Old timer told me to ditch the electric knife for breaking down primals, now I get why

Gary, a retired butcher I met at a swap meet in Portland, kept hounding me about using a curved breaking knife instead of my electric one. He said the machine tears the meat fibers and ruins yield. I finally tried his method on a 150-pound beef primal last Tuesday, and I ended up with 5 more pounds of saleable trim than usual. The hand cut also left a cleaner surface on the steaks. Any of you guys swear by a specific brand of breaking knife for heavy work like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_green555d ago

Damn right he was onto something. I use a 10-inch Victorinox curved breaking knife with a granton edge for primals, stays sharp forever and the grip is solid even with wet hands.

milessmith5d ago

Mine would probably just retaliate and cut me back.