Knives

R

Rusty Kettle

Babbling Farker
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Messages
4,098
Reaction score
5,573
Points
113
Age
36
Location
Butler PA
Ok so I had taken a class recently on brisket for competition. It got me thinking even though it was running joke about buying knives from Ceramic Grill Works. How important is a good knife set? Why? Which brand is the best bang for your buck? Currently I use a couple cheap santoku knives and whatever I steal off my wife from her kitchenaid set. I was thinking maybe this is something I really need to consider upgrading in the near future. I just don't know where to start or what I will need. Right now we are competing backyard division but in a few years we may compete professional. We are a very small very low budget team but if this is somewhere we need to really spend money then we may just do it. We need the most bang for our buck though. If you could point us in the correct direction it would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.
 
Victorinox knives work great for me. The curved boning knife is my favorite tool.....think its like $17. I use Wustof Knives in my kitchen but would not think of bringing them out of the house for BBQ.
 
Last edited:
One of the most important tools you can have is a good set of knives, ask any chef.
 
We pretty much use just 3 knives for competitions and all are Victorinox with fibrox handles. They are the 12" granton edge slicer, 6" flexible boning knife and 7" granton edge santoku. They are terrific knives and well worth the money!
 
If you're a small, backyard, low budget team then save you're money and use modest knives and keep them sharp until you're ready to begin investing more into competition hobby.

No point breaking the bank on high end knives you may only use at a few contests, unless you have as passion for good knives that you plan to use at home as well.
 
I recently did some research for both knives and sharpening stones.

For a knife set, I picked up the victronix field dressing kit from Amazon. I chose it over the chef's set because all of the knives in the set were geared toward prepping meat rather than a few unused ones.

For sharpening stones, I picked up an Edge Pro sharpening set. It was kind of pricey, but has given some great results so far. My knives have never been sharper.
 
For comp cooking, look to have a 6" stiff boning knife, an 8" chef's knife and a 4" paring knife. A slicer is invaluable to make clean cuts and nice presentations. The Victorinox or Dexter-Russel Sani-safe lines are both excellent values.

For sharpening, many folks use sharpening systems, which are costly, except for the Lansky. All work fine. I use stones, my preference.
 
Any knife will work fine as long as you keep it sharp. That being said, better quality knives keep their edge better...as long as you're not trying to cut through the table. Your cutting board is going to play a part in that as well. While a plastic cutting board is more sanitary, it has been my experience that that are a bit harder on knives than wood cutting boards, which are harder to keep sanitary. What ever you do, DO NOT use glass cutting boards, they will muck up a knife in a hurry.
 
MilitantSquatter said:
If you're a small, backyard, low budget team then save you're money and use modest knives and keep them sharp until you're ready to begin investing more into competition hobby.

No point breaking the bank on high end knives you may only use at a few contests, unless you have as passion for good knives that you plan to use at home as well.
Click to expand...

If they work well I guarantee I would be using them at home. My wife would want me the heck out of her knives if I had a set. I drive her crazy stealing her knives and other assorted kitchen items.
 
You don't need the best knives, just the best knives for the job. Most really expensive knives are forged. The good news is that you want stamped knives for competitions, in my opinion, and they are generally much cheaper. That is why victorinox knives are so popular. You want something that is thin and sharp.
 
The Victorinox 6 in Semi Stiff Boning knife is one of our staple knives. Its only $19 on Amazon.
The brisket slicer mentioned by RonL above is also an excellent knife.

The Havalon Baracuta folding filet knife is a wicked sharp knife, and the best part is you can buy replacement blades for it, so when it gets dull, you can just pop a new blade on. I use it to do take the silver skin off briskets and ribs, and to trim pork. You can get it at Cabelas. It looks like a switch blade.

I know this will sound weird, but get yourself a pair of short, pointed Friskars sewing scissors. They have orange handles. You use these to trim bits of meat off ribs and chicken when you are boxing.

You will find that trimming is much easier and enjoyable when you have some very sharp knives. Also, get yourself a knife bag to carry them in.
Someone above said they leave their good knives at home, but I have the totally opposite bent - I leave my crappy knives at home, and take the really good knives with me to the comps so that I'm not struggling to cut slices with a dull knife.
 
