Are you looking for the best professional boning knife? Butcher boning knives are excellent for breaking down meat and fish. They can help you cut down costs in your kitchen.
While regularly used by butchers, boning knives are a bit of an enigma for amateurs and even professional chefs. In such a situation, you need some expert advice. To help you, we’ve come up with a solution.
It’s in this article. All you need to do is spare 20 mins and mindfully read this article.
Here we’ve compiled detailed reviews of top boning knives and a buying guide to help you make a good decision. Let’s read…
Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full affiliate disclosure here.
Best Butcher Boning Knife for Professionals – Detailed Reviews
With so many good boning knives for professionals on the market, it’s hard to choose which one will be best for you. Don’t fret; here are some of the best professional boning knives for you.
1. Shun Premier Gokujo Boning Fillet Knife
Are you looking for a supreme quality professional boning knife? The Gokujo Fillet Knife from Shun’s premier lineup is one of the great Japanese filet knives suitable for boning. It’s the top choice for chefs and butchers to remove bones, especially fish, and cut the meat into thin slices.
It’s equipped with a curved double-bevel flat-ground blade, giving it superior durability. The narrow, sharp, and curved blade gets closer to the bone and quickly minimizes waste. Hammered Tsuchime finish allows it to release food while cutting.
The blade is stiff and corrosion-resistant. The Walnut Pakkawood handle helps it fit perfectly in whichever hand you’re using, giving it the quality of the best butcher boning knife.
Customers adorned the knife with many excellent reviews. They recommended the knife for its feel, sharpness, contour, balance, and performance. The fact that it easily debones significant cuts of pork and beef also adds to such excellent user feedback.
According to a customer, it cuts through meat “like butter.” Simultaneously, it works faster and more comfortably, thanks to its handle. The unique handle perfectly fits and gives accuracy and precision while cutting, even for customers with large hands.
Though it’s one of the best butcher knives, it’s not great as a filet knife. The reason is that it lacks flex and has a stiff blade.
Pros
- It’s incredibly sharp and cuts through meat like butter.
- It has a comfortable handle that fits perfectly, providing accuracy.
- The craftsmanship is unmatched.
Cons
- It’s rigid and thick, which makes it bad for filleting.
- The tip might be fragile.
2. Mercer Culinary M23506 Renaissance
Mercer cutlery, such as knives, is famous in the cooking academies of North America. Great for all levels of chefs, the mercer knives are prized for their high-quality materials and fantastic value for money.
Mercer’s best boning knife has a stiffer blade forged with trademark high-carbon steel, giving it long-lasting sharpness. The blade edge is plain, unlike the M20206, and it isn’t flexible. It also makes it suitable for chopping up and mincing veggies and fruits.
The handle of this knife is also triple-riveted. Thus, it’s the perfect combination of being lightweight for increased accuracy and toughness. Its rounded spine can conform nicely to hands of all sizes, giving extraordinary comfort.
This knife is highly sought after because of its matchless sharpness and longevity. One reviewer said it didn’t get dull even after a year of usage.
Though it has mainly positive reviews, the quality is not consistent, and it depends on your luck if you’ll get a good mercer.
This knife is good in size and weight for smaller hands and perfectly balanced, making it easy to use and comfortable even for older people. A customer with arthritis gave it five stars because it was so painless to use.
Pros
- It’s lightweight and comfortable to use.
- It’s pretty sharp, thanks to the high-quality German-made steel.
- The handle is exceptionally comfortable and suitable for small hands.
- It slices through veggies and fruits easily.
Cons
- The quality of this knife is inconsistent.
- The knife needs to be sharpened to maintain its performance.
- The knife can bend.
- The blade might chip if the knife is pushed to the limits.
3. Wusthof 4603 Premium Boning Knife for Butchers & Professionals
Last but not least, the Wusthof classic flexible 6-inch boning knife is perfect for amateurs and professionals alike. Wusthof is shaped like a traditional boning knife, and its flexible blades and ergonomic design make boning a lot easier.
The metal of this chef knife is highly durable and will stay sharp for a long time. Moreover, you can resharpen it easily. It has a highly comfortable and long-lasting polyoxymethylene handle giving you greater control. In addition, it has a lovely traditional look and feel.
