Recommendation? Affordable knife to cut whole (store bought) chicken

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oxonian

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Jul 3, 2016
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Hello,

My family and I are new to the world of knives.

We have usually purchased the off the shelf knife sets from the big box stores, we are in the USA.

We want to slowly upgrade our kitchen knifes and want to begin by getting one to cut a whole chicken (we but the whole chicken, often the young chicken) from the grocery stores, you know the type they put on the rotisserie.

We have seen the Santoku knifes, and Chef's knives at the stores, but feel there may be a better one.

The knife is just for home use, nothing fancy, we don't mind if the cut is not precise to the inch.

We just want something that will do the job well, and last.

Prefer to spend under $50 on it.

Any thoughts dear friends?

Thank you!!
 
Check out the Victorinox / forschner knives, Victorinox makes quality affordable cutlery in the Swiss army valley of Switzerland and you should be able to get a chef's knife in the 20$ range.

Ontario also makes great affordable cutlery right here in America, but their old hickory kitchen cutlery ( their renowned classic 7" butcher is of note ) is made of carbon steel which you need to keep dry. They also often require a light edge touch up when you get them so you may not want to go this route.
If you do though you'll be getting an excellent piece of classic American cutlery for a mere 14$, that is likely the same as or similar to what you're grandparents used.

BTW I eat these store bought chickens often as well as ones I make at home in my own rotisserie and I process them with my pocket knife.
 
A chefs knife (or gyuto in Japanese knives) is the all-rounder in kitchen knives. A good 8" blade will take you through just about all kitchen tasks.
A santoku is a combination of a western (chefs) knife and an Eastern Nakiri. It does a great job for chopping, not so much for slicing. Due to it's lack of a defined tip its horrible for de-boning.

When people ask me what I would recommend for good starter all around kitchen knife (I work in culinary) I always steer them towards a Tojiro knives' gyuto. They are affordable (right around $50), comfortable to grip, holds an edge (VG-10 core steel), easy to sharpen (yes, all quality knives need to be sharpened), and come screaming sharp out of the box.

If you are specifically looking for a knife to de-bone chickens, you can use a chefs knife. It can do the job pretty well after some practice.
However, a boning knife was designed specifically for that task. because it is significantly smaller it is also a cheaper (cost wise) knife than a chef knife.

If you just cutting the bird into quarters. All you need is a cheap pair of kitchen shears($10-$25), or maybe a cleaver. I wouldn't risk ruining the edge of a decent knife cutting through bone.
 
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I have an Old Hickory knife that gets used daily. Don't let the plain carbon steel scare you. Use it regularly, wash and dry it when you're done. I've had few problems with it rusting. I touch the edge up on a butcher's steel before I use it (every day). This maintains the edge and I use the stone on it 2-3 times a year at most.

The 1095 steel they use is pretty tough. Once in a while I baton it through a frozen chub of hamburger without any problems or damage.

The Victorinox/Forschner knives are also good ones. The chef's knife is a good slicer. Their paring knives are my wife and girls favorites.

Ric
 
My personal opinion, track down a decent brand that TJ Maxx/Marshall's/Home Goods might get in and get a knife set with block. I think you should find some knife sets for under $200, especially if you go the TJ Maxx/Marshall's/Home Goods route. They usually include an 8" Chef's knife, bread knife, paring knife, 4-5" Chef's knife, kitchen shears, knife steel, and a carving knife.

That said. I did by some singular kitchen knives that I really like.: 8" Victorinox Chef's knife, 5" Santoku Hollow Edge by Wusthof, and a 3 1/2" pairing knife by Wusthof. I think the Victorinox lines are a better value for the price though.

.... also, get a decent cutting board.
 
I have an old Case kitchen shears , no longer made . Shears should be take apart type without all the gadgets !
I don't recommend a knife 'set' .4" paring , 8" chefs, to start. Sharpener ,steel or ceramic and a friend to show you how to use these tools !
 
My most often used kitchen knife us a Chinese chef knife by Dexter that I've been using the last 15 years. Great knife. It takes a bit of reading and some use to get used to how it's designed though.
 
I don't use anything except my fingers to disassemble a whole cooked chicken. It is super simple.
 
My wife uses Rada cutlery kitchen knives and she is very pleased with them. They aren't real expensive either.
 
Never buy a block of knives! You will end up with knives you will never use!

Buy each knife individually! A Pair of Poultry shears works just fine for taking apart a Chicken.
 
I just bought this Boker Arbolito block set for a friend, and they are very well made for the price...

the entire set was right around $100, so with the block and steel, that's less the $25 per knife if you pieced it out... I would have no issues buying Boker Arbolito again or recommending to someone on a budget.
 
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I bought a Ginsu Chikara series forged knife set as it was recommended by Consumer Reports magazine. It is a great set, of the knives we most often use (small chef, santoku, 5 inch utility, paring, in a wood block).
 
When I worked in the meat market, my boss could cut up fryers faster than I could pack them in paper trays. He used a 6" Forschner boning knife.
 
Poultry shears are definitely easiest and most cost effective. That said, if you want a knife made for disassembling poultry try a Tojiro Honesuki.
 
First off my wife and I have quite a few different kitchen knives ranging from german,french,swiss,I have a couple custom santoku from Dan Koster,we recently bought the cheap kiwi brand knives to try them out hands down the easiest to use a sharpen are the kiwis,and my wife processes tons of vegetables daily for green drinks and soups including whole chickens,the kiwis come in plastic or wood handles we have both ,the profile on these knives are so thin that they maintain a good edge for a while and super easy to touch up,just my experience
 
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