Why does nobody talk about how dull a knife gets after breaking down 40 whole chickens | Butchers - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Why does nobody talk about how dull a knife gets after breaking down 40 whole chickens
Last Saturday at my shop in Council Bluffs I broke down 40 birds in about 3 and a half hours for a big catering order. By number 30 my 8 inch breaker was just smashing through skin instead of slicing, and I could feel it in my wrist. Grabbed a sharpener at the sink, gave it maybe 8 passes, and it was night and day. My old lead always claimed you should only touch up on a steel until the end of the shift, but that clearly was not cutting it. What do you all do, touch up during the run or just keep a second knife on the board?
My dad used to say the same thing about his chainsaw blade when we'd clear trees all day, just hit it with the file every few hours instead of waiting till the end. Same deal with my kitchen shears at home, by the time I finish trimming a big batch of chicken thighs they're basically chewing through the meat. It's this weird thing where we all know tools wear down as you use them, but somehow we act surprised every single time it happens. Your old lead's rule probably came from a time when people only did a few birds at a time, not 40 in one go. Forty birds is a real workout for any edge. I'd keep a second knife on the board, honestly, swapping is faster than stopping to sharpen.