Which Forschner Boning Knife?

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CompE

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I can often find different bone-in lamb steaks and chops, but can't usually find lamb stew meat. So, I end up buying a shoulder chop or leg steak and I'll bone it and cube it for lamb stew or a lamb curry. I often use a paring knife or petty for the job, but it never feels like I have the right tool for the job.

Since this is a very specific purpose, I want to go cheap and I know that Forschner/Victorinox Fibrox boning knives get some love here, but there are a lot of options. Straight or curved? Flexible, semi-flexible or stiff? Narrow, extra-wide or neither? Which one is best for my specific purpose? Which is the best for general purpose boning?

Thanks in advance.
 
My favorite Forschner boning was narrow & very stiff. Can't find it anymore don't think Victorinox makes it.
 
The knife I do most of my deer boning (100 plus) with is a 6-inch, straight, narrow F. Dick flex. Vic makes a very similar knife that should work as well. But a curved blade probably does work better for trimming jobs. Why not two?
 
I end up buying a shoulder chop or leg steak and I'll bone it ...
Click to expand...

How big of portions are your talking about?

some retail portions are so small that boning knives
meant for sub-primal portioning or hanging meat etc
are not going to be a huge benefit.

whereas having a bone-friendly steel blade
might be very useful indeed, somewhat
regardless of shape.

I'd also throw out there that boning knife
is really great when you want the specific
shape/feature you don't have on another knife

size, flex, blade curve ... etc may depend on what else you have
usually you are cursing for "if only I had X" :)
 
Straight or curved, wide or narrow, et al, are all pretty subjective. My favorite "cheap" boning knife is a Forgecraft boner, ran me about $15 on ebay including shipping. After a little refurb it's great. Also like (but don't tell anyone) the Wustie boning knife I was given after helping at a Wusthof demo/class. Stainless, some curve, can take a bump, I think it retails in the $50 neighborhood. And then there are the nice ones, Silverthorne, Marko, that ain't too bad either but priced beyond a casual interest.
 
Victorinox curved, semi-flex. Comes in a rosewood handle. First boning knife I used when I started working at a whole animal butcher, and what I would recommend to anyone, pro or home user. Stainless, cheap, very easy to use and learn technique on -- semi flex is very forgiving and makes contouring seams or around bones or even skinning very intuitive until you learn to properly use a stiffer knife
 
keithsaltydog said:
My favorite Forschner boning was narrow & very stiff. Can't find it anymore don't think Victorinox makes it.
Click to expand...

I have the rosewood straight boning knife and it is stiff. They do make a normal an flex version. I don't know if the Fibrox handled versions offer both. It is quite narrow too. It is what I use to process game.
 
CompE said:
I can often find different bone-in lamb steaks and chops, but can't usually find lamb stew meat. So, I end up buying a shoulder chop or leg steak and I'll bone it and cube it for lamb stew or a lamb curry. I often use a paring knife or petty for the job, but it never feels like I have the right tool for the job.

Since this is a very specific purpose, I want to go cheap and I know that Forschner/Victorinox Fibrox boning knives get some love here, but there are a lot of options. Straight or curved? Flexible, semi-flexible or stiff? Narrow, extra-wide or neither? Which one is best for my specific purpose? Which is the best for general purpose boning?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

For the task you described I would go with a straight (not curved) stiff boner. Forschner is legendary for the price, but there's also cheapo Henkel and wustie lines nowadays. I would recommend something other than traditional western triple riveted handles, as I always found them to be really slippery when using for this sort of butchery. Fibrox handles are so ugly, but they make so much sense.
 
RCS_RoundSteak-005CC.jpg

>https://www.shepherdsongfarm.com/shop/lamb-meat/lamb-leg-steak/

BSG_LambNeck-005-300x300.jpg

>https://www.shepherdsongfarm.com/shop/shanks-stews-necks/lamb-neck/

I think its worth thinking about the type of cuts needed.
 
daveb said:
Straight or curved, wide or narrow, et al, are all pretty subjective. My favorite "cheap" boning knife is a Forgecraft boner, ran me about $15 on ebay including shipping. After a little refurb it's great. Also like (but don't tell anyone) the Wustie boning knife I was given after helping at a Wusthof demo/class. Stainless, some curve, can take a bump, I think it retails in the $50 neighborhood. And then there are the nice ones, Silverthorne, Marko, that ain't too bad either but priced beyond a casual interest.
Click to expand...

Ha! I love my wusthof gran-prix boning knife. I wheel barreled a deer into my backyard. Put all my hunting knives away and went with my kitchen boning blade. It was fantastic. I can't remember what a paid. It was decades ago.
 
I guess I just need to dive in and buy one... and then probably buy another one (bunch of enablers). I'm going to start with a Fibrox curved semi-stiff 6" boning knife. In the future, I'll look for something straight.

Thanks.
 
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