Boning Knife?


 
R. Hutchins

R. Hutchins

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Most of the time, the knives I have serve me quite well. I have a very inexpensive but actually quite good Wolfgang Puck 4-knife and block set that I usually use. I also have some others that are either Hinckley or Wusthof, but I do not have what I think is called a boning knife. Usually, I don't buy a knife until I find that I don't have one that works for what I want to do. That day has arrived.

One of my favorite dishes to make and to eat is chicken cacciatore. I only cook it with bone-in thighs, but the only way I can buy them is with skins-on too. I remove the skins and take off the fat globs. I don't have a good knife for this. Paring knife and chef's knives aren't good. I'm thinking that a 4" or 6" boning knife with a stiff blade is the answer.

What would you recommend? Budget is a definite consideration. I do NOT believe that I'm a good enough cook to justify the really expensive knives. Being retired also limits the budget.
 
The Victorinox 6" curved boning knife is very good. They come in a stiff or flex blade. Click the Amazon link above and check them out.
 
Are you removing the bone from the meat? If not then you are just trimmng fat and skin off the thigh which is what most do for competition thighs.

If just trimming fat and skin then that is best done with a knife on a cutting board. A boning knife is not ideal for this. I use a mid size utility knife with a flattish profile but a Chef's knife also works. This Fujiwara FKM Stainless Petty 150mm is a nice option. The flat profile is more ideal for board cutting but the pointy end works as a boning knife.
 
I'll fourth or fifth the Victorinox 6-inch Fibrox Flexible Boning Knife. Very comfortable nonslip handle.
 
J Hoke said:
The Victorinox 6" curved boning knife is very good. They come in a stiff or flex blade. Click the Amazon link above and check them out.
Click to expand...
I don't know why some companies keep using the Forschner name. It was retired in 2011 when Victorinox bought them out.
 
I like Globals. They're one piece so stuff doesn't get into corners and you can get the handles wet. Also, they're sharp as heck when you first get them (more on that). Finally, they're not too heavy and well balanced in my opinion.

Yes, they're costly but you're going to get 10yrs out of them so divide the cost by 10 ($150 knife, $15 per year).

Problem is getting Japanese knives properly sharpened. Most commercial knife sharpeners use European angles. Most won't even sharpen to a Japanese angle. They just grind them to the standard. That's fine but you lose a bit of what you paid for.

To answer your question, my Global boning knife was $110 and I use it regularly as a home cook. I can tear down a whole chicken in less than 5 minutes and I'm no expert. It's great for fine slicing. It's flexible enough to butcher a chicken filet but not so flexible it overbends when cutting through bone. I can't say enough about the 1 piece design when you're cleaning you knives.
 
I really liked using for 40 years my Forschner 6" boning knife from this page; it's either a 6 inch flexible or a 6 inch semi-stiff from this page; and, yes, with a rosewood handle that's been cured with several coats of tung oil along with a final coat of 50-50 tung-mineral oil for hardness.

With the meat defrosted properly, it works like a real champ when it comes to trimming the roast for beef jerky. And, the blade was re-beveled on the coarse carbide stone of the Norton Tri-Hone. Works like a champ on firm meat after finishing with a Idahone. Heaven.

My father who ran the commissary, I inherited it from him. Old Pollock who recently related to me how he butchered pigs on his dirt floors in upstate NY. As time went on he lost his skills in order to protect us from speaking German and finally went on to tending both blasts at Bikini Atoll and other things. I get so ****ed off.
 
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