A Complete Handbook on Professional Meat Processing Knives

Are you experiencing bad cutting with your old blunt knife? Then it is high time to buy professional meat processing knives. Though it’s called a professional knife you can use it for both home and commercial purposes. These knives are the top-listed whether it comes for the job of professional chef or butcher. 

We all know that cutting meat is a challenging task when it comes to accurate processing. So choosing professional knives is the only option. 

These knives process the meat so precisely than any other regular kitchen knife. Moreover, they ensure proper safety along with top-notch cutting quality. 

Professional Meat Processing Knives

There are several questions that you may ask yourself before working with these sorts of knives. In this case, we have listed below all those answers along with the authentic direction. 

What Are the Professional Meat Processing Knives? 

Professional meat processing knives are considered to be the most important knives in the kitchen for their ergonomic design and outstanding cutting quality. Unlike your regular kitchen knife, they are non-serrated and come with curved blades. 

These blades allow slicing the raw meat in whatever shape and size you want. Furthermore, after cutting you can observe professional touches on those processed meats. 

Commercial grade butcher knife sets usually come with lengthy blades up to 8 to 12 inches, which provide precise and desirable single cuts through a large slice of meat. 

Now let’s talk about the handle. This portion of the knife is designed both elegantly and scientifically. The handle mainly comes with a slip-resistant feature, which ensures the firm holding without hurting your palm. 

Moreover, the material is antibacterial so that bacteria cannot grow under the handle surface. The designer has thought about a healthy life. 

Why Should You Use Professional Butcher Knives? 

Imagine that you are cutting a large meat piece with your regular old kitchen knife. You will somehow manage to have meat pieces but not the accurate in your desired size. 

Besides you need to put too much pressure on your hand, just to get a good cut. In that case, we would recommend you to check out professional butcher knife set Amazon and find a suitable one to get your job done like a pro. 

There are plenty of options for butcher knife uses. Let’s check out the facts of why you need to have the best professional butcher knife set. 

  • Help to trim the excess fat from the meat pieces. 
  • Easily cut through cartilage and bone.
  • Provide flat slices through flesh.
  • Easily chop larger meat into the smallest pieces.
  • They can break almost everything into smaller parts. 
  • No need to sharp frequently
  • Take care of your palm. 
  • Lightweight yet durable.
  • Ensure the firm holding capability. 

Types of Meat Processing Knife Set 

You can find plenty of options for professional meat processing knives. Some of them are worthy to have in your kitchen tool list and some of them are still struggling to prove their quality. 

So before purchasing these sorts of knives you need to have a clear idea about their types and which type you need to have in your kitchen. 

Butcher Knives 

These types of knives come with a sleek design and durable handle. Moreover, the blade has a slight curve to cut through the meat more smoothly. 

You can also find some kinds of butcher knives with Granton edges feature. This feature allows perfect slices through the meat piece without shredding or tearing the knife. 

Professional butcher knives are mainly used for trimming fat and breaking down cuts of meat. These knives are easily available in restaurants and butcher shops. 

German Butcher Knives are the first choice for both chef and butcher. German knives are nothing but the blade is made of stainless Molybdenum steel that allows the knife to give more flexible cuts. 

Boning Knives 

Boning knives are also included in this meat processing knife set. They come within three categories like flexible, semi-flexible, and stiff featured. The blade is thinner and sharp in size. And the handle is comparatively wider than the blade. 

There are a variety of options for sizes and styles. These types of knives are mainly used for separating the meat from bones and reducing the wastage of meat. The sharp and thin blade allows trimming all the meat in fine pieces. Besides that, the handle comes with durable material that ensures a comfortable holding. 

Slicing Knives  

These sorts of knives are mainly designed for slicing cooked meat. The narrow blade is perfectly built for slicing through a larger piece of meat. 

Moreover, these knives have a rounded tip and long blade which helps to handle it more comfortably. Nowadays, most of the slicing knives come with a Granton edge feature and it prevents tearing while cutting meat.  

Carving Knives 

Craving knives are designed for slicing cooked meat mainly. They are comparatively thinner than other chef knives. 

Moreover, the long blades enable them to carve and provide more précised slices.  

Cimeter Knives

These knives are another kind of butcher knives, which are only used for cutting and prepping the meat. 

They come with long and curved blades that allow trimming fat from bone and ribs. Furthermore, they are also used for breaking down a large cut of beef. 

Breaking Knives

Breaking knives are another sort of butcher knife that is mainly designed for cutting a larger portion of meat in smaller pieces. Plus, they are good for chopping meats in the smallest pieces. 

These knives are featured with curved blades, which provide additional leverage when you need to cut through the toughest skin, small bones, and cartilage. Besides, they perform outstanding while it comes to the trimming fat from cutting meat pieces. 

