Recommendation? Carver?

[Way-Barney]

Good Evening Guys,
I have just been cutting a piece of raw beef into steaks and I think my knives where not long enough, beef was about 10". I kept snagging the heel.
What would be the ideal length of knife and best profile for that task?
I am going to have to make one I think.

 

[Joshua Fisher]

Good Evening Guys,
I have just been cutting a piece of raw beef into steaks and I think my knives where not long enough, beef was about 10". I kept snagging the heel.
What would be the ideal length of knife and best profile for that task?
I am going to have to make one I think.

Most of the carving/slicing knives I make are between 10-12” blade lengths. Here’s one I made awhile back with a 12” blade, you don’t need them to be very tall at the heel. I typically take the grind all the way off the heel but you could come in a little bit and have plunge lines and a unsharpened portion to act almost like a bolster and that would work fairly well in most applications. I personally like having the edge go all the way back but have made them both ways.

 

[Way-Barney]

Thanks for the photo of that lovely knife, its inspirational.
Looks like just what I need.

 

[Richard338]

12.5" cimiter, thin Magnacut at 63 HRC.

 

[Way-Barney]

Hi Richard,
Lovely knife!
Is there an advantage to that blade shape or is it cosmetic?

 

[Drop bear]

Brisket knives almost look like bread knives.

 

[Richard338]

Hi Richard,
Lovely knife!
Is there an advantage to that blade shape or is it cosmetic?

Thanks. When someone suggested I make one I hadn't heard of it. I looked at a few examples which were all pretty similar and sketched a pattern. I made 3, keeping one for my self. I have to say it slices big cuts of meat effortlessly and can do it in one stroke. No sawing back and forth. It's also great for watermelon.

 

[fitzo]

I would speak for the scimitar style, also, for cutting large meat. The curve follows the motion of your wrist as you draw back. What Richard said!

For carving a roast at the table in front of the guests, I'd sure like to do it with Joshua's knife. Man, that piece is pretty!

 

[Richard338]

Yes, Joshua's has the wow factor.

 

[fitzo]

Yes, Joshua's has the wow factor.

And I bet I'd sit there with a big sh** eating grin of admiration for yours, too, were I to have it in hand. That's a nice-looking knife, Richard. And that handle shape will cut all day long, I'd wager. I'd whack it on the big crock stick in my knife block every time I used it, so that the Magnacut never got dull until it needed thinning. The wow comes when the meat cuts like butter and you sit there fiddling the handle around in the hand with that grin I mentioned.

 

[Way-Barney]

I can see the curved blade being a bit better for raw meat as there would be less surface area in the cutting motion for the wet sticky meat to cling too.

 

[oldschool45]

For breaking down "primals" straight carvers don't get it done as you really need a bit more belly and the curve helps with board clearance. The scimitar or "breaking" knives are the way to go. This one is 10 inch (w2) but I can see keeping a 12" + around.

 

[Horsewright]

I got a call from a ranch owner in TX. He wanted a knife for his wagon cook whom was also entering BBQ cook offs. He was looking for a carving knife for Cookie. He didn't have a lot of ideas on it except big! Ya know how things always happen in threes? Famous people die and its always three? Well get another call from another guy, another BBQ competitor and he wants something big too. Then dang another call, from another guy, doing the same BBQ competiton thing. One in Texas, one here in California and one in Oregon. So I call it The Competition Carver:

Really, just my take on an old Green River idea, but these guys love em! AEB-L at 62-63 RC.

So I made one for my son's FIL:

Cutting up some pork chops here but he's got a BBQ catering business side hustle. He's got one gig that my son and DIL help him at every year where they do over 800 lbs of prime rib! Then breakfast the next morning for 500. Lots of work in that deal.

Made one for our wagon cook, Brother Bill, too:

The original three:

Funny deal. Miserable weather yesterday. Rancher friend of mine was over and we was sitting in the shop shooting bulls and drinking coffee. After we'd stacked up quite a few of the bovine males he noticed one of these blades cut out and heat treated sitting on the bottom shelf under one of my benches. Its not ground yet as I do all my AEB-L grinding post HT. But its been sitting there for some years. Was always gonna make it up for our ownselves, just ain't got around to it yet. He said whats that and so I told him the story behind its name. Now this morning I open up ol BF and here is this discussion. Better cut out a couple more. Ya know how things go in threes?

