Had a whole pig break down go sideways because of a dull blade

Last Thursday at the shop, I was working on a 180-pound Berkshire hog for a restaurant order. My main breaking knife felt off, but I thought I could push through. Halfway through separating the shoulder, the blade slipped and I nicked the coppa, messing up a prime cut. My boss, Frank, just shook his head and said, "A dull knife works harder than you do." I spent the next hour re-sharpening everything. Anyone else ever ruin a good piece because you ignored your tools?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_lee2mo ago

Frank's right, that's a brutal lesson to learn the hard way lol.

susanb342mo ago

Tell me about it... I once tried to bone out a leg of lamb with a blade that was basically a butter knife. Ended up with something that looked like it got attacked by a angry beaver, all ragged and torn. My wife asked if I was making stew instead of roasts. That was the day I finally bought a decent steel and stopped being so lazy about it.

lewis.finley2mo ago

Saw a thing online that said a sharp knife is a safe knife, guess it's true for quality too. That sucks about the coppa, man.

miles_burns1mo ago

angry beaver hahaha I'm dying over here. @the_lee that mental image is killing me, I can just picture your wife walking in and being like "are we having stew or what?