Steak Knives

Steak knives are built with a sharp serrated edge and most of the time with wooden handles. They are amazing for cutting steaks and other meats. 

There are mainly three types of steak knives- 

  • Straight
  • Hollow
  • Serrated

It easily cut off the meat fiber and bones as well. These types of knives are very popular for household chores, especially in the United States. 

It is also beneficial for chopping and tenderloin. They will last for years and the sharpness will remain the same even after frequent washing in the dishwasher. 

Steak knives are not only good for meat steak but also amazing for fish steak. 

Skinning Knives

When you need to do skinning from a goat, or pig you will need a skinning knife. Through this knife, you can easily cut off the skin from the surface of the meat. They can also be used to remove cheek meat. 

These sorts of knives are used to remove the skin from small animals. They perform amazingly to get rid of the skin without tearing the meat. 

The blade comes with a curvy shape which ensures the smooth motion for cutting. The blades are also wide and about 6 to 7 inches long. This long blade feature helps to separate the meat from the skin without any hassle. 

You need to keep in mind that skinning knives are not built for multipurpose. It means you cannot use it for other tasks except separating the skin from the meat. 

Cleaver 

They are typically following the same pattern as traditional butcher knives. However, they are light-weight and thinner than the butcher knives. 

The most eye-catchy part of these types of knives is their unique design. They come with larger shapes and sizes along with a tough edge. This tough edge makes it withstand and allows cutting bones, the cartilage of any certain density. 

Cleaver knives are mainly built with durable material. So that it can easily cut out bones. Joints and frozen meat as well. You need to know one more thing that there are two different types of cleaver knife: one is meat cleaver and the other one is vegetable cleaver. So all you need to do is to choose the suitable one for you. 

As this article is about Professional meat processing knives, we will keep our discussion within the meat cleaver. Additionally, meat cleavers are intended for hacking through tough bones and curtilage joints.  

A Brief Anatomy for Professional Meat Processing Knives

Here, we will try to provide a concise yet described factors of a professional meat knife. 

Blade

There is no doubt that the most important part of any knife is its blade. No matter how fancy design the knife has or how expensive it is, the main job is cutting. 

The blades are designed according to the cutting purposes. For example, curved blades are the best for chopping and skinning. In contrast, thinner blades are for trimming the fat. There are basic five portions of a knife blade. 

Spine 

This is the back part of the blade. More precisely this is the opposite of the cutting edge. Generally, this unsharpened part is one of the thickest and heaviest parts of a knife blade. 

The main job of this portion is to provide strength to all over the blade. It also determines how strong the knife is. The stronger knives tend to have a heavier spine. 

If you hold it while chopping it will provide more pressure on your meat pieces to get fine chops. 

Point

This is the front part of the knife where the cutting edge and spine meet. Its shape and design are mainly based on their cutting purposes. 

For example, a skinning knife has the sharpest point, and a chopping and trimming knife has the usual point. 

There are multiple options of points like a drop point, spear point, trailing point, and needlepoint. 

Tip 

The tip is the first third portion of the blade. It is built in thinner shape and for including points. It allows having fine cuts and slices. 

Besides, it serves as an anchor while mincing. In met cutting tip plays an important role to have precise and accurate size. It depends on the level of sharpness the tip holds. 

Edge 

Cutting Edge is the most crucial part of the knife. It is also known as the belly of the blade. This is where you put pressure to cut any object. 

In the case of meat processing, you must have a blade with a proper cutting edge. Most of the edges are almost the same in different sorts of meat processing knife set. So there is no particular condition for edge except the sharpness. 

Heel

This is the exact opposite side of the point. It is a wide and strong portion of the blade. 

When we need to put extra pressure on cutting objects, we use heel. It can be rounded or squared in shape. 

Handle 

This is the part that remains closer to you. It means you hold this portion to cut. So it is necessary to have a comfortable handle that won’t hurt your palm after long cutting. 

This part is mainly made of wood, rubber, or plastic. But for meat cutting, I will always recommend you to have a wood handle. There are two separate parts of the handle. 

Butt

Butt is located on the back end and is the rear part of the handle. Usually, we don’t hold the butt of the knife. However, this is important to provide proper shape and balance to the knife. 

Tang 

Tang is the part which we hold in a knife. It should not be too wide or too thin rather should be comfortably fit in hand. 

How to Choose The Right Professional Meat Processing Knives Set? 

To choose the best professional meat processing knives, you need to keep in mind some crucial points. It will help you to find the right knife set that can easily get your job done. 

Material

The blade should be made of durable and long-lasting material along with rust-proof protection. And also need to make sure that the sharpness of the blade remains for a long period. 

And the material of the handle is another major fact to the concern of. If the material is slippery or too hard then it will make the cutting job more uncomfortable. So you need to care about the material for both blades and handle.

