Butcher knife set.

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I like having a set that I keep in a box with other processing gear in my truck because I hunt and process in 2-3 main spots a year. I only handle 2-3 white tails a year so I am not looking to spend too much for commercial grade butcher gear. I gut and skin with a havalon so I am mainly looking for something that will handle meat processing.

I have a set of outdoor edge game processor knives I bought for $80. They work fine but I am curious if there are others worth considering as I beat up the butcher knife hacking the end off a femur. I added a Weston saw. The sharpener is worthless and I find myself using a couple of fillet knives I stole from my tackle box for a lot of trim work. If I stay with this set up I will probably ditch the hard plastic case and add a cleaver and a honing steel.

I see Weston has a set for $35 bucks. I am happy with most of the Weston stuff I own.

I was also looking at a set of Cabela’s knives made by Wüsthof for $130. That’s about as much as I care to spend.

I also thought about mixing and matching a couple of good scimitar knives with a couple of boning and fillet knives and a cleaver.

Thoughts?
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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I just use a boning knife and a large poly cutting board to process it all as I'm not trying to do any sort of fancy cuts. If I'm cutting up bones (broth) or shanks (osso bucco) I freeze them and just use a fresh blade on a saw zall to cut them up.
 

muddydogs

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Nothing fancy used here, a 4" fillet knife works great to fillet off silver skin and remove the membranes from the meat. 6" to 12" fillet knives work great for steaking and other big cuts. I like the wood handled Rapala knives but here last year I ran across some blue rubber handled Ozark Trail fillet knives for under $3 at WalMart that cut just fine. Nice thing about the fillet knives is there cheap enough a guy can have 10 or 20 so there's always a sharp knife at hand especially when your buddys show up with there dull crap and see how much easier it is with a sharp knife. Doesn't take long to sharpen up my fleet of knives while setting around watching TV on my block with wet dry sandpaper.
 
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K

Kootenay Hunter

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I did a bunch of research a while back after processing at a friend's place, a good boning knife is the ticket. The Victorinox or Forschner boning knife gets good reviews. Not amazing steel, but stays sharp and easy to sharpen. I'm looking at getting a boning knife and butcher's knife for under $100, should last me forever.

Bone saw or sawzall for bones.
 
OP
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muddydogs

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So I ordered the Weston set. Handles feel a little less good than the outdoor edge. Saw is a cheaply built hack saw with a stainless blade.

Amazon.com: Weston 10-Piece Game Processing Knife Set (83-7001-W): Carving Sets: Kitchen & Dining

It feels a little cheap in the hand but I will see how it cuts when I drop the next deer. I am going to add a few fillet and boning knives into the mix and run that for the season.

Well not to be blunt but what do you expect? $33 for 4 knives, shears and a saw, you got what you paid for. The cleaver and big knife is basically worthless and you would have had better luck purchasing a new hacksaw frame from the hardware store and adding a meat blade made to fit the frame. Bet the shears last about 5 cuts on anything thicker then paper.
 
OP
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Well not to be blunt but what do you expect? $33 for 4 knives, shears and a saw, you got what you paid for. The cleaver and big knife is basically worthless and you would have had better luck purchasing a new hacksaw frame from the hardware store and adding a meat blade made to fit the frame. Bet the shears last about 5 cuts on anything thicker then paper.


True. It was a flyer. For knives that get used 2-4x per year I hate to spend $200. I tend to agree with the comments above that a couple of boning knives will get you a long way.
 

muddydogs

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Like I first posted, a couple fillet knives will get the job done. I've butchered a bunch of animals with a couple Rapala knives and the last couple years 2 or 3 $3 Trails Ridge fillet knife have taken care of the elk and deer I've butchered.If you want something more then a $3 fillet knife then check out Amazon.com: Mercer Culinary Millennia Curved Boning Knife, 6 Inch, Purple: Boning Knives: Kitchen & Dining and this Amazon.com : Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Sandvik Stainless Steel Blade, 4.1-Inch, Cyan : Hunting Fixed Blade Knives : Sports & Outdoors Both of these knives are good quality, hold an edge and sharpen easy.
 
OP
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Like I first posted, a couple fillet knives will get the job done. I've butchered a bunch of animals with a couple Rapala knives and the last couple years 2 or 3 $3 Trails Ridge fillet knife have taken care of the elk and deer I've butchered.If you want something more then a $3 fillet knife then check out Amazon.com: Mercer Culinary Millennia Curved Boning Knife, 6 Inch, Purple: Boning Knives: Kitchen & Dining and this Amazon.com : Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Sandvik Stainless Steel Blade, 4.1-Inch, Cyan : Hunting Fixed Blade Knives : Sports & Outdoors Both of these knives are good quality, hold an edge and sharpen easy.


Thanks, I took your advice.

I have one of those moras. I added that to my kit so I have something stout for breaking joints. Those things are scary sharp.

I also ordered up a few boning knives too. I figure if I have 2-3 on hand I can grab a fresh one and not have to worry about honing in the middle of an animal.
 

muddydogs

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Thanks, I took your advice.

I have one of those moras. I added that to my kit so I have something stout for breaking joints. Those things are scary sharp.

I also ordered up a few boning knives too. I figure if I have 2-3 on hand I can grab a fresh one and not have to worry about honing in the middle of an animal.

The Moras are sharp that's for sure. With a little practice you'll be able to get the knee joints off without hardly touching the bone with your blade.
Don't let your friends use your sharp knives or you will need a few more around as they will have yours dulled up. I have went as far as stashing a few of my favorite knives out of site when boning meat with my friends so I know I have a couple sharp blades in reserve after they trash all the ones on the table, once I need a sharp blade I will sneak one out of my hiding spot. Makes for a few evenings of work sharpening 10 to 20 blades back up put I know I always have a sharp knife to get the job done. Some times if we have a lot of meat to process and I have the time I will stop by my friends houses and pick up there knives so I can sharpen them and save my knives. Guess that's the problem with getting knives scary sharp, others figure out real quick that they don't know how to really sharpen a knife.
I go through about 1 knife per quarter where I clean off the membrane, separate muscle groups, remove fat, clean up blood shot or dry cut areas then cut into product. After the first quarter I switch to a new blade but try and use the old blade for any bone or cutting board work that dulls the blade the most. Once the new blade dulls enough that its not performing to my standards I put the first blade in the wash pile, demote the second blade to cutting board duty and grab a fresh blade.
 

Beendare

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I talked to a couple chef buddies and they say Mercer is a great knife for the $$

I've had a set for a couple years now....they hold a good edge...equal to the couple Heinkels [?] we have...if not better.
 

jwooley

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I love a good fish filleting knife all ive ever used, done dozens of elk and deer with it, just keep it shap its all youll ever need.
 

EasilyExcited

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the fillet knife is definatley my favorite also they dont stick to the meat and they are flexible enough to trim the silver off fairly easy aswell
 
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