Best Boning Knives…
This Article Covers:
Choose The Best Boning Knife
There is a confusing array of amazing boning knives on the market, all of them are sharp, but some of them are not that sharp when it comes to real value…?
Our reviews will help you match your knife requirements, to the best boning knife, at a fair price.
…For thousands of past buyers, the choice was simple!
You too, should not look past this high-quality, low-cost, long-time favourite for hunters/home butchers or any professional knife user? – Victorinox Boning Knife, Swiss-made from high-carbon stainless steel.
Best Boning Knife For Hunting?
For many experienced hunters, the Victorinox Boning Knife is by-far the best knife for deer hunting, it is used for deboning meat in the field, camp cooking, or even general kitchen work at home – very versatile and great value!
…Or, You could go straight to a top of the line and buy a well balanced hand-forged Dalstrong, or WÜSTHOF boning knife, either knife is excellent quality – a must-have for the Professional Chef or Butcher…
7 Knives – Compared
| Image | Features | Rating | Price |
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6″ Boning Knife
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6″ Curved Boning Knife
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5″ Walnut Boning Knife
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6″ Boning Knife
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6″ Boning Knife
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6″ Boning Knife
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5.5″ Boning Knife
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My Pick…
My first choice from the seven knives listed above is the 6″ Victorinox Boning Knife, a well known Swiss Brand available on Amazon, ensuring excellent quality boning knives at competitive prices, They also give You a choice of 5 different blade types.
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10 Best Boning Knives
- Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery Fibrox Pro Straight Boning Knife – 6″ Stiff Blade
- Mercer Culinary Millennia – 6″ Curved Boning Knife
- Jero Butcher Series P3 Commercial Grade Boning Knife – 6″ Curved Stiff Blade
- Chicago Cutlery Walnut Tradition Boning Knife – 5″ Blade
- WÜSTHOF Model, Gourmet – 6″ Flexible Boning Knife
- Kessaku’s Samurai series 6″ professional Boning knife, Japanese Steel
- Mercer Culinary Renaissance Forged – 6″ Stiff Boning Knife
- Dexter-Russell 31620 – 6″ Boning Knife
- Dalstrong Gladiator Series Forged German Thyssenkrupp High-Carbon Steel – 8″ Boning Knife
- UltraSource Boning Knife, – 5″ Curved/Semi-Flexible Blade
What is a boning knife?
Boning Knife Uses
There is a reason boning knives are so popular with butchers and professional chefs… The long slim sharp blades are designed to trim chunks of meat or quickly remove meat from the bone, as well, they are also very popular with hunters like myself, for processing deer or other large game animals in the field.
Victorinox Boning Knives have a range of blade types from flexible, semi-flexible, to stiff blades
The specialised blades like the classic flexible curved blades are ideal for deboning poultry and small game animals or filleting fish.
For deer hunting, I wouldn’t be without a 6″ boning knife with a stiff stainless blade.
Boning Knife Sheath
most boning knives won’t be supplied with a sheath, you can find a good quality fixed blade leather sheath on Amazon to suit a 5″ or 6″ boning knife, a couple of them are designed with belt loops though most are just a simple sheath you would carry in your pack. I always carry my main hunting knife in my day pack, so the plain sheath without a belt loop works fine for me.
Kitchen Use
A good boning knife is lightweight, easy to sharpen, and versatile in use – this is why they make great hunting knives, I mainly use my boning knife for butchering wild game.
But they also excel as general kitchen knives for vegetables or meat processing at home, the boning knife in our kitchen is in use nearly every day, for cutting and dicing food products of all types.
Boning Knife Blade Types
You will find a variety of blade sizes [5.5″ to 6″] is common, with several blade types, straight or curved boning knives, as well as flexible, semi-flexible, to quite rigid. or any combination of these… For deer processing, I prefer a stiff, straight or slightly curved boning knife with a stainless blade around 6″ long
Choosing the right boning knife is easier if you know what you will use the knife for…
Flexible vs, Stiff Blade – Boning Knives
When deer hunting I always use stiff boning knives with straight or slightly curved blades, for processing chunks of meat or general kitchen use I would recommend flexible blades as they allow for more delicate cuts especially when processing small game like ducks, turkeys, chickens or filleting fish.
The less Flexible Boning Knives, similar to the one I use when hunting is a great knife for processing deer, the lightweight rigid blades I find are perfect for heavier deboning work, this rigid boning knife design with a 6-inch blade is great for processing deer or elk.
