Before you cook and eat, you need to cut the meat. Moreover, so that less flesh remains near the bones. Cutting meat is not an easy task. Here you can not do without special skills and experience. Specialists know the sequence of operations, the direction in which you need to cut to get quality pieces. One of the difficult steps in cutting a carcass or part of it is to separate the meat from the bone. But one skill may not be enough. We need a quality tool that will make it possible to do this quickly. In this case, both the hands and the knife must remain intact. What kind of instrument is this, and how does it differ from the rest?
Carcass Cutting Tools
Consider these varieties in more detail.
Boning knives
Knives for cutting animal carcasses, trimming and separation of meat from bones are called boning. How do they differ from the rest? Can any long knife be called boning?
In order to cope with cutting meat and separating it from bones, you need to have a very sharp knife. But this is not enough. In order to easily bypass the bones in the work, separating as much meat from them as possible, the knife must be very flexible. But since the deboner has to perform operations of varying complexity in his work, he also needs different knives: both flexible and rigid.
According to their sanitary and hygienic characteristics, they should be suitable for working with food, which is meat.
All knives are required to meet certain parameters.
The form
The blade of such knives is long and rather narrow. Its end is sharpened in the shape of the letter V. Professional boning knives are designed so that they easily enter the meat. They are usually designed to process pork, beef, lamb and poultry. Meat should not stick to the blade.
Length
Boning knives can have a length of 130 mm to 300 mm in increments of 10, sometimes 5 mm. For deboning, products from 13 to 15 cm are usually used; for trimming, from 23 to 30 cm.
Usually, each specialist uses several knives in turn, depending on the type of carcass to be processed. They are personal tools adapted to a particular master. After all, the more convenient it is for a specialist to work, the higher his productivity.
Material for manufacturing
The boning knife experiences quite strong loads during operation. In addition, during sterilization, he is immersed in hot water, which kitchen knives usually do not like. Moreover, it is affected by the aggressive environment of meat juice. For boning meat knives to last as long as possible, they are made of high carbon stainless steel.
Chromium molybdenum steel is also used. It is tempered by heat treatment in a vacuum.
Sharpening
Sharpening a boning knife takes place in several stages. Preliminary is carried out using special machines, and the main - manually. And to achieve perfect smoothness, it is polished with grinding and polishing wheels. For these operations, it is convenient to use universal grinding machines.
Handles
The shape of the handle is of great importance for convenient knife operation. After all, a person needs to wield it throughout the entire working day. Therefore, the handle should be comfortably fixed by hand, not slip. That is why its surface is a little rough.
During operation with a knife, the hand may slip to the blade and cut into it. To prevent this from happening, there should be a protrusion at the end of the handle to prevent possible injury.
Often, knife handles are made of polypropylene - a very durable plastic. It has a small specific weight, so the handles are light. Polypropylene products have an attractive appearance.
Polyoxymethylene, mikarta is used. In order that the blade does not fall out of the handle, it is riveted. In professional knives, this is done with rivets made of aluminum alloy.
Hardness
Boning knives must be firm. This property is measurable. There are many methods, but the Rockwell method is considered the most accessible and generally accepted . It is based on measuring the depth of penetration into the test material of a special solid tip of the device, called a hardness tester. Depending on the material from which the tip is made, eleven scales of definition are distinguished, indicated by the first letters of the Latin alphabet. The unit of measure is HR, to which a letter is added indicating the scale along which it was drawn. Knives are determined on a scale marked with the letter C.
The highest possible rate for the steel from which the knives are made is 70 HRC. But in reality their hardness does not exceed 65 HRC. A knife with an index greater than this value will be very fragile, therefore impractical. Therefore, usually high-quality blades have a hardness index in the range from 56 to 62 units. There are harder ones, but in such cases the blade is protected with special mild steel plates. This is found in damask sabers.
It is not possible to check the hardness indicator at home, so you have to trust the manufacturer. In order not to be deceived, you need to buy knives from well-known manufacturers who enjoy an excellent reputation. Or check quality first hand, risking a mistake.
Professional boning knives
All knives can be divided into kitchen and professional. We use kitchen at home, preparing dinner for the family. And in the workplace they are professional. This does not mean that you cannot cut meat or other products with a professional knife at home. But to work as a kitchen when cutting meat in production does not work.
Professional knives are divided into boning, cook, chopping, for vegetables, fish, bread, vegetables and others.
Tramontin knives
These knives are intended for professional use. They do not break, they keep grinding for a long time. 2 mm thick blade made of stainless steel.
Tramontin boning knives are distinguished by a beautiful white polypropylene handle. The antibacterial coating of "microbane" protects the knife from dirt, does not allow various pathogenic fungi, mold, microbes to multiply. Customer reviews say that the coating does not wear out over a long period of use, no matter how long the knife is used. The shape of the handle is comfortable to grip, large and light, does not slip in the hand.
The blade is very thorough polished, does not darken with time. It is sharpened in the form of the letter V, which allows you to cut accurately, easily and accurately for a long time.
Eicker knives
Eicker knife blades are made from chromed stainless steel. In order to rid them of brittleness, steel is first alloyed with molybdenum and vanadium. The result is very sharp knives that do not blunt during operation. Therefore, they are not sharpened, but only corrected and polished. To do this, use a special musat - a chisel made of chrome vanadium steel.
Eicker boning knives are equipped with a conveniently shaped handle molded from fiberglass nylon and rubber. Therefore, they do not slip, it is well fixed in the hand. Boning knives of this brand do not break and do not form cracks. They are not afraid of falling from a height. It is safe to work with knives with such handles, because the protective protrusion prevents accidental cuts. It helps to easily and effortlessly cut meat carcasses. This is indicated by customer reviews.
In the Eicker series, boning knives are rigid, semi-flexible and flexible. Using a set of such tools, you can make all the necessary meat cutting operations.
How much does a boning knife cost? The price of a professional tool of the Eicker brand is approximately 800 rubles.
Giesser knives
Giesser boning knives are made from chrome-molybdenum steel with a hardness rating of 56 HRC. Blades treated with silver to protect against germs. Each product has its own number, according to which it is repaired or replaced. The warranty on PRIME LINE knives from the manufacturer Giesser is lifetime. The price is about 1200 rubles.
KAI SHUN Japanese boning knife is made of Damascus steel. Its blade is sharpened on both sides, which allows it to easily penetrate deep into the meat. The handle is made of ebony, treated with special substances from rotting and insects. It is very strong due to the high content of oily substances in the wood. It does not deteriorate, does not rot, does not break.
The all-metal ring (bulster), located at the junction of the handle and blade, prevents the accumulation of meat residues and injuries during operation. At the end of the handle there is a special steel heel. It protects the knife from destruction during accidental impacts, so it lasts longer.
The length of the blade is 150 mm, the total length is 272 mm. Sharpening type plain. The hardness of the blade is 61 HRC.
To work with such a knife is easy. This is indicated by customer reviews. The hand does not get tired for a long time.
The price of such a product is about 10 thousand rubles.
Knives ERGOGRIP
Wide boning knives have a stainless steel blade 15 cm long. Ergonomic handles of various colors allow you to work for a long time without feeling fatigue. The hardness of steel blades is 56 HRC.
The price is about 1 thousand rubles.