 

[Way-Barney]

Horsewright
What are those pins?
are they little footballs or forget me nots?

 

[Horsewright]

Horsewright
What are those pins?
are they little footballs or forget me nots?

Yes sir not sure which ones you are referring to? The pins in the bolsters are mosaic pins. Literally 1/8th inch copper tubing filled with very small stainless pins arranged in a pattern and then filled with black epoxy. I buy these in 12 inch pieces and cut them up for use. If you are referring to the handle pins, those are Loveless bolts after Bob Loveless. They are a screw with a bolt on each side with a stepped hole in the scale to provide a stop for the bolt when tightening. Kind of industrial looking but they work very well, are easier to install then Corby bolts and provide a strong mechanical bond besides the glue used to hold on a scale. I use them on my larger and hard use knives like hunters, skinners, camp knives and all kitchen knives.

 

[ea42]

I think what you guys are looking for is a cimeter knife, not scimitar. A scimitar is a sword that the cimeter knife was derived from. Both the cimeter and Horsewright's style knife (beauties!) are excellent for portioning large pieces of meat, with Horsewright's style being especially suited for wide even cuts such as steaks with its wide tip.

Eric

 

[fitzo]

I think what you guys are looking for is a cimeter knife, not scimitar. A scimitar is a sword that the cimeter knife was derived from. Both the cimeter and Horsewright's style knife (beauties!) are excellent for portioning large pieces of meat, with Horsewright's style being especially suited for wide even cuts such as steaks with its wide tip.

Eric

tomato, tomatoe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimeter#:~:text=A%20cimeter%20or%20scimitar%20is,and%20without%20a%20granton%20edge.

 

[ea42]

tomato, tomatoe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimeter#:~:text=A%20cimeter%20or%20scimitar%20is,and%20without%20a%20granton%20edge.

No not really. I worked in the kitchen for over 35 years and we always referred to them as cimeters. Go on to the WebstaurantStore website that they refer to in that Wikipedia blurb and look up cimeter knife and scimitar knife and see what you come up with. If we're going to describe a knife we might as well use the correct term.

Eric

 

[fitzo]

Here's what I found on that site. I believe what you say that you called them cimeter knives in your professional chef environment. Oddly, I learned the name scimitar when I worked in a kitchen as a kid almost 60 years ago. I have a hunch there is some regionality to what they're called. Doesn't bother me to call it a cimeter, though, so if that makes you feel better, I am happy with using that name here. Sorry about the bold. Pasting that stuff below messed up the formatting. ​

​

15. Cimeter Knife​

Cimeter knives, or scimitar knives, are a type of butcher knife that is very similar to a breaking knife. Cimeter knives have a long, sharp, curved blade with either a granton or straight edge and are more lightweight than a breaking knife. When used for butchering whole animals, cimeter knives are typically used after a breaking knife as the final portioning knife to trim meat away from the bone to make steak and other retail cuts. A cimeter knife's blade length ranges in size from 10" to 14”, with 10" being the most popular size.

 

[ea42]

Here's what I found on that site. I believe what you say that you called them cimeter knives in your professional chef environment. Oddly, I learned the name scimitar when I worked in a kitchen as a kid almost 60 years ago. I have a hunch there is some regionality to what they're called. Doesn't bother me to call it a cimeter, though, so if that makes you feel better, I am happy with using that name here. Sorry about the bold. Pasting that stuff below messed up the formatting. ​

​

15. Cimeter Knife​

Cimeter knives, or scimitar knives, are a type of butcher knife that is very similar to a breaking knife. Cimeter knives have a long, sharp, curved blade with either a granton or straight edge and are more lightweight than a breaking knife. When used for butchering whole animals, cimeter knives are typically used after a breaking knife as the final portioning knife to trim meat away from the bone to make steak and other retail cuts. A cimeter knife's blade length ranges in size from 10" to 14”, with 10" being the most popular size.

Mike it's all good, just figured I'd throw out the technical name for the knife. It's so ridiculously similar sounding to "scimitar" it's no wonder the two have gotten mixed up. I went through he same thing at first!

Eric