Switched to a boning knife with a curve instead of straight and it changed my rib prep

For years I used a standard straight blade boning knife for trimming spare ribs, and I was always fighting to get that membrane off clean without gouging the meat. About 6 months ago, a guy at the Eugene meat shop I work at handed me a 6 inch curved boning knife from Victorinox, and I figured why not try it. The curve lets me ride along the bone way easier, and I cut my trim time on a rack of ribs from like 8 minutes down to 4. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific knife shape for ribs or pork butts?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera28d ago

6 inch Victorinox flexible boning knife is what I use and I Actually switched the other way around. I found the curve made me more likely to dig into the meat when I was trying to follow the bone on the back side of the ribs. Straight blade lets me control the angle with my wrist instead of relying on the knife shape. But I also do competition ribs where appearance matters more than speed, so I might be in the minority.

hayes.oliver27d ago

Man, the "digging into the meat" thing is exactly what I ran into. I had a curved Victorinox for years and I finally switched to a straight 5 inch Wusthof because I got so tired of over-trimming the back of the ribs. With the curve I felt like I was always fighting the knife to stay flat against the bone. I do backyard stuff, not competition, but I got obsessive about presentation for a while. Straight blade just feels more predictable, like I'm driving the cut instead of the knife deciding for me.