Butcher Hand Saw Recommendations

[KClandcruiser]

Wanted to see if any of you have a preference or any advice on a butcher saw. I want to start out by slicing some pork steaks out of some butts I have and eventually move on to butchering some bigger primal cuts. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

[Joshw]

You don't want to be cutting bone in shoulder steaks with a manual meat saw. I would go boneless, or invest in a small band saw. IMO, unless you are butchering the whole animal, you are better off paying the butcher to do the cutting for you. There isn't that much difference in price between butt and steak.

[gcs]

I have a butcher/bone saw that I rarely use anymore, last time was to cut the antlers off a deer, now I use a cordless sawzall,
Frankly, using the saw for steaks, etc is a PITA, I just bone everything out and slice up with a scimitar or 10" chef knife.

Don't get me wrong it's doable, been done that way since forever, but since bandsaws were discovered a hand saw became mostly a decoration.

[ronbrad62]

I have used a hand saw way back when I was a butcher and it was mostly for breaking down the larger primals that couldn't easily be maneuvered on a bandsaw. You can probably find one at any restaurant or food service supply company, probably even Amazon. They are usually stainless steel so they can be easily cleaned and sanitized. As for cutting steaks with one...very difficult.

[InThePitBBQ]

LEM has a few options size wise, they are easy to use and the replacement blades are very reasonable and stay sharp with heavy use better than anything else we've tried.

We use the 16" model almost daily, I love it!
https://www.lemproducts.com/product/...hoCHP0QAvD_BwE

[KClandcruiser]

Originally Posted by InThePitBBQ

LEM has a few options size wise, they are easy to use and the replacement blades are very reasonable and stay sharp with heavy use better than anything else we've tried.

We use the 16" model almost daily, I love it!
https://www.lemproducts.com/product/...hoCHP0QAvD_BwE

That sounds like exactly what I was looking for. From everyone's advice, sounds like I'm better off getting them caught by a butcher on a bandsaw but I'm kind of feeling stubborn and want to try it and find out for myself that it's a bad idea

[Zak]

I have a Lem saw, cant recall what size, for basic deer butchering and primal cuts. I have no complaints about it but it can be tricky to hold the meat and saw at the same time. I'd prefer a bandsaw but i dont have the space to put one dedicated to butchery.

[ronbrad62]

Just ran across this:
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/f...958025378.html

[thirdeye]

My meat saw is a Wyoming Saw (imagine that) and it's primary use is for field dressing big game.... but in addition to sawing off shanks or necks in the field, it will cut pork steaks or ham steaks. I chill the cut of meat, then slice through the meat with a knife stopping at the bone. I switch to the meat saw and with a few strokes it goes right through. The LEM brand saws have a larger bow than my saw.

[ModelMaker]

Originally Posted by thirdeye

My meat saw is a Wyoming Saw (imagine that) and it's primary use is for field dressing big game.... but in addition to sawing off shanks or necks in the field, it will cut pork steaks or ham steaks. I chill the cut of meat, then slice through the meat with a knife stopping at the bone. I switch to the meat saw and with a few strokes it goes right through. The LEM brand saws have a larger bow than my saw.

This is how a butcher works, very little actual sawing. Trust me you don't want to be trying to saw a wiggling slippery piece of pork butt.
Ed

[SonnyE]

I use to have a hand meat saw (Actually a bone saw) for game.
Mostly I used it to split Deer or Antelope from ass to appetite. Sawing the backbone lengthwise. There was rather limited use for it.
But.... when needed, it made short work of the task.

You will use one very little because of the bone sawdust they make.

Better is to learn how to cut down to, then use a deboning knife. Or like suggested, buy deboned.