Deer Fillet Knife
But you don’t need to be too exact when choosing the blade type if you want a single boning knife to serve several purposes, it can.
All boning or fillet knives will have a narrow sharp blade with a curved spear point… designed to easily remove meat from the bone.
Stainless Blades
I prefer stainless steel hunting knives, in my experience, they stay sharp and handle the hard use including wet dirty conditions in the field, better than most boning knives with carbon blades.
High-Carbon Boning Knives
But you can buy very good high-carbon boning knives – I list several high-carbon knives in the comparison chart, like the Dalstrong boning knife, keep in mind they do require a bit more maintenance than stainless after hard use.
How To Maintain High-Carbon Blades
When you get home, give the knife a quick clean in warm water and dry carefully with a clean cloth – don’t use the dishwasher!
After touching up the edge, apply a light covering of vaseline to the tang and blade, this will stop most high-carbon blades from rusting if you store them in a dry place.
Never Store High Carbon Or Stainless Knives In Damp Sheaths!
The Knife I Use
Best Knives For Butchering Deer
I have used the same boning knife for 10 years it is similar to this Victorinox Boning Knife, it has a stiff 6″ blade made from German Stainless Steel, it is durable, comfortable in the hand, lightweight – solid construction and fast in use – I love the fact it is cheap to buy… and yet, it is one of the best knives I have ever used for butchering deer.
I always carry this boning knife along with my Swingblade skinning knife and a good pocket knife in my daypack whenever I’m hunting.
That’s all I need for boning out a deer.
Boning Knife Purpose
This 6″ stiff sharp blade on a low-cost boning knife has proven to be one of the best knives I’ve owned for cutting up deer or sticking and processing pigs – It has 4 key features…
- 6″ strong rigid blade.
- durable plastic handle.
- a curved thin sharp blade with a spear point.
- German stainless steel that holds its edge.
For me the boning knives with a stiff slightly curved or straight blade are what makes the difference when butchering deer, hogs or beef animals, it easily copes with heavy cuts like leg joints, brisket or pelvis, as well it can work fine for more delicate deboning when needed.
But just to be safe, it is very easy to lose or damage a knife in the field…
So over the years, I have learnt to always carry at least two sharp knives when hunting deer – or even better, recently I decided to add a complete skinning knife set to my hunting kit – I’ve got all the bases covered now!
Deer Fillet Knife
I tend to hunt on my own, and it is often late in the afternoon when I have success, I’m always conscious of the time it takes to carry the animal out of the bush to my truck, so as a rule, I work quite fast and I’m a bit too rough on my knives? when processing deer in the field,
Thinner flexible fillet blades wouldn’t last long with my style of boning out a deer, they simply break, if used too rough, thin blades are more suited to smaller game animals, filleting fish, deboning chicken or ducks and general kitchen work at home, but fillet knives may work fine for you if you have more patience and time…
Best Boning Knife For Deer
I wouldn’t expect to win any awards for looks, with this cheap-looking boning knife with its ugly yellow plastic handle… But I have deboned a lot of deer with it occasionally in difficult conditions the field before finishing the job, in relative comfort in our kitchen at home, Wherever you use it this knife just performs as it should, quite similar to Victorinox Boning Knives, a good knife for boning out deer and excellent value to buy…
Knife Handle
Though a bit budget looking, I really like the design of this knife, it has a non-slip textured grip, the 6- inch blade is German Steel that holds a working edge,
If the blade is not too dull, it is easy to resharpen with a few strokes on your sharpening steel or strop, a reliable blade made from no-fuss stainless steel – that is easy to maintain.
Without a doubt, this cheap boning knife is the most useful of the 3 hunting knives I currently own.
Best Knife For Deboning Deer
Whether I’m breaking down a deer in the field or preparing the meat for the freezer at home, Along with a good solid meat cleaver, the boning knife with a 6″ stiff blade is the knife I reach for the most often.
Victorinox Boning Knife
What I recommend is either a 6″ Victorinox Bonning Knife or this similar boning knife from Jero USA.
Jero is a company that has only recently come to my attention, they sell quality Professional Boning Knives to butchers or chefs they would make excellent kitchen knives for the home chef, I like to think Jero USA, is also catering to Hunters like myself, as well… I’m looking forward to buying one of their skinning knife sets.
Flexible Boning Knives
Though you can use a flexible boning knife for all types of game and farm animals generally I use a flexible boning knife for processing smaller animals such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, any small game you harvest… even gutting and filleting fish.
The slim design and 6″ blade makes it is easy to maneuver – while you remove meat from the bone with minimal waste.