The full bolster gives the knife excellent balance and safety, and the safety guard protects your hands when chopping and boning heavy meats. The blade is straight and exceptionally sharp, so you don’t have to use much strength while slicing through tough meats.
The Wusthof is a pretty well-known knife and truly one of the best of its kind. According to users, the knife comes extremely sharp straight out of the package. The flexibility is also perfect because it quickly gets around the bones.
Buyers also commended its large and comfortable handle, making it a high-precision tool for boning meat. The tip is razor-sharp, which helps it get into tough skin with little effort.
Some customers said it might take a little too long to bone chicken, with one user commenting that it wasn’t sharp enough. Overall, the reviewers seemed happy with the knife even though it was a bit expensive.
Pros
- It’s incredibly sharp, and it cuts through meat like butter.
- It has a great handle providing high precision.
- The flexible blade gives it versatility while deboning meat.
- The knife feels good in the hand.
Cons
- It’s a little pricey.
- It might not be as sharp as they thought it would be.
4. Shun DM-0743 Classic Boning Knife – Best for Professional Butchering
Are you looking for the best professional boning knife to gift to yourself or your loved ones? The shun is a 6-inch high-performance, double-beveled stainless steel knife for you.
Unfortunately, made from non-corrosion steel, many knives succumb to acidic substances, heat, or even moisture, resulting in rusting. Yet the Shun knife stands unbeatable here.
The VG-MAX steel also helps with edge retention. It has a stiff curved blade for easy cutting.
The narrow blade reduces friction and makes boning much quicker and smoother. It also helps reach corners that might be hard to get to with a standard knife.
The handle of the Shun is D-shaped and ergonomically designed for max comfort and firm grip. Along with being functional, the handle is also beautifully crafted from ebony PakkaWood.
The combination of functionality and craftsmanship makes the Shun perfect for giving someone as a gift.
The Shun, although pricey, is a great all-rounder knife perfect for high-class chefs. Reviewers commend its razor-sharp knife edge that cuts through the most rigid skin and meat quickly and efficiently. It even cleanly cuts through soft flesh.
The knife also has a fantastic grip resulting from its size and shape. It’s not a flexible knife, so fileting is not recommended. It holds its edge much longer than any other blade without requiring sharpness. So, it’s the ultimate solution if you have been tired because of the weekly sharpening call.
Despite having excellent reviews, some people have found this knife pricey. The tip might break if pushed to the limit. It’s thin and can bend.
Pros
- It has a beautifully sleek design, perfect for gifting.
- The edge of the Shun is razor-sharp and holds for a long time.
- It has excellent grip thanks to the PakkaWood handle.
- Lifetime warranty.
Cons
- It’s made of folded steel. Therefore, it’s brittle; the tip may break.
- It’s pretty thin, so it might bend if pushed to the limit.
- Not that good for filleting meat, as the blade is stiff.
5. Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery Rosewood Curved Boning Knife
Do you need a 6-inch flexible boning knife? The Victorinox Swiss Army boning knife is for you with its flexible 6-inch blade. The Victorinox Swiss Army boning knife is perfect for home chefs and professionals alike.
The good news is that the knife is also available in several straight-stiff, semi-stiff, or curved and flexible options. It’s lightweight and amazingly durable to help you cut for a long time.
It has a pretty Rosewood color, and the handle material is also rosewood, to make it an expensive and durable knife, of course. The handle has a comfortable grip for easy handling, yet porous on the downsides.
So, shouldn’t you have it?
You can, but keep it clean, please!
This made-in-Switzerland knife also comprises excellent steel and its ideal size and toughness to boot. It’s also made from the highest quality materials for your meat-cutting pleasure.
It’s weighted and balanced with triple handle rivets; they give it maximum durability for long-term use.
According to real-time reviews, this boning knife has proven to be an excellent tool for general butchering. It has a fantastic shape-to-size ratio and flex, allowing you to bone out meat quickly.
It can break down many portions of meat, fish, duck, geese, and even deer! Likewise, it effortlessly removes any tendons, meat, and skin. The razor-sharp blade will never let you down and will help you cut through even the toughest of meats.
Pros
- A durable and razor-sharp blade to cut through tough meats for a long time.
- Comfortable and ergonomic handle.
