The secret behind achieving accurate and even slices in the kitchen is using the right blade for the right purpose. There are different blades that we use in our day-to-day lives knowingly or unknowingly. Incorrect use of knives damages their blades and decrease their life and performance. We are going to discuss how to use a boning knife to achieve high performance.
What is a boning knife?
Boning blade is a type of kitchen dagger that has a sharp, pointed, and narrow blade. Use this blade mainly to separate bones from meat, fish, and poultry. It is common amongst professional chefs and home cooks.
They use it to butterfly a turkey or a lamb and separate bones and fat from the flesh. Did you know that this dagger is also useful in skinning animals such as lambs and swine? In simple reality, we can say that people commonly use this blade in preparing meat-based meals.
How to use a boning knife
It is crucial to be acquainted with how to use this tool. Keep in mind that incorrect usage can cause damages and even cause accidents in the kitchen. Consider our systematic tips that facilitate the effective and safe use of a boning knife.
1. Deboning chicken
Removing bones from meat is the main function of this blade. After separating meat from bones, you can as well use this blade to slice the meat into smaller pieces. Keep in mind that chefs use this blade primarily to debone and not to cut the bones. If you use it in cutting bones, then you obviously destroy it. Consider the following steps to remove bones from chicken
- Find where there is meat in the cut of the flesh
- Use your boning knife to slice through the meat until you reach the bones. Find out if the flesh is surrounding the bone or the bone is located in the center of the meat.
- Place the blade on the bone as well as fat and flesh it off the cut of your meat.
- Hold your boning blade, ensuring that it is making a slight angle with the bone. Let the blade slip around the bone.
- Turn the blade a bit, as you proceed with sliding around the joints as well as bones.
- Use your blade a cutting motion side to side until you make sure that meat and bones are completely separate.
2. Removing skin from the meat
Did you know that you need knives to separate bones from meat? However, some steps help you achieve this without consuming a lot of time. Let us find out more:
- Place the whole meat on a chopping board while the skin is on top. Make sure that you choose the most appropriate chopping board that will not make your knife blunt. A wooden cutting board is the best.
- Use the tip of your boning dagger to make a small slit on the meat. This slit should appear at the beginning of the skinning process.
- Hold the skin using your left hand
- Pull the skin of the meat upwards to create space for the blade. Now slide the blade under the skin but against the flesh. This ensures that you only remove the skin without interfering with the fleshy part.
- Cut back and forth of your skin using a boning knife as the skin tugs. Repeat this process until you remove the skin.
A point to note: skinning is a process that does not require special skills. It can be complicated if you use the wrong dagger. Make sure that your boning blade is sharp and ready for use.
3. Filtering fish
Apart from the two above discussed uses of the boning knife, we can consider other techniques. We can also use it to remove skin and bones from a fish as well. Let us look into the steps that will help us achieve this:
- Place the fish skin-side down on a chopping board to allow you to filter the fish properly.
- Hold the fish using your left hand or your non-dominant hand to the chopping board. Make sure that you use the right chopping board that would not damage the blades of your dagger.
- Use the boning knife to tease apart the skin as well as fish from one side of the fish
- Move your dagger from one side to the other while you press down the tip to get the best cut. This process will create a way from one side of the fish to the other and facilitates the removal of the skin.
4. Trimming pork as well as beef Tenderloin
We can also use the boning knife on Pork as well as beef tenderloins. This blade is active and can easily remove thin layers of your pork as well as beef fat.
Normally we have to get rid of these parts to enhance taste and flavor. Insert the blade in between the flesh and fat to trim the meat. Pull it upwards to allow you to cut off the fat part. Use the blade in a saw-like motion for the best results.
What makes the boning knife perfect for boning?
Flexibility
A good boning blade is flexible to allow easy and quick movement while cutting through the flesh to the bones. Its blade is adjustable as well, thus allowing it to cut at an angle.
Curved blade
This dagger has a curved blade that enables you to have full control and easy maneuverability while skinning or deboning.
Strong built quality
Based on its uses, a boning knife is strong and built on durable materials. Made of stainless alloy, this blade is strong and cuts through the flesh without breaking.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS
1. Can I use a boning knife to break bones?
No, actually, this knife is for removing bones from flesh. It cannot break the bones.
2. Is it okay to sharpen this knife before using it?
It is okay; working with a blunt blade consumes a lot of time and is not effective.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that a dagger is an incredible tool in any kitchen. A dagger helps with many tasks in the kitchen like cutting the meat, fish and remove bones from the flesh. I would recommend that you follow the above tips on how to use a boning knife and make cooking complete.
