Butcher Knives

[fiveptbill]

I am curious for those of you who do your own processing what knives do you use? I use a Cutco boning knife as well as a J A Henckels boning knife. I also use and old no name chefs knife my grandpa gave me to cut steaks. And of course a steel to keep them all sharp.

 

[JLS]

Chicago Cutlery set that we got as a wedding present 18 years ago.

 

[pseshooter300]

I got a outdoor edge set that come in a case they are pretty good for what i need them for mainly here in the east

 

[singleshot1]

I also use an Outdoor Edge set that seems to work well. Prior to that a mixed and matched set

 

[npaden]

I also use a outdoor edge set. I tend to only use the butcher knife, boning knife and the sharpener, but they have cut up a LOT of animals.

 

[awapiti]

I love forschner knives, they can be found for very cheap and are very sharp. I prefer the sheep skinner for the field and a boning knife for processing back at home.

 

[JohnCushman]

...another one for Outdoor Edge

 

[bjtc_brian]

Don't laugh, but I use pampered chef knives. They actually work really well.

 

[Outdooraddict]

Two forschner fillet knives, and another forschner knife for steaking/butterflying. Had them for years, still very sharp.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I use the Outdoor Edge with a Rapala Filet knife on standby. The trick is having the meat chilled just right. John

 

[putm2sleep]

My grandpa's old fillet knife - been using it since I was 9 years old filleting crappies and bass. Does a nice job. My buddy uses the OE set, he likes it.

 

[sbhooper]

I use whatever I have accumulated over the years. Slim blades are definitely the most versatile when cutting meat. I have some slim, re-ground butcher knives that are my preferred knives for processing. You can get them real cheap and they are quality knives re-cycled from butchers.

 

[DWarcher]

Here is what I have been collecting lately:

http://schmidtbrotherscutlery.com/

There's not much better out there for the money...

 

[deer_shooter]

Dexter Russel filet knife

 

[Corax]

Another vote for Forschner, plus a ceramic stick to keep them sharp. One of the most useful is a 6" swept-back blade.

 

[ringer]

I used to sell to butchers and Forschners are cheap and great knives. Very easy to sharpen in the field.

 

[Bambistew]

Another vote for Forschner, plus a ceramic stick to keep them sharp. One of the most useful is a 6" swept-back blade.

Yep... curved boning knife, semi stiff. Its all I pack anymore, and have for the last 5-6 years. Caping, skinning, quartering, boning, butchering... does it all. Stiff hunting blades work, but work a knife for a while and you'll soon find out that a stiff blade requires more work to cut with.

I plan on putting one to use again this weekend.

 

[Goldtip]

Forschners.

 

[Rimrock]

Back to the (18)60's on knives...

OK, can't resist chiming in on this one, with a unique and unconventional perspective. But then when you grow up with red hair, you get used to that!
We ran a game processing plant north of Bozeman starting about '82, initially Springhill Custom Meats, which morphed into Springhill Sausage Company, which morphed into Buffalo Bill's, until the bison thing got cancelled due to politics. Plus of course farming in the warmer seasons, and another sundry venture or two.
We used mostly Forschner, although tried all the others. They used to be good. That was then...
Now they're OK for occasional use, but if you're skinning buffalo, you sharpen knives way more than normal, and a few years into we discovered things had changed. Modern "professional" butcher knives sharpen kinda OK for a while, but then all of a sudden one day they absolutely turn to feces, and won't take an edge at all! I swear, they're only surface tempered anymore, or something...!
So we eventually went back to using the plain old carbon steel knives, primarily Dexter, and I just went out and grabbed a boner I'm currently using on my son's elk. Which I'll get around to posting a photo of... maybe later today. After I get back from the Ag Expo at MSU, where they're displaying... no knives or deceased critters, but our camelina oil products! Anyway, the boning knife is Dexter model 13G5N, and can't read the model # on the skinning knives anymore, but unlike the "modern" versions, you can continually sharpen them down until they're just a sliver, and they still hold an edge.

 

[sagebrush]

I have two Forschners, one is 40 years old and the other is older. I put an edge on them with my Gatco sharpening kit once a year.