Must-Have Items in Your Butcher Knife Set
If you know your way around the kitchen, you’ll understand that the right tools help you efficiently and conveniently prepare your meals with impressive results. For instance, preparing, cooking, and serving meat can be enjoyable and hassle-free if you have a reliable butcher knife set with the specific tools to give you that perfect, precise cut.
There are different types of knives out there, each with distinctive designs that are created according to purpose and functionality. As a hunter and meat lover, a superior quality set of knives at your side makes preparation a breeze. If you’re a beginner butcher and are still honing your knife skills, this may be your first glimpse into the world of cutlery.
Before we introduce the different tools and knives in your butcher set, let’s first define what a butcher set is and how they are different from other kitchen knives.
What is a Butcher Knife Set?
A butcher knife set is a collection of knives with the butcher knife as the centrepiece. This main tool is used together with other smaller knives for various meat preparation techniques. A complete butcher set is a kitchen staple for hunters, butchers, and professional chefs because of the ease that they provide for splitting, deboning, stripping, trimming, and slicing meat, among others.
These knives are designed and shaped to butcher and dress large carcasses, breaking down large portions of meat into smaller, meal-size pieces?
What are the Different Types of Butcher Knives?
A complete butcher knife set is made up of three to six knives. Every knife has a specific purpose. Let’s talk about each one and why you need them in your kitchen.
Butcher Knife
As mentioned before, the butcher knife is the flagship knife in your set. Typically, the main butcher knife is large and thick with a slightly curved front and is known for its robust blade. It offers the leverage and heft necessary to cut large pieces of meat.
However, a butcher blade is too wide for boning meat. It’s also too rigid to be used for filleting and can be a bit stiff for skinning. This is where the rest of the set comes in. A butcher knife works together with other knives to prepare quality cuts of meat for cooking, storing, or presentation.
Chef Knife
Don’t be intimidated by its name. Beginners and professionals alike can use a chef knife thanks to its easy grip and versatility. It’s the most versatile member of your knife arsenal in that it can be used for meat, vegetables, and other types of food. While it’s not advisable to be used for butchering (leave that to your good old butcher knife!) the chef knife is an ideal tool for disjointing large cuts, as well as mincing and slicing meat.
Filleting Knife
Fleshy, boneless meat, anyone? A filleting knife is a perfect pick for boning, skinning, and removing cartilage from your meat. Smaller and thinner than a chef’s knife and a butcher’s knife, it’s known for its “flex” that allows you to control your blade easily and quickly as its bends and slices around the meat, bones, and joints. Aside from animal meat, this type of knife is popular for sushi chefs when filleting fresh fish.
Boning Knife
Like a filleting knife, a boning knife is designed for better manoeuvrability. It’s a pocket-sized butcher knife characterised by its small, thin blade, and narrowed point. It is specifically designed to bone pork and poultry, but it can also be used for deboning fish, in the absence of a filleting knife. Its unique serrations on one side of the blade prevent the meat from slipping while you cut.
Carving Knife
A carving knife is known for its sharp, pointed tip and long, thin blade. The blade has its signature serrations and flexibility meant to slice through roasts, ham, and other cooked dishes with relative ease and without tearing the soft meat apart. Other types of carving knives have scalloped edges while others are wider. This design ensures that the knife will cut straight through cartilage.
Skinning Knife
Taken from its name, a skinning knife’s main purpose is to separate animal skin from the underlying meat. Not only an essential knife for the kitchen, but it’s also a great hunting tool thanks to its portability and efficiency. It’s a popular tool for hunters who are out in the wild and ready to take on a fresh carcass.
Typically, a skinning knife is designed with a wide and short blade. In terms of structure, its edge is strong and doesn’t have the flexibility that a boning or filleting knife has.
Honing Steel
Finally, the most important item in your butcher knife is the honing steel. Technically, it’s not a knife but it plays a significant role in maintaining the quality of your blades by keeping them sharp. A honing tool refreshes the edges and tips of your kitchen and butcher knives, making them easier to work with. Along with proper care and use, this item will also help increase the lifespan of your knives.
There are different knife styles, materials, and designs out there, each devised to serve its unique purpose. This article only scratches the surface of the amazing world of hunting, meat preparation, and cooking but hopefully, it helped you get a glimpse of the bigger, more exciting things that are waiting for you!
