Watched a guy at the farmers market trim a brisket with a $15 knife

I was at the Saturday market in Portland and this old butcher just used a cheap flexible boning knife to clean up a whole packer brisket in under 5 minutes. No fancier than my own setup at home, but his cuts were so clean there was almost no waste left on the board. Has anyone else noticed that skill matters way more than the price of your tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivers2817d ago

Man, that's exactly it. I used to think I needed a $200 Japanese gyuto to do good work, but my grandpa could break down a whole hog with a $8 Dexter paring knife and make it look easy. The real trick isn't the blade, it's learning how to follow the natural seams in the meat and keeping that edge sharp with a quick steel between cuts. I bet that guy could make a butter knife look like a pro tool if he had to. What's your sharpening routine like for your kitchen knives?

clark.iris17d ago

But honestly I gotta push back a little on the romantic idea that anyone can make a butter knife work. I've seen too many folks show up to a tailgate with a dull knife and a bad attitude, and the results are always a mess. A good knife isn't about showing off, it's about not fighting the meat every step of the way. You spend more time sawing and tearing with a crappy blade, and you lose the feel of those natural seams your grandpa knew by heart. So yeah, skill matters more than price, but a decent edge is the bare minimum to even start learning that skill.