See if you can find a place that sells/sharpens knives for restaurants. In Kansas City I use Ambrosi Brothers. I buy used (but sharpened) chef and boning knives for between $2 and $4. They are pretty beat up, but who cares.

I do use a victorinox forschner slicing knife that I keep razor sharp.
 
I use these Kiwi knives. They sharpen easily to a VERY nice edge. I have three of the letter e. I know of others that use these same knives for the same reason... they are inexpensive, super, and I mean super, sharp. I use them for trimming and for slicing meat for boxing. I have them marked, R for raw and C for cooked, so no cross contamination even though I do most of my trimming at home. And if you accidentally bend the tip or something like that you aren't out a small fortune. They were recommended to me by a fellow brethren and I have been very happy with them.

http://wokshop.stores.yahoo.net/inshkiknfrth.html
 
Last edited:
Ron_L said:
I use the Dexter-Russell Sani-Safe knives from Restaurant Depot except for my brisket slicer. I use an 8" boning knife and an 8" chef knife.

My brisket slicer is this one...

http://mabbqa.com/zencart/index.php...roducts_id=1&zenid=peql8d4lai781jte3ah07obcu5
Click to expand...

That slicer is a machine. It can handle my most overcooked briskets (great for $muscle) without a problem:rolleyes: I like it enough that I've given them to very good friends as gifts at the Jack. One of them won't take it out of the house because he says it's too nice for comp BBQ.

MilitantSquatter said:
If you're a small, backyard, low budget team then save you're money and use modest knives and keep them sharp until you're ready to begin investing more into competition hobby.

No point breaking the bank on high end knives you may only use at a few contests, unless you have as passion for good knives that you plan to use at home as well.
Click to expand...

What ^^^ said. And once you've done this for a while you will probably decide that you don't need many knives.

joemat said:
Victorinox knives work great for me. The curved boning knife is my favorite tool.....think its like $17. I use Wustof Knives in my kitchen but would not think of bringing them out of the house for BBQ.
Click to expand...

This is the most used knife in my bag. I have two, and a good steel. If one starts to lose the edge while working I switch and the hone both on the steel when I'm done.

The stuff I use in my bag consists of: 2 Victorinox curved boning knifes, 1 generic 10" Chef (cutting ribs down to St. Louis), 1 MABA slicer (Thanks Slamdunkpro), 1 pair Messermeister kitchen sheers for chicken, 1 steel. The slicer costs as much as the bag and everything else in it, but it's probably the best value in the bag. It really slices, even when the meat has gone over temp and could crumble using a lesser blade.
 
I love my brisket slicer! My favorite everyday paring knife is a Lamson Sharp like this one. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/LamsonSharp-Grandmas-New-Used-Parer-Walnut/dp/B0006GSPPK/ref=sr_1_12?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1425311165&sr=1-12&keywords=lamson+sharp"]Amazon.com : LamsonSharp Grandma's New-Used Parer - Walnut Handle : Paring Knives : Home & Kitchen@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31JJh02IMdL.@@AMEPARAM@@31JJh02IMdL[/ame]

And a flexible boning knife from Victorinox. These 3 are my must haves.
 
Porcine Perfection said:
See if you can find a place that sells/sharpens knives for restaurants. In Kansas City I use Ambrosi Brothers. I buy used (but sharpened) chef and boning knives for between $2 and $4. They are pretty beat up, but who cares.

I do use a victorinox forschner slicing knife that I keep razor sharp.
Click to expand...

You are spoiled. Ambrosi Bros. is a hidden jewel that I try to visit whenever I can get to Kansas City. Great service, and great products. It's good enough that I've shipped my knives to them for sharpening to get their comp edge put on my knives. If I could find someone local, that could do the same thing I'd be set.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Browning ceramic grill newly acquired
Replies
6
Views
125
thirdeye
thirdeye
J
Knife help
Replies
2
Views
341
JIMSMOKES
J
snadamo
NEW (to me) SMOKER!!!
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
bowhnter
bowhnter
lastmajordude
Observations of an old dude
Replies
13
Views
635
jham0077
jham0077
cayenne
Vacuum Sealers: Need Recommendations (Brand, External vs Chamber, Bags)...?
2
Replies
39
Views
2K
cayenne
cayenne
Back
Top