Best knife for brisket

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Is he just trimming boneless briskets? Honestly, even if he's getting bone-in stuff, any basic boning knife should be fine. Hell, most petties too. Honesuki would be pretty far down my list, honestly, since they're not particularly cheap or the most suitable for work across a wide range of utilities (plus you can't really switch grips with them due to the proximity of the sharp, low heel to the handle).
 
Boning knife seems weird, unless he just wants a knife to trim fat etc., in which case look at Munetoshi’s slicer on JNS. It’s a great knife for trimming the fluffy fat off, gets super sharp, is easy to sharpen, looks as though it means business, and is fully capable of slicing the brisket when it’s done.
 
?? Boning brisket? Is he butchering? I use a sujihiki to slice my smoked brisket and a 160mm petty or 180mm bunka to trim silverskin and fat cap before smoking.
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He would need:
1. Munetoshi butcher for butchering
2. GC Fillet Knife for trimming
3. Michael Rader Damascus Carving Knife and Fork set for portioning at the table
4. Xerxes Cleaver for prepping sides to go along
5. Kato gyuto in case he likes a gyuto for some tasks instead of a cleaver
6. Hinoura Riverjump petty for smaller tasks if the Kato is too big
7. Hattori KD parer for when the riverjump is too big
8. Raquin brisket killer for more informal dinner groups where the Rader would be too showy
9. Masamoto KS for when the Kato is too workhorse like
Please ask your friend to join the forum so we can enable better
 
uhmmmmmmm, there's no bones in brisket :cool:

For trimming I like a 180mm petty, a traditional western boning knife, the mune butcher. Pig Iron Forge made me a 10" boner that is usually my first choice.

For slicing a suji, first choice is Zwear suji from Harbeer. Close 2nd is Wat suji, Heijii suji.
 
I use a 240 gesshin ginga suji for trimming brisket, its awesome.
 
Looks like there used to be quite a bit of bone-in brisket ... not anymore but still ... courtesy of gugglefoo;

https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/bbq-anatomy-101-bone-in-brisket/
But to everyone's question - you will want to confirm he is looking for using the knife on bone-in briskets ... I also agree with the comments and assume he is looking for using it on boneless briskets in which case a fillet/trim/slicer may be the direction to go in. Definitely confirm the cut ... i.e. bone-in/boneless & what he is intending to do with said blade ... I'm firmly in the 240 suji &./or a long petty for all your "bisket trimming needs" campl ...

How much you want to spend ... we will "help" you ...
 
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In case anyone is curious, the most common way of breaking a side of beef leaves a plate of bones attached to the underside of the brisket, which in the US are almost 100% always taken off. If you were to age the brisket, the bones would be left on and you wouldn't trim anything until later on. Boneless brisket can be trimmed/tidied and left with the point mostly intact (or whatever one prefers) for bbq, or trimmed down more significantly into what's often called a flat-cut brisket, which is more common in NE and places with Jewish populations. In the UK, I seem to remember, brisket is often rolled and then roasted and/or braised.
 
In his book Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto, Aaron Franklin says his favorite knife for slicing brisket is the Dexter 13463 S140-12SC 12-Inch Scalloped Roast Slicer Knife.

Great cheap knife for slicing the occasional brisket/ribs in the summer, I also have a Dexter boning knife for chicken & poultry.
 
daveb said:
uhmmmmmmm, there's no bones in brisket :cool:

For trimming I like a 180mm petty, a traditional western boning knife, the mune butcher. Pig Iron Forge made me a 10" boner that is usually my first choice.

For slicing a suji, first choice is Zwear suji from Harbeer. Close 2nd is Wat suji, Heijii suji.
Click to expand...

I hear Pfizer makes a good 10" boner. :cool:

Sorry.
 
joneal said:
In his book Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto, Aaron Franklin says his favorite knife for slicing brisket is the Dexter 13463 S140-12SC 12-Inch Scalloped Roast Slicer Knife.

Great cheap knife for slicing the occasional brisket/ribs in the summer, I also have a Dexter boning knife for chicken & poultry.
Click to expand...

Tough to argue with a guy that cuts 100+ briskets a day ... and that number could be ancient ... love his book & attitude when I have seen him chat / write about cooking ...

Or course I still "need" a custom 12" scalloped edlge / shig (or AEB-L for me) / mammoth inlayed / etc. etc. etc. blade for brisket since I cook 3-4 a year ... LOL ... aka KKF style ...
 
seems like there would be a lot of interest to arrange a pass-around for daveb's custom boner. generating a lot of curiosity and excitement in this thread, obviously. with long flexible ones like that in particular, it's hard to judge or put into words all the intangibles -- hardness, toughness, delicate nuances of the grind -- until you're holding it in your hand. ... and then of course there are the members who must be itching to take it to the stones and really see what it's made of....
 
For slicing brisket, the serrations of a brisket knife help tremendously -- as the brisket should have a crust on the outside with tender meat in the middle, almost like a crusty bread.
 
I have a Wüsthof Super Slicer that I use for brisket. It's also useful for a whole bunch of other things, such as cutting cake, soft rolls without tearing them, getting the skin off a pineapple, etc. I like that knife a lot and use it frequently.
 
This is becoming my favorite cooked brisket slicer. I like not having a point on the end for my slicer. This is a Henckels 4star knife.

I like my mom's old knife but it has a point on it and my granddaughter grabbed a piece of meat while I was carving and I almost stabbed her in the hand so I feel safer with a rounded tip nowadays.

IMG_0259.jpg
 
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How do you slice your brisket? Do you do slices off the exposed flat, then rotate when you get to the point and slice across the point? Or do you separate the flat and the point before slicing?

To me the different ways to slice might be better for certain knives.

I separate the point and cut into cubes and then slice the flat. Both are sliced with the crust down on the board. With this method i am slicing though soft meat and then a crust. It is almost like slicing a pie.

I find a laser gyuto to be best with this approach. Currently using a Dalman. On the waitlist for a Dave Martell suji, and assuming that will be go to once I have it.
 
I am not sure what you mean about cutting a brisket. Here is a picture of me cutting a brisket using my mom's old knife with a point. I like the steel better in my mom's old Henckels 4star better than my picture above of the newer Henckels 4star.

As a side note Franklin BBQ in Texas is very good. I just noticed it was posted above.

IMG_0047.jpg
 
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For trimming I use an old Wusthof petty that’s around 6”. For slicing the finished product I just grab my 210mm Shiro Kamo R2 which has proven to be pretty tough so far. I do separate the point and flat just because it’s easier to store and cut. Slicing brisket is one of the rare times I wish I had a longer knife. A 240 might be in my future.....
 
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