- It has the perfect flex to quickly and easily bone out meat, making it one of the best butcher boning knives.
Cons
- The rosewood handle is porous; moisture gets inside, which results in it stinking while wet.
- It’s hard to find a fitting sheath for it.
- A bulky handle.
6. Mercer Culinary M20206 Genesis Boning Knife for Butchers
Mercer Culinary Genesis is a precision-forged boning knife. Its high-carbon German steel gives it fantastic durability and a taper ground edge.
The edge makes the mercer highly efficient when cutting and gives it long-lasting sharpness. Please handle it carefully lest you have a cut!
This knife has a good handle, ergonomic design, and non-slip grip, even with wet hands. It has been built to last.
Its sharpness is fantastic for piercing many foods. It’s 6 inches long and flexible for meat with hard bones.
Mercer has received excellent feedback. According to customers, it has an excellent grip, even for an average-sized hand, and is well-balanced for boning. It’s what makes it a perfect pick for females as well.
Though not of the highest quality, the steel is good, like a 200-dollar knife. Yet, it’s the perfect choice in its price range.
It quickly cuts through fruits and vegetables and is suitable for filleting fish. Not only this, this knife could promptly remove the backbone of a chicken that they didn’t correctly defrost!
Pros
- It presents an unmatched sharpness owing to the low degree edge.
- The handle offers an incredible grip.
- It’s highly well-balanced and robust with a nice flex.
- Makes choices for females.
Cons
- Although it has good quality, it’s not the best, like some more expensive knives.
- Not suitable for people with larger hands, and the grip isn’t excellent.
- It’s not dishwasher-safe.
7. Victorinox Swiss Classic – Best Professional Boning Knife
Are you a home chef on a budget and looking for some of the best flexible boning knives? If so, the Victorinox Swiss Classic Boning Knife is one of the best butcher boning knives under budget. Even though it’s budget-friendly, its performance, sleek design, and high-grade materials win.
The knife is compact with a flexible, thin blade, giving you superb control. The blade edge is straight and conically shaped: taper ground. Thus, it provides you leverage while boning for maximum sharpness.
It only weighs 4 ounces and has a handle made from thermoplastic rubber. Hence, you get increased accuracy and comfort while cutting.
The material used in the blade is a high carbon, ice-tempered stainless steel maximizing its durability for long-term use.
In short, it’s excellent for deboning small meats such as fish. Although it’s a perfect choice for its price, it still lacks in some areas. Like, the packaging is pretty cheap. Similarly, it doesn’t look all that great. So, it might not serve as a magnificent gift for your sweetheart.
The packaging may also be unsafe. It’s also a little small for deboning large meats. Remember, it’s not super flexible.
Pros
- High-carbon steel gives the knife exceptional durability.
- The flexible blade, along with the handle, gives it superb control.
- It has a solid structure that isn’t heavy.
- The blade is super sharp.
Cons
- The handle may not be that comfortable for some people.
- The packaging is shabby.
- It’s a small knife, so deboning large meats might not help you.
8. Victorinox Fibrox Pro, 6 inches Boning Knife
The Victorinox Fibrox Pro is like the Victorinox Classic knife with a similar 6-inch flexible blade. The Fibrox Pro is a pretty popular knife owing to its budget-friendly nature, just like its sibling knife.
It is a fantastic product for various uses and purposes. The thin and flexible blade is excellent for filleting. In addition, it has a high-carbon stainless steel blade to last for a long time, even after being subjected to the toughest meats and bones.
The angle of the tip is perfect for getting the meat out efficiently, and the high-class materials ensure that no harm will come to the blade. The intelligent handle, made from thermoplastic rubber, provides fantastic comfort and increased precision.
The Fibrox Pro is one of the most convenient knives for you. It’s perfect for 99% of kitchen tasks thanks to the flexible blade that gets everywhere quickly.
The handle provides excellent comfort, resulting in better cuts. It has good blade quality, although it’s nothing spectacular considering its price. It might not be as flexible as imagined, though this increases usability in other tasks.
.
Pros
- Its blade length gives it the ability to do most kitchen tasks easily.
- The handle has a great design and is great for accuracy.
- Flexibility is excellent for filleting tasks.
- The steel quality is good for the price.