Of course, this is exactly what the boning knife is designed to do.
Top Boning Knife For Deer
After 40 years of hunting, I have finally come to the conclusion… The best boning knife for processing deer is around 6 inches long with a slim, strong stainless blade, Though if you’re careful with your knife, you could use a fillet knife? when I’m breaking down larger animals like deer, I prefer the extra strength of a rigid curved blade with a sharp spear point, – this is a boning knife specifically designed to separate meat from the bone…
For me, this Victorinox Boning Knife is the best value, I’ve found on Amazon, it’s well priced for a quality popular boning knife, that has been extensively tested in the real world. (lots of happy customers)
You get to choose from several [5] blade types – ranging from stiff to flexible, straight to curved.
Whether your a Chef, Butcher, or Hunter, it will be difficult to find a better deal than these Swiss Boning Knives – currently at bargain prices.
Video – Boning Knife Demo
Boning Knife v’s Fillet Knife
Boning Knives
There are several top quality Knife Brands and Blade Types to choose from when buying Boning Knives. if you aren’t 100% sure which boning knife is best for field dressing? I have found Victorinox, Jero USA, or Outdoor Edge produce a good range of boning knives or knife sets specifically suited to breaking down and deboning large or small game animals.
The boning knife as a tool is not limited to professional butchers, you will often see them used by experienced hunters in the field, dressing deer, or at home preparing meat for the freezer.
I have owned the same one for the last ten years, I wouldn’t want to hunt without my boning knife.
Blade Length
5″ to 6″ is the most popular blade size but for some butchers or fish Mungers a blade up to 7″ or 8″ is ideal, it just depends on its use … but for deer hunting a 6″ boning knife is the industry standard.
Dexter Russel Boning Knives
These American made knives manufactured by Dexter-Russel in Southbridge, Massachusetts, offer the usual blade length for boning knives at 5″ to 6″ as well they also produce a range of flexible filleting knives as long as 7″ to 9″ for filleting fish.
For me, though, I prefer a straight 6″ rigid blade, for deer hunting, a boning blade is normally flat with a straight and slightly curved tip, the tip is sharpened.
This allows for precise cutting, whether skinning deer or cutting through ligaments and connective tissue, removing meat from heavy bones, or occasionally filleting fish.
Fillet Knives vs Boning Knives?
Boning knives compared to fillet knives? boning knives tend to have thicker, shorter blades around 6″ long, their blades tend to be less flexible… than specialist fillet knives.
Filleting Knives
Fillet Knives look similar to boning knives at first glance, though filleting knives are thinner and more flexible than most boning knives, with a blade length ranging from 5″ to 9″ the blade often has a prominent upward curve along the blade with a sharply curved tip.
As most filleting blades are very thin and flexible you will find they are not as strong as a rigid boning knife.
The standard fillet knife, in my opinion, is less suitable for heavier work like breaking down and deboning deer or large game animals.
Boning Knife or Fillet Knife
In a pinch, I could fillet a fish with my boning knife, but I would not like to bone out a deer with a fillet knife that is too flexible, if you do want to use a fillet knife, a fillet knife with a stiff strong blade would be best for processing deer.
However, the longer more flexible blade of a fillet knife is well suited to filleting and skinning fish, in skilled hands it quickly removes the edible fillets, without leaving too much flesh on the bone.
FAQ – Boning Knives
What is the best boning knife for processing deer?
Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery Fibrox Pro Straight Boning Knife – 6″ Stiff Blade is what I use, as well, Victorinox Knives are the choice of many professional chef’s or butchers when breaking down large cuts of meat or processing deer, hogs or beef animals.
What to look for in a Good Boning Knife?
A boning knife should be light, well balanced, with an easy-care plastic handle attached to a strong flexible 5 – 6″ stainless blade. A strong 6″ rigid blade is prefered for heavier work such as boning entire animals or larger cuts of meat.
Best Budget Boning Knife?
Victorinox Fibrox Pro is one of the best boning knives for the money, made in Switzerland from High Carbon Stainless Steel hardened to 58 HRC – resulting in a quality durable rust-resistant knife along with the Victorinox lifetime warranty, there are 5 blade types to choose from…
Summary:
As I stated in the beginning, the best boning knife for deer would have a 6″ stainless blade, straight or slightly curved to a sharpened point, the blade would be rigid have a plastic or wooden handle and cost very little to buy or replace if lost!
The Boning Knives I can comfortably recommend based their competitive price, excellent value, and amazing quality is this popular range of Victorinox Boning Knives
