Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

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They waned $20 for mesquite chunks at Lowe’s. I got a similar bag for $10 on Amazon

 

Half a turkey breast bone in

Something my wife brought home. Seems weird.



I’m not using the mesquite in just got in the mail but I am using a chunk of oak from my wood pile. We’ll see how that goes.

 

Turned out really good for a breast. Moist and flavorful. Only a little lemon pepper for rub. Not sure how or why but I’ll take it!

 

Smoked turkey breast is one of my go tos. Sooooo gooooood.

 

Your handle is hilarious. I can smell it

 

Nice growth pattern on that tree. Not makin’ a mesquite gettin’ those.

 

Request for advice: Need boning knife. Have 2 chef knives and they work but want boning knife, primarily for quartering chicken. Budget is....unknown? Maybe max 30$ I have no idea though.

 

I have 2 of these that work well. Not the hardest steel but touch up quickly and hold good enough. I process 1-2 deer per season and bone out pork shoulders all the time. Decent quality for the price.

$32 Victorinox Boning Curved Semi-Stiff Blade Fibrox Pro Handle, Red, 6" (VIC-40420)

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-B...words=victorinox+boning&qid=1612215053&sr=8-6

 

I have several of these I use and they hold up well

$15 Mercer Culinary Millennia Colors 6" Curved Boning Knife, Blue

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P0OPY2/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_ZC41R1ASWG6963CB1DCY

 

Thanks gents - I'll look around see what I can find, might just buy from Amazon if I can't find anything good enough locally. I have stones and hones, I use the hone pretty much daily so should be fine.

also - to add - my chef/bread knives are Global. That's like 100$ for the boning knife. I thiiiiink I'll be buying something on the lower end of the spectrum first to be sure I do actually want to use a boning knife v. just using my chef knives, I use them for just about everything though.

 

I use a cheap filet knife for boning out and removing the loins from deer. I think it is a Rapala brand, but no meat left behind!

 

I rarely use my chefs knives. The boners do it all. Lol.

 

Live for boners....

 

Those are the 2 I would have recommended also. Although I prefer a straight edge boning knife instead of a curved edge. Skinned and fleshed a lot of fur when I was younger with a straight edge although a traditional fleshing knife is curved, personal preference. Out of the 2 brands I would give the "edge" to the Mercer knives. They feel more like the knives we had when I worked butchering meat in the 70's and from the ones I have handled are a bit heavier. Which I like, again personal preference.

Once you start using one I bet you eventually end up with a Global to match your existing set.

I was that way for years. Have had Chicago Cutlery boning knives for as long as I can remember. Have skinned and cut up 4 deer on my deck over a weekend with them. More than once. The steel is soft and requires a lot of sharpening and honing.



Finally got a Zwilling J.A. Henckels Professional "S" 5.5" Flexible Boning Knife to go with my Henckels Pro "S" knife set and should have done it years ago. Don't tell @CurtB but I seldom use my CC boners anymore

Gradually been using my Chief knives more and more. But it took me years to do so.



8" Pro S Chiefs at top is a workhorse. 7" Pro series below it allows a pinch grip which to me is better but it still has a large belly. 7" Pro Rocking Santoku was a test for me to see if I would like it, or prefer a non rocker. The Miyabi 6" wide blade is often too much of a good thing, yet sometimes not enough.

I have a few Japanese knives both Miyabi and Shunn, and thinking on settling on Miyabi Birchwood series. They are not cheap but a thing of beauty and a pleasure to use. Thinking the 7" NON rocking Santoku to start with.



But the German knives just keep on plugging along cutting anything without worry about chipping, still not sure yet. I seldom reach for the boning knifes anymore but for years that was the first knife I reached for.

 

You and yer fancy smancy knives...

wood handles all day every day, just as God intended.

 

It's jerky time. Sliced up a 4+ lb. Rump roast yesterday and marinated with my own recipe overnight. Just pulled it out. Ended up just short of 2 lbs. Those are 1 gallon ziplocs.

 

Just realized that you said primarily for quartering chicken. I can't imagine not having a boning knife but unless I am breaking a chicken down completely now I use heavy duty kitchen shears for birds.

$17 Kitchen Scissors - Heavy Duty Utility Come Apart Kitchen Shears for Chicken, Meat, Food, Vegetables - 9.25" Long Black & Red

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KFN75DS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Doesn't have to be that pair although they have worked well for me. I use them for everything from field dressing pheasants to trimming herbs. And cutting up chicken.

 

Hmmm. I have heard some people talking about using scissors, I dunno. I'll give it a whirl, we have a set, I just know how to do it with knives and it goes quick enough and they're easy enough to clean.

But - I would still use a knife to get off the breast and tenderloin so...

I have a chicken in the fridge, I'll give the scissors a whirl tonight or tomorrow night and report back. I'm cautiously pessimistic about using them though, to be fair.