Swapped from a butcher's saw to a breaking knife for primal cuts about 8 months ago

I used to fight through pork shoulders with a saw and ended up with bone dust everywhere, now I just follow the natural seams with a curved 10-inch knife. Made the switch after a mentor at a shop in Austin showed me how much yield I was losing to the saw. Has anyone else found a specific tool that just clicked for you after years of doing it the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake_hall881mo ago

Man, that curved 10-inch knife is a game changer for sure. I spent way too many years using a straight blade on rib primals and wondered why my strips were always a little off. Curious though, what kind of steel are you running on that knife? I've tried a few different ones in that size and found carbon steel holds an edge way longer than stainless for that kind of work, but it's a pain to keep dry. Your Austin mentor was right about the yield too, a saw throws away so much meat that a knife just frees up. Do you find the curve helps you keep your wrist straighter on those long shoulder seams, or do you still end up using a lot of wrist motion?

sammurray1mo ago

Ha, yeah I finally learned to stop fighting the curve. Took me way too long too. I'm running a high carbon steel on that one. Victorinox Fibrox actually. I know it's not fancy but it works. Stainless just never held up for me either, I'd be honing every five minutes. The curve is a lifesaver on those shoulder seams. My wrist used to ache after a long shift. Now it's more about guiding the blade than forcing it. Still get sloppy after a few hours though.