Should a Boning Knife Be Stiff or Flexible?

Common Features

• All boning knives, whether stiff or flexible, have a short narrow blade. This shape makes it easier to maneuver the knife around the bones, minimizing meat waste. They also have a fine tip for this reason. Boning knives are very sharp, to enable cutting through cartilage, bristle, tendons and membranes. The blade may be made from harmonized steel or titanium, but is more commonly stainless steel. The handle may be fashioned from a number of materials, from acrylic to wood to moulded rubber.

Stiff

• Boning knives with stiff blades are used for butchering fibrous meats such as beef, pork and mutton. These meats also tend to have more cartilaginous material and thicker seams of fat, making the stiff blade useful for trimming as well as boning. Stiff blades are particularly useful for trimming and boning large joints such as shoulders.

Flexible

• Boning knives with flexible blades -- also known as filleting knives -- are used to butcher fish and poultry. Flexible blades allow easier filleting of these animals because they, particularly fish, have less rigid skeletal systems than larger livestock animals, and the flexible blades also avoid damaging the delicate flesh. Some chefs also use a flexible boning knife on small meat joints such as pork chops, to minimize waste.

Blade Care

• Like all kitchen knives, boning knives should be hand-washed in mildly soapy water. Putting a boning knife through the dishwasher is likely to dull it. Boning knives need to be sharpened regularly, ideally before each use, because butchering is one of the culinary tasks that depletes blades most quickly.