Noticed a huge difference after switching to a scimitar knife for trimming fat

I used a standard boning knife for about 5 years, then grabbed a 10-inch scimitar last month from a shop in Portland. The amount of time I save per shoulder is wild, like 20 minutes on a busy day. Anyone else find that the longer blade just glides through fat caps better?

2 comments

2 Comments

ninal917d ago

@patriciaellis I get where you're coming from but I actually had the opposite experience. That long blade on a scimitar felt clumsy to me on pork shoulders, like I was fighting my way through the fat instead of just slicing it clean. I switched back to my 5-inch boning knife after a week and felt instantly faster. Guess it really depends on how you hold the knife and the angle you're cutting at.

patriciaellis7d ago

Have you been using a scimitar the whole time, or did you make the switch recently? I was a total skeptic about longer blades for trimming fat because I figured a short boning knife gave me more control. But last fall I borrowed a friend's scimitar to try on a brisket and it completely changed my mind. The way it slices through that fat cap in one smooth pass without any dragging or sawing motion is something I didn't expect. I still use a boning knife for detailed work, but for the big fat trimming jobs the scimitar is now my go-to.