Cons
- It might not be as flexible as you think.
- It’s small, so it doesn’t do an excellent job of boning thick meat.
9. UltraSource 449029 – Best Semi-Flexible Boning Knife for Professionals
UltraSource is one of the best butcher boning knives in the semi-flexible category. Owing to the blade of the UltraSource, you can debone different kinds of meat efficiently. The material used in constructing the blade is high-quality molybdenum steel for superb robustness, sharpness, and durability.
The handle is made from polypropylene liquid welded to the blade, making it easy to clean. The blade and handle are well balanced with a safety bolster that minimizes fatigue and increases the grip’s comfort.
The blade is 6-inch long and flexible, so you’ll have no problems if you’re separating meat, fish, or poultry. It’s a universal knife when processing multiple kinds of meat.
Although this is a cheap knife, its performance is comparable to some of the priciest knives. The blade is highly sturdy and sharp, besides being ergonomic. The durability is also unmatched, and it can last for years with proper usage and care.
It isn’t fancy like other knives and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to purchase. Does it compromise performance? According to a professional butcher, the blade comes highly sharpened and keeps it for a long time.
The handles are also fantastic with guards so that you don’t cut yourself while slicing through things. For the shortcomings, the knife doesn’t come with a blade guard. It’s dangerous to be left around in the open.
Pros
- An inexpensive knife with an impressive performance.
- The blade is sharp; it can cut through the toughest meats like butter.
- The handle provides excellent comfort.
- High-quality materials help it last a long time.
Cons
- There is no sheath, so it shouldn’t be left unattended in the open.
- It might not hold the edge for that long.
10. Victorinox 6 Inch Curved Fibrox Pro Boning Knife with Semi-Stiff Blade
Can a curved boning knife be your most wanted cutting tool? To help you make a budget choice, we’ve reviewed the Victorinox Curved Boning knife.
It has a 6-inch curved blade, increasing efficiency while cutting meat and a better working angle. The knife is excellent for easy trimming all kinds of meat, from fish to mutton to bones.
High-grade stainless steel gives it better durability for a smooth cutting experience. It has an ergonomically designed non-slip handle which provides a fantastic grip no matter what the size of your hand may be.
It’s lightweight and durable while helping you use it as an extension of your hand. It doesn’t tire out your hand even after a lot of use. The sharp cutting edge holds its sharpness for pretty long too.
The knife has a semi-stiff blade; therefore, it’s adaptable for different purposes. In addition, as it’s compact and lightweight, it’s easy to store even though it doesn’t have a sheath.
It’s a highly recommended knife as it has a flexible blade that doesn’t break easily. Furthermore, it’s exceptionally sharp and comfortable to hold. Some users have even compared it to a laser!
Pros
- High-quality materials
- The blade is highly sharp.
- The semi-flexible nature makes it versatile.
- The handle has a brilliant design.
Cons
- It may not be as sharp.
- It’s a little too small for significant cuts.
How Can You Choose the Best Professional Boning Knife?
You must be thinking, I know what boning knives are, but which one should I choose?
Don’t worry; we got you covered. We will guide you through exactly what you need. Should it be flexible? What size should it be? And much more.
Strap up and start your journey to find the best butcher boning knife for yourself.
A boning knife is used to cut the meat off bones; it comes in two different styles, regarding its edges and two different blade types. The handles also come in different types, so you should pick carefully to find the right one.
The Blade
Almost all boning knives have one thing in common: their blades are incredibly sharp but come in different types. It can either be stiff, flexible, or semi-flexible.
A stiff blade is perfect for significant cuts of meat like large fish (fileting). They can easily trim through them. More rigid blades also maintain their sharpness for a long time. Dull blades rip the meat off instead of cutting it, hindering your cooking and presentation.
Some have sharp tips and are long, thin, and flexible. These blades are better for small pieces of fish and even minor poultry cuts. They work great on smaller pieces because they are bendy to bend around cartilage and smaller bones efficiently.
Now comes the semi-flexible blades. You may have to cut more significant pieces of meat with denser bones; they can break your knife if it has a stiff blade.
That’s where semi-flexible blades come in; they help you cut those more significant cuts of meat without shattering, as they’re flexible.
