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linecooklife

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So my prep these days has shifted to include all the protein fabrication for the restaurant. We serve dinner to roughly 800 covers a weekend. As you can imagine this is a lot of meat.
I have a decent knife kit to cover basic prep but I am looking to get a knife specialized in cutting steaks. I have a 300 and a 270 suji that I use for seafood and more delicate tasks as well as a few nice 270 gyutos that work for meat but not as well as I want them to. I also have the tojoro honesuki which is great for smaller things and bones.
All that being said I'd love to have a really great specialized knife for steaks, I cut a ton of NY strips rib eyes and fillets these days and none of my knives really tear threw them, or lop em off in one smooth cut the way I want. I usually use my 300 suji just based on size but I find the thin tip precarious with such large cuts of meat.
I did at one point buy the "Richmond"/ Lamson scimitar in AEBL. That was of course Before I had found this forum and was unaware of that websites falling out with this community (at least that's what iv gathered in my readings). That being said I really liked this knife the first day I got it. The shape was exactly what I was looking for to slide threw big rib eyes. Then 5 chunks of beef later the edge fell off and I couldn't for the life of me put it back on. For a while I thought I just didn't like AEBL or that the unusual curved shape of the edge was throwing my otherwise satisfactory sharpening abilities. Whatever the reason this knife didn't work for me
So I'm wondering, are there other quality scimitar options out there (preferably without crappy plastic handles). Does anyone have any other suggestions for what to use for cutting steaks? I'd prefer something big, something with quality steel (ideally carbon) and a nice handle is always a plus. I don't mind paying a premium for high quality when I'm talking about a knife I'll be using all day every day
Any thoughts and suggestions welcome. I'd also love to hear what everyone else is using for steak portioning

-Jesse
 
E bay. Since I found an almost "new" vintage carbon scimitar (First left) the others became expendable.


 
Got these super cheap off the bay

image.jpg
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I had actually been looking at vintage carbon on the bay that I would then fix up. I was unsure tho which brands would be decent steel or are all those old high carbon ( dexter seb ext..) decent? Are there brands that I should look for or ones I should avoid?
 
I have a big 'ole Dexter scimitar and it's a great slicing knife for large cuts.
 
Salty I would love to take that expendable scimitar in the middle off your hands. LOL always been one of my favorite knives.
 
Vintage carbon is best...it's not too expensive and you can sharpen them at more obtuse angles. Tearing through large meats does very good with wider convex bevels and more toothy edges. I would totally search e-bay for "old butcher knife."

Since it's primary task is cutting meats you won't have to worry as much about reactivity. I do believe most old school butchers here in the states love the old carbon to this day...for the simple reason that it's easy to sharpen and does the job.
 
Yeah...woops...I mean a big fat convex, less thin and more toothy...tearing beef requires more of a heavy duty sword than overly refined super duper edge. A 1k or 2k good to go.
 
Thanks for the help guys I actually just ordered an old carbon Gustav Emil Ern 12" butcher knife from the bay last night. I'm looking forward to fixing it up a bit and putting a new edge on it. Only part I don't like about it is the handle but maybe just a good opportunity to do my first re-handle job :)
 
Yep, that will need some help. Good for slabbing but you'll need a pointy point.
The thing about butcher knives is it isn't so much about geometry but about strength at the edge. You want sharp but the edge takes a beating.
 
A few questions.

Do you guys use 8" breaking knife (mini-scimitar)?

How much flex is in your scimitars and would a heavier scimitar be detrimental to the task?

How long does the edge on a typical vintage scimitar last?

Is your sharpening range 1-3K or higher?

Thanks,

M
 
The edge on my vintage scimitar lasts over a week of heavy meat fab but there is much less board contact. I stop at 800 and then strop and I use a curved 8" boning knife too
 
Any noticeable or significant difference between bullnose and scimitar?
 
Marko Tsourkan said:
A few questions.

Do you guys use 8" breaking knife (mini-scimitar)?

How much flex is in your scimitars and would a heavier scimitar be detrimental to the task?

How long does the edge on a typical vintage scimitar last?

Is your sharpening range 1-3K or higher?

Thanks,

M
Click to expand...

8" and 10" Forschner breaking knives are pretty much the standard for me. It's what I started with at Publix and I've grown to love them. Easy to sharpen and will hold a good edge for a week or so as long as you steel them occasionally. A flexible fillet and boning knife are also standard issue but my 8" breaking gets used about 80% of the time. Gary
 
So I got the knife in this weekend and put it threw its first case of rib eyes. Took some pics but it says I don't have permission to post them?
 
linecooklife said:
So I got the knife in this weekend and put it threw its first case of rib eyes. Took some pics but it says I don't have permission to post them?
Click to expand...

You need to use an image host (like Flickr) and then link to the image remotely.
 
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