Generally, high carbon stainless-steel blades are the best material to maintain the top-notch knife quality. They are durable and corrosion-resistant. As a result, it provides a strong and long-lasting built to the knife.  

Sharpness

What if you need to sharpen your knife every time before using it? For me, this is the most annoying job ever. So it is very important to have a blade that provides a sharp cut for a long time. 

In this case, the stainless steel blade is the safest option. They will allow you to cut through the tough pieces of meat without sharpening, breaking, and chipping. 

Furthermore, high carbon stainless-steel material is known for holding the sharpness for a long time and also low maintenance material. Its high sharpness will add a professional touch on your meat cutting job. 

Shape

The blade shape is as important as the blade material. You need to choose the right blade shape according to your cutting purposes. As the shape of the blade affects the precision, you need to choose the right one. 

In the case of cutting bones and trimming fat, selecting the knife with the right shape is one of the essential jobs. 

For example, for cutting bones you have to go for a wider blade. On the other hand for trimming fat or skinning, you need to have a sharp and thin blade shape. 

Handle Grip 

Experts always claim that the handle of the blade is as important as the blade. If you are looking for professional touch on your cutting job then definitely check and double-check the handle. 

To check out the suitable knife with the right handle, you need to keep in mind about material, comfort and build. 

The material should be non-slippery to hold it firmly. As you are going to put a certain amount of pressure on your handle, the material must be durable. 

For the highest durability and strongest built, I would always suggest using a wooden handle. If it becomes costly for you, then you can go for the strong rubber-made handle as well. 

Balance 

Undoubtedly cutting raw meat is the most difficult task and also a bit risky. In this situation, you need a well-balanced cutting tool. Otherwise, it may cause an accident. 

As a balanced knife provides properly controlled pressure over the entire knife, it is necessary to check out the knife before buying. 

Some knives feature a full tang, which is well-balanced to hold. Additionally, long tang helps for holding a heavy knife as well. 

How to Use Professional Butcher Knives?

Holding 

First of all, you have to hold the knife firmly and most importantly in an appropriate manner. The correct way of holding a knife is to hold it in a “pinch grip” way. 

It is like pinching the blade base with the help of the pointer finger and thumb. Then firmly hold the entire handle by curling your pointer finger. You need to do it to balance it in your hand. 

Cutting

Before starting cutting, you need to know which part of the blade is used for which task. For example, the tip is good for getting into the meat and skin.

Then the curve part helps to separate the meat from the skin. Besides, it is also designed for getting around the bone. You can easily separate the meat from bones with this curved part of the blade. 

Chopping 

For chopping purposes, you can easily use the cutting edge of the knife. It will create the needed pressure on the meat piece and chop finely. 

If you need the smallest chopped pieces, then put pressure on the spine. 

Slicing

To get precise and clean slices you need to use the full-length blade. All you have to do is, get through cutting the knife completely into the meat pieces. Make sure that the knife is sharp enough to slice every piece in a single cut. 

Trimming

Trimming fat from the raw meat pieces is another tough job. For trimming, you need to utilize the tip portion of the blade. All you need to do is pressurize the tip part in between the meat and fat.

Skinning 

According to experts, skinning is one of the hardest jobs in butchery. For skinning, nothing can be better than using the point of the blade in a straight line. This method will easily separate your meat from the skin. 

Maintenance Tips

  • Always store your knife in a dust-free drawer. I
  • Use a knife cover. 
  • Do not use soap to clean your knife
  • Never leave your knife for air dry. It may cause corrosion
  • Never let the knife soak in a cleanser or water.
  • After cleaning your knife, try to make it dry as soon as possible
  • To dry it, you can use a soft kitchen towel. So that it won’t leave any unwanted scratch
  • You can use lemon to remove black spots of the blade. 
  • For regular cleaning, vinegar is the most ideal cleanser for any meat processing knife set. 
  • Another cleaning hack is to use potato starch. It increases the rust-resistance of the stainless-steel.
  • Use cork to rub and clean. If you use any wired scrubber, then it will leave scratch marks on the blade. Moreover, it reduces the sharpness as well. 

Summing Up Professional Meat Processing Knives 

Depending on the intensity of the meat piece, knives can be chosen from various models. But modern knives come with a variety of modern features. 

All of them may not be useful to you. So check all those mentioned instructions to make your cutting job more professional. 

Therefore, we hope that the given guideline will be sufficient enough to direct you promptly towards knife use. 

Working with Professional meat processing knives is no longer a headache. All you need to do is have a suitable set of Professional butcher knives.  

And don’t forget to check the quality of the blades. If they don’t perform well, then you can go for a professional butcher knife set Amazon. Most of the professional meat processing knives in Amazon come with amazing features and performances. 

They have simple designs and easy to operate. Also, keep your fingers safe while cutting with these sharp meat knives.

Good luck and have a good day!

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