Knife/Shears Suggestions

gfavor

I did my first Turkey last week; butterflied it. I learned that I need a better tool to cut the backbone. ALSO I need a good knife for carving and deboning. I know you all have some great ideas, so let's hear them. Greatly appreciated.

fishlessman

im just a fan of a big knife for spatchcock, stand bird up,knife vertical down the center and one cut thru like a huge papercutter. it doesnt need to be an expensive knife, just sharp and big, my old lampson chef is a 13 inch blade

Chubbs

Kitchen shears for spatchcock can't be easier. Literally 15 seconds of work to cut out backbone. 

As for knives, I have a global chef knife, global veggie knife (almost like santoku), wustof pairing, and dexter filet. That's all I need to tackle everything. 

buzd504

I have a pair of poultry shears that work great. 

Eggcelsior

fishlessman said:

im just a fan of a big knife for spatchcock, stand bird up,knife vertical down the center and one cut thru like a huge papercutter. it doesnt need to be an expensive knife, just sharp and big, my old lampson chef is a 13 inch blade

This. Takes me around 5-7 seconds to cut out the back bone with a cheap-o Henckels. Takes more time to just get the shears out.

DoubleEgger

I got a pair of these for Christmas and used them for the first time tonight. Worked well and easy to clean. 

http://www.messermeister.com/10-Inch-Poultry-Shear/

BrookieP

I have dull kitchen shears from a crappy knife set I bought in college. They work fine for spatchcock chicken, sometimes a struggle around bigger sections but nothing too bad. 

As as far as knives go, I just got married and received about 7 Global knives. All different types and sizes. They work great, a little expensive but worth the investment. 

gdenby

For the back bone I use a pair of scissor style tin snips. Cost about $10. For boning, I have a couple of old beaters. One is a Dexter-Russel, the other Chicago cutlery I think. Each was $15 - $20. They get honed almost continually, but I don't worry about chipping the blade. They work well enough for slicing the thigh meat, too

For slicing the breast, any long blade, mostly straight will do, assuming its sharp. Are the knives you have now sharp? Perhaps take them to a service and have them done. If the edge won't hold for even a whole turkey breast, then consider buying a decent chef knife, 7" long or more.

Carolina Q

For removing a backbone, my favorite is a serrated bread knife. Easier than my shears and MUCH easier to clean! Keep meaning to try my heavy cleaver, but haven't yet. 

Lit

I have a pair of kitchenaid shears with plastic handles. They work fine but the pressure roger through bones has cracked the handles. Several companies make nice all metal shears that come apart easily for cleaning and sharpening. This is the pair I want to get but they aren't cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Tojiro-Pro-Separetable-Kitchen-Shears-FK-843/dp/B002YD96VK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451484303&sr=8-2&keywords=Tojiro+kitchen+shears

clintmiller

To spatchcock a chicken, I use my Shun shears and they get the bone out easily. For turkey, I use something a bit more substantial. They're a bit overkill :-) but they do the job nicely.