The difference in my pork shoulder yield after switching to a new boning knife

For the past month, I've been using that Victorinox 6-inch curved boning knife everyone talks about. My yield on Boston butts went from about 72% usable meat to a solid 78% in just that short time. I was using a cheap, straight blade from a supply house before, and I didn't think it mattered that much. The curve and flexibility of the new knife lets me get right against the bone and scapula so much cleaner. I'm leaving way less good meat behind. Has anyone else seen a jump like that just from a blade change?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_perry27d ago

Honestly that makes total sense. I read an article a while back that broke down how blade shape changes the cutting angle you can get. A straight knife just can't follow a bone curve like that. Tbh a six percent jump is huge when you're doing volume, that's money left on the bone before. I'm not surprised the right tool made that much difference.

troy97727d ago

Totally agree with you. Olivia's story about the rib cage really shows how the right curve just works better. Makes you wonder what else we're doing the hard way, right?

oliviac2227d ago

My old boss swore by his straight Forschner blade and I always thought that was the way to go. Reading pat_perry's point about the cutting angle finally clicked for me. I tried a friend's curved knife on a rib cage last week and it was a totally different feel, like the blade was just sliding where my old one would have hit bone and stopped. I'm leaving way less of that good silver skin and those weird meat tags around the joints. Guess I'm buying a new knife.