Warning: I ruined 40 bucks of pork shoulder by not checking my knife edge

Last weekend I grabbed a whole shoulder from the local farm shop, cost me about 40 bucks. I figured I'd just sharpen my boning knife quick and get to work, but it felt fine so I skipped it. After fighting through the first cut, I ended up tearing the meat all along the blade path. By the time I finished trimming, I had lost maybe two pounds of good meat to jagged scraps and shreds. That's almost 15 bucks of pork just went straight to the stock pot instead of the smoker. Idk why I keep thinking a dull knife saves time when it clearly costs me money and meat. Has anyone else had a bad day from not honing before a big cut?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyprice11d ago

Gotta disagree a bit here. That thumbnail test is fine but its no substitute for actually cutting something. I'd rather take a quick slice through an onion or a paper towel than poke my thumb and guess. And honestly a steel is for honing not sharpening if your edge is already gone a steel wont fix it. You need to actually set aside real time for a stone or a diamond rod before you start. The real trick I learned was to sharpen the night before so I'm not rushing through it right when I want to cook. Cuts way down on the frustration.

michael_coleman1011d ago

Man I feel your pain on this one. @tylerj22 the paper towel test is way better than poking your thumb, especially if you're dealing with a slippery piece of meat. I started doing the night before thing too and it saved me a ton of headaches. One tip that helped was keeping a cheap magnet strip by my knives so I can do a quick paper slice right before I start cooking instead of guessing. And youre dead right about the steel, if your edge is already gone its just spinning your wheels. A good stone session the night before beats scrambling for a hone any day.

tylerj2211d ago

That's a tough lesson, but one a lot of us have had to learn the hard way. Did you check the edge with a simple thumbnail test before you started, or did you just assume it was sharp enough from the last time you used it? I'm curious because I've been guilty of that myself, thinking I could feel a burr with my finger but never actually testing on something firm like a tomato or a piece of paper. A dull blade doesn't just tear the meat, it forces you to push harder and that's when you lose control and waste product. Spending an extra two minutes on a steel or a stone would have saved you that whole pile of scraps. How do you plan on checking your edge next time before you dig into a big cut?