Good Competition Carving Knife

[WyomingLawDog]

Ok, for you competition cooks, what is a good knife to use for the slicing of brisket and ribs? I did a brisket this past weekend that turned out really good, I think I went a bit overdone as I checked the temp after I had wrapped and was at 202, like to pull at 196-198 and let rest, so anyway, when I was slicing the brisket, it wanted to pull apart while slicing, so I had to take it slow. I want to find what people like to using for there slicing of ribs and brisket to make them nice clean cuts for competition as I am working my way that direction after much more good backyard BBQ for practice. Electric Knife or just a good sharp knife, serrated or smooth blade? I know it will take practice but trying to use something that will help me make uniform cuts without destroying the meat, kind of like trying to cut a tomato with a dull knife if you know what I mean. Thanks

[Rodcrafter]

I don't compete but I use an electric knife

[Clover Ridge Smokers]

I don't think there is any right or wrong answer. It really depends on what you like and are comfortable with. I know some team use electric knives for both ribs and brisket. I personally don't feel i have as much control with it so I use a carving knife. The key for me is sharpness. Sharper the better.

[Pete Mazz]

Same here. I'm kind of a knife nazi when it comes to keeping my knives sharp.

A good 8" chef's knife would be my first choice.

[Miketheforester]

We used a dexter-Russell smooth slicer, but you have to be a decent sharpener. If not I would go for an electric knife, but then you have to have electric at your competition and we ran into electric issues many times at comps.


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[Puff]

My wife is an avid amateur chef. We have a series of Shun Pro Sho knives that are quite remarkable. They hold an edge nicely and can be honed well on a steel rod. Not cheap though but having used them for trimming fat and slicing ribs they do a good job. On the other hand, we have a GE electric knife that is about 15 yrs old and STILL cuts nicely.

If you go this route, try learning the task of sharpening the knife. I decided to get into sharpening for musical instrument work. The chisels need to be like surgical scalpels and with a moderate practice, it's easily doable. I have several chisels so sharp they will slice a wavy line cleanly thru a newspaper with no tearing. Impresses me every time .

Lately since I'm so bored waiting to build my baby sized Gravity Feed, I have turned to re sharpening the blades the go into those retractable Sheetrock knives. I get them nearly gone....trashed, garbage nothing, partly rusted and covered with plaster and in 2-3 minutes, they are sharper than new. Of course I'd rather be building a baby sized gravity feed smoker but you know how that goes some days

[Pete Mazz]

I love my Shun knives as well!

That slicer looks like it'll do the job. Tempted....

You can find battery powered electric knives, although I've never used one.

[bbroper]

I also think that the longer the knife is the easier it cuts the tender cooked brisket. I like a 10 or 12 inch chef knife.

[Atama]

Puff- I am much the same way when it comes to sharpness. It needs to split atoms! In all seriousness, I have a few knives that can whittle hair.

[bigbook]

They make a battery operated carving knife. It's sold in the fishing area at Wally world
Shun knifes are high end blades . Worth the money but like all good thing take very good care of them .
Try a filet knife sold by cold steel. 9"blade. So sharp out of the box I've sliced through the backbone of fish while filtering them they hold a good edge and don't cost a kids college fund..

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[BitBucket]

I have a Shun chef's and chopper. Aside from being crazy sharp though, the edges are brittle. I've read reviews about folks chipping the edge on bones by using the wrong knife for the job. I let my girlfriends 10 year old aspiring chef cut veggies and now note the tip is missing. I didn't see it happen so I can't be sure it was her either, but it's clearly missing a mm or so on the point. I use an 18" granton blade food service slicer for cutting brisket--the scalloped blade reduces friction and drag, the length reduces the amount of sawing motion needed to make a slice.

[Squiggle]

Yeah I've got a German made 12" scalloped slicer(my missus is German so I have to get German everything "cause everything German is the best ) for brisket, makes life a lot easier.