Best Steel for Butchering Knife

[JMasson]

I've have a few different knives (Victorinox & browning) that I'm currently using to process elk and a great way to make them shaving sharp. After a few hours of trimming silver skin and trying to cut on the cutting board as little as possible, the knives are getting dull. I'm thinking about getting a new knife that would be better steel and hold an edge better.

What steel would stay sharp the longest in this application? At this stage of processing, there are no bones to hit and the worst thing I'll cut into is a cutting board. Recommendations for a manufacturer?

It's not the end of the world, but it's just a pain to stop, wash the knife, go sharpen it, wash the knife, cut, repeat. I could go the bucket o' knives route also, but am intrigued by higher quality knives.

Thanks!

You need to get a good honing steel. Don’t get a diamond or ceramic steel, just a smooth honing rod. When you start to feel your edge degrading, take it for a couple passes on the honing rod and the edge will be good as new.

 

[Fire_9]

I keep 7 knives between two scabbards, but only use 4 on a daily basis. The white scabbard I wear on my person, and the other holds knives that I use for certain tasks. I have 3 6" boning knives that I use for the majority of the day. The meatcrafter (medium flex) I use for general trimming, shaping, and removing silver skin. It's my most used knife. The hankotsu, a stiff Japanese single bevel boning knife I use for deboning and severing tendons. The dexter russell (flexy) works best for getting in really tight spaces and removing meat off bones. The 10" Victory breaking knife (low/medium flex) does all my steaking and works really well for shaping large pieces of meat. The rest of the knives I occasionally use for specialized tasks. They all have varying amounts of sweep in the blade and stiffness, and that determines what I like using them for.

Most of the staff only use two knives, a 6" boning knife and a larger breaking knife. I like having blades best suited for my tasks.

Thanks for the info. The meatcrafter was the first one I had on my radar but I was hung up on supporting those guys. I ended up getting a R&N Blades HFK but was really hoping for something with a little more flex. Sounds like I may have to give the meatcrafter a try…

 

[schwaf]

Thanks for the info. The meatcrafter was the first one I had on my radar but I was hung up on supporting those guys. I ended up getting a R&N Blades HFK but was really hoping for something with a little more flex. Sounds like I may have to give the meatcrafter a try…

Honestly, try the dex russell first. It's nothing fancy and you need to put a new edge on, but it is shockingly good. I could get away with just that knife for basically everything but steaking. It's the lock pick in my quiver, but it can do everything the others can too, maybe just not quite as good. Dunno what the steel is, but it's fairly hard, takes and holds a good edge for a good while. If I lost all my knives, that would be the first one I would replace.

Amazon.com: Dexter-Russell Curved Boning Knife, 6" : Home & Kitchen

Amazon.com: Dexter-Russell Curved Boning Knife, 6" : Home & Kitchen

www.amazon.com

 

[schwaf]

That said, the meatcrafter is really nice. Definitely worth picking up too. Super light and nimble, and the handle contours make it comfortable to work with all day. The blade shape is good for general purpose, but I find it a little* too stiff and broad for working in tight spaces. Keep in mind I need to extract as much meat as I can as quickly as I can.

 

[Beendare]

A chef buddy recommended the Mercer knives, excellent.

I don’t know that they are any better than Forchner…