Edge Style
Conventionally, butcher boning knives come with a straight sharp edge and narrow with a pointed tip. These variations help the knife poke through meat efficiently, losing no juices. However, curved-edged boning knives can be helpful for fileting.
Curved knife blades (curved at an angle) are ideal for removing the skin, even around small spaces. That’s what straight-edged knives can’t do.
However, straight-edged blades in boning knives have their own merits. Besides boning, straight-edged boning knives can slice through and cut through the meat at high speed.
Keeping your meat-cutting needs in view, you can choose versatile knives like curved boning knives or put your hand on straight boning knives if you have a lot to do with boning only.
The Handle
If you’ve been working in the kitchen for some time now, you might have noticed that meat and poultry are pretty slippery. That’s why boning knives must have handles made of non-slip materials. Thus, they can perfectly conform to your hand, providing a fantastic grip for ultimate precision and accuracy.
Contrarily, it can be incredibly annoying and dangerous if you lose grip on the handle while cutting meat.
In addition, boning knife handles shouldn’t be porous. They shouldn’t allow any moisture in as this can lead to bacteria and other germs, which are unhygienic and contaminate the food.
They make some boning knife handles of stainless steel for this purpose. Others have handles made of wood and materials like Micarta, making them impervious to moisture. Some even come with impermeable hardwood handles.
FAQs
What does a boning knife do?
A boning knife helps you cut through any type of food quickly. However, it finds its primary niche in deboning (removing the bones of) poultry, meat, and fish.
What’s the difference between a semi-stiff and semi-flex boning knife?
The difference between semi-stiff and semi-flex knife blades depends on the intended use. Usually, the flexible knife can break when used in hard food like beef, mutton, or pork.
And stiffer blades might tear delicate meats like fish and poultry. Therefore, you need the proper blade flexibility for your meats.
As a rule of thumb, flexible boning knives are best for delicate meats, and the semi-stiff are more suitable for red meat.
How sharp should a boning knife be?
A boning knife helps in the sleek cutting of meat, not piercing, but it must be razor-sharp. Anything below is simply blunt.
Why is a boning knife flexible?
To cut through meat ligaments and tissues, you need a piercing sharp tool like a thin blade or flexible knife. This kind ensures that meat is appropriately cut and not torn (as by rigid blades). And for this purpose, specific knives, like boning knives, have flexible blades.
What is the angle of a stiff boning knife?
A stiff or semi-stiff boning knife can have an angle between 17 to 20 degrees on each side, totaling 34-40 degrees, which translates to anything above 33 and below 40 degrees.
How can you know if it is a boning knife?
Boning knives are not hard to identify. They usually have a smaller blade length of 5-7 inches, a thin blade with a pointed or curved tip. The blade is generally semi-flexible or flexible. The finger guard is also there to keep your hand away from the blade. Thus, it’s a filet knife for all practical purposes.
How often should I sharpen my boning knife?
Your boning knife’s sharpening need depends on its use. If you use it often, it might need sharpening after 1-2 weeks. Here, by sharpening, we don’t mean refreshing the bevel. Instead, you need a regular touch-up to keep cutting flawlessly.
Furthermore, the sharpening call depends on what type of surface you’re using your knife on. For instance, a wooden board can affect your knife’s edge more than a plastic cutting board. So, it comes as no surprise that many users have complained about their knife’s unexpected bluntness and ignore the surface that causes it so quickly.
When it’s about choosing the correct sharpening angle and how to sharpen your knife, you can find tons of videos on YouTube.
What does the guiding hand do when using a boning knife?
One hand will be holding the knife, and the other will be deploying the food for cutting. The hand that you use for turning, folding, or holding food is called the guiding hand.
Can I put my boning knife in a dishwasher?
Never. It can be drastic, especially for the handles. Instead, you can use warm water to clean your knife after each use. However, be careful when washing your knife by hand, lest you should injure your hand.
Best Butcher Boning Knife: Our Final Verdict
It’s undeniable that choosing a boning knife that fits your needs is hard. Yet we hope that we saved you some work searching for a knife for yourself.
After reading the buyer guide, you’ll be keen enough to know the difference between a good boning knife and a bad one. Hopefully, you’ll make the right decision regarding which best butcher boning knife you should buy.
BTW, which one is that? Let us know in the comment section.
