for suggesting this but my fav boning knife is the Rosewood handled 6" curved semi stiff Victorinox. It is great for breaking down chickens, trimming up briskets, cutting steaks from smaller roasts etc. It is also great for breaking down venison if you like to hunt....don't discount it as a good skinning knife also. Caveat...keep a steel or steel like device handy. You will need to touch up the edge fairly often when in heavy use.
Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
I see that CKTG no longer carries the Richmond Artiflex boning knife. Thank you for the reco.taz575 wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 1:57 pm The older Richmond Artifex boning knife would be perfect for what you are looking for. AEB-L at 60 Rockwell, western handle, in a stiff, boning knife format. I will look to see if I have one kicking around here still.
Most of the Japanese boning knives are Honesuki types for doing poultry, not red meat, so the use/technique is a bit different than a Western style boning knife.
Tojiro has a boning knife, not sure of the blade flex on it though?
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpbokn15.html
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Re: Boning Knife Recommendation
I gotta check my stash, I know I had one, maybe 2 around at one point? I had some of the pettys, honesuki, hankotsu, etc for when I broke down deer.
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