Knife for Chicken Skins

JiveTurkey · Jan 27, 2020

Hey all, I've been using those cheap Kiwi knives from the restaurant supply for many years to scrape my comp chicken skins. They work great, like little razor blades, but I'm tired of always replacing them after I use them to death. I'm looking to upgrade to a nice quality knife that would perform just as good. Something sharp, light, thin, holds an edge all day. Does anybody have any upgrade suggestions? What do you alls use to remove fat from your skins?

BTW I did my first comp of the year this past weekend and got my arse clobbered. I violated every rule I ever learned about comp BBQ; I cooked on an untested pit (fail), I relied on tech to wake me up (it didn't), I changed my chicken game plan last minute which lead me to completely FORGET to season my chicken! I seriously turned in unseasoned chicken, only sauce. I didn't realize it until after I turned in my ribs, DOH! 5 teams scored lower in chicken so they must have really screwed up! lol.

Cheers to the next comp!

ynotfehc · Jan 27, 2020

Simply dont scrape.

ModelMaker · Jan 28, 2020

6" Filet knife?
Ed

BoneDaddy's · Jan 28, 2020

Any knife will dull, so just sharpen it.

mcbrew13 · Jan 28, 2020

Work on a process that does not require completely scraping the skin - lot flavor there.

I use a couple of these and keep them sharp (key part).....
Wusthof Pro Semi-Stiff Curved Boning Knife, 6-Inch

Also use this knife to trim all the other meats. I think a couple of these and a good slicing knife are about all you need for BBQ.

eap0510 · Jan 28, 2020

Back when I did thighs and scrapped the skins I used a paint scraper from Home Depot like this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-2-5-in-4-Edge-Wood-Scraper-F4-HDX/206458389

It took a moment to get use to being able to scrape the skins without ripping them but once I got the hang of it I was able to process 20 thighs in about 15-30 minutes. The time really depended on how picky I was being when I processed them.

long haired hippie · Jan 28, 2020

Are we trying to turn Q into a science?
RELAX & buy a whetstone.

didisea · Jan 28, 2020

I've used a Havalon Baracuta knife for many years. It has replacement blades you can buy, so when it gets dull, you just replace the blade. The same handle accommodates a couple of different blade profiles, but I like the 127XT blades for chicken. It also is really good at taking the silver skin off brisket, pork and ribs. Amazon or Cabelas has them. When you first put a new blade on, you have to be careful because its so sharp that you can rip your chicken skin more easily than when it gets a little duller.

https://www.amazon.com/Havalon-HV12...=1580249555&sprefix=havalon+ba,aps,207&sr=8-5

JiveTurkey · Jan 28, 2020

To those who are helpful, thanks for the tips.

Good idea on the Havalon and the paint scraper. With the kiwi I'm able to cut between the fat layer and skin because the knife is so thin, I never really needed to scratch at it. I might try that.

Also I've tried various boning knives over the years and they just dont seem to work for me. I do all of my trimming with a Victorinox boning knife but for skins no bueno. The bretheren mentioned Kiwi's many years ago and they have been great. I figured I would see if anybody had any other idears out there, as always the Bretheren do not disappoint!

Thanks again,
JT

thirdeye · Jan 28, 2020

9 or 10 years ago I took a competition cooking class and although I didn't enter a sanctioned KCBS comp for 10 years, scraping skin became part of my weekly backyard prep for thighs. Bite through is one thing, but the calorie reduction is very important. Removing skin fat can cut out 250 or so calories.

I started with a fillet knife, went to a bull nose chef's knife, moved to a triangle paint scraper (which I re-profiled on all three sides), to a taxidermists fleshing spoon and have now gone full circle returning to the fillet knife.

I put a 15° angle on the fillet blade and get it scary sharp. It takes me maybe 90 seconds for fat removal. Here is a VIDEO one of the team took. It was nighttime so the white balance is off, but it shows the general ideal.

JiveTurkey · Jan 28, 2020

You made quick work of that fat in your video! Good job Thirdeye, thanks for the pics as well. I'm doing a test tonight with my uncooked chicken from this past weekends comp. I'm going to make sure to season it this time!

thirdeye · Jan 28, 2020

JiveTurkey said:
You made quick work of that fat in your video! Good job Thirdeye, thanks for the pics as well. I'm doing a test tonight with my uncooked chicken from this past weekends comp. I'm going to make sure to season it this time!

I struggle with uniform size, even when cooking 15 or 16 to choose from. 1st comp appearance scores were 8, 8, 7, 9, 9, 9 and one of my comp BBQ mentors suggested moving from a standard arrangement to a non-standard arrangement so the lack of uniformity wasn't so obvious. I think he snipped this photo from the CBJ FB page, so we might try something like this next time.

JiveTurkey · Jan 28, 2020

Uniform size is always a struggle. I buy two packs of thighs and weigh each piece. Anything under 7oz or over 8oz gets put aside for home testing. I usually have 10-12 pieces after that to work with. I use 9x13 pans which fit 6 just perfect and keeps shape. Chicken is such a PIA! lol Killer box, thanks for the idea.

thirdeye · Jan 28, 2020

My after-trim weight was 4 to 4.2 ounces.

tduffy · Jan 28, 2020

Leave the fat on the skin, It's flavor.

Knife for Chicken Skins

JiveTurkey

is one Smokin' Farker

ynotfehc

Full Fledged Farker

ModelMaker

Quintessential Chatty Farker

BoneDaddy's

Take a breath!

mcbrew13

Knows what a fatty is.

eap0510

Full Fledged Farker

long haired hippie

Full Fledged Farker

didisea

Take a breath!

JiveTurkey

is one Smokin' Farker

thirdeye

somebody shut me the fark up.

JiveTurkey

is one Smokin' Farker

thirdeye

somebody shut me the fark up.

JiveTurkey

is one Smokin' Farker

thirdeye

somebody shut me the fark up.

tduffy

is Blowin Smoke!

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