Demystifying Butchers Knives: A Guide to Different Types and Their Uses

If you are a meat eater, a chef, a butcher, or an all-around cook, you probably know how essential it is to have great quality butchers knives at your disposal. 

Butchers knives are often used to cut, trim and make different pieces of meat. A butcher knife is useful for chopping the meat and preparing your food faster, more accurately, and less frustratingly.

Ok, why would you pick the best butcher’s knife when hundreds of brands are in the market? The butcher knife industry has various types of knives from different manufacturers. They all have features and benefits to suit what part of the meat processing chain you are in. 

In this article, we want you to have an understanding of what variables there are when it comes to butchers knives and then be able to work out for your self what type is going to help you in whatever area of the industry you are in. 

What’s the Nature of a Butcher’s Knife?

A butcher’s knife is one of the main knives in the kitchen that is specifically manufactured to cut meat. 

A butcher knife typically has the following characteristics:

• A Big and Bulging Blade. The butcher knife most typically has a blade between 6 and 14 inches long and slightly curves upward from the handle to the tip. It aids in this by providing better leverage and precision for the slicing motion. Also, it is comfortable and easy to handle. The blades can also have different levels of width and flexibility depending on the type of meat and the reason for the cut.

• It has to Have a Sharp and Durable Edge. With these types of knives, you’ve got the following choices (all of which bring their own dynamic to the table) and if you are buying a top-end brand you’ll be dealing with high-grade steel.  So you’ll have the following:

• Stainless Steel
• Carbon steel
• Damascus steel. 

These blades can cut through an A4 piece of paper, so they can easily cut through the meat. In addition, the manufacturing is for longevity, so if you use the right sharpening tools, you’ll have it for the foreseeable future. 

The Variety of Butchers Knives?

Butchers knives are diverse in shape and size according to the choice of the user and the kind of meat they are cutting. Some of the common types are: Some of the common types are:

• Breaking Knife. A breaking knife is used for disassembling large portions into more manageable chunks. It is a great assailant with a narrow and long blade, usually between 10 and 14 inches in length, which can slice bones, cartilage, and joints. It is made for big animals, such as cows and pigs.

• Boning Knife. This is a multifaceted knife that is used to remove the bones from the meat. The knife, on the other hand, is short and has a narrow head. In most cases, its length is between 5 and 7 inches. This design allows it to get to the corners and crevices of the bone. I’s smooth blade is beneficial for medium and small animals, including chickens and fish.

• Skinning Knife. Such butcher knife models remove the skin from the meat; e.g. they peel the skin off from a roasted chicken. It has a small, slightly slanted blade of 5-6 inches, which can slide below the skin, thus separating it from the muscles. Its tip is sharpened, while the bottom of the blade is extra wide, and both can easily poke through the soft skin. It is perfect for animals with thick and tough skins, like deer and sheep.

• Trimming Knife. In this case, the trimming knife is employed to remove the fat, sinew, and other undesirable parts of meat by the process of trimming. It possesses a thin and sharp blade, approx 2-4 inches in length, that makes slicing the fine and fragile parts of the meat possible. It consists of a straight side and a pointed tip, which allows to do pinpoint and smooth cuts. It covers all types of meat, but for those that require trimming, like beef & lamb, it is the best option.

If you are searching for the perfect cut, then as in everything in life, you get what you pay for.  So here are some simple but effective ideas to ensure the meat and the blade are not to blame if the cut isn’t right! You need to get the right tools for the job – always.

Here are a two tips:

• Choose Your Knife Carefully. The correct choice of the knife is based on the kind and the size of the meat for which it will be used, as well as on the result you want to achieve. For instance, if you would like to cut a whole chicken for removal into pieces, you would use a slicing knife to go through the bones, a boning knife to de-bone, and a trimming knife to take off the fat and skin.

• Choose the Appropriate Technique and Adhere to Safety Measures. You should use the proper technique to cut for different cuts, such as slicing, chopping or deboning. You also need to make use of proper safety techniques like fingers away from the blade, use of a chopping board, and wearing gloves (PPE).

SUMMARY

Butchers knives are a part of the meat industry at all levels, not just when you get to the butchery part.  Abbators and slaughterhouses use them to ensure that workflow is constant as are the cuts of meat they deliver down the chain.  These are the subsequently used in butcheries and commercial kitchens to ensure the portion on the table at the end of it all, is sublime.  We hope this has given you an overview of what’s out there and what they do.  Now it’s up to you to choose. Good Luck!