Electric Knife Sharpener - Is it worth it?

Jonny

Backyahd BBQ pitmaster & gear reviewer

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Electric knife sharpener. Is it worth it? Dull to sharp in 3 minutes #knifesharpener #knifeskills #bbq #bbqtips #chefschoice #howto #learnontiktok
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Mar 9, 2022

Electric knife sharpener. Is it worth it? Dull to sharp in 3 minutes #knifesharpener #knifeskills #bbq #bbqtips #chefschoice #howto #learnontiktok

Brisket is the most intimidating cut of meat to smoke. It’s expensive and there’s fear that you’ll screw it up. I’m going to show you how to simplify the trim, so you don’t have to stress about it. When trimming a brisket, your goal should be to remove any thick hard fat that you don’t think will render or any meat that is browned or sticking out. I start on the fat side and cut off Mohawk with a 6” boning knife. I trim one long side and round off that corner and then do the same on the other side. I then trim down the fat cap as needed. I’m only looking to trim anything that is hard or thicker than a half an inch. When we say aerodynamic, we just mean smooth corners and edges so the smoke can envelop the whole thing evenly. I then flip it over and take out the big chunk of deckle fat. And then switch to a longer knife to trim off any fat globs from the meat side. I finish by cleaning up the edges. That’s really all there is to it. I use the same process every time I trim a brisket and try not to spend more than 5 to 10 minutes on each one. You can find all the gear and meat I use on my gear page. Use code BACKYAHD15 for 15% off CrowdCow Brisket: Creekstone Farms from @Crowd Cow Prep Tub: @BBQDripEZ Knives: @Heritage Steel #bbq #brisket #smokedmeat #howto #learn #smokedbrisket
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Let’s learn how to spatchcock a chicken, turkey or any other type of bird. I like to wear nitrile gloves and use a prep tub when handling birds, so it’s easier to clean up after. Remove the bird from the bag and clean out the cavity. You can throw those bits away or save for stock or a snack. You can optionally rinse the bird. If you do, make sure you don’t cross contaminate and clean up with a diluted bleach solution. Pat it dry with a paper towel and pluck any leftover feathers. Flip the bird on its belly and find the oysters. They are the bulges of meat on the backbone, right between the legs. Some say this is the best part of the chicken. The french call it “sot-l’y’laisse’ (so-lee-less) which means ‘only a fool would leave it”. I cook the bird with them on and then eat them on my own before I bring the bird back into the house. Using poultry shears or a sharp knife cut along one side of the backbone being careful to avoid cutting into the oysters. Optionally cut along the other side of the backbone and remove it. I like to leave it on for smaller birds. If you remove it, then save it to make your own chicken stock. Make a small slit in the cartilage between the breasts. Put a hand on each side and press down firmly to splay it out. I like to remove the keel bone so the bird lays flatter. Rotate the bird 180 degrees. Run your thumbnails under and around the keel bone and then pull it out. You don’t need a knife to remove it. Flip the bird on its back and tuck the wings so you can get your rub under the wings and they don’t interfere with your rub on the breasts. You can secure the wings with toothpicks if they don’t want to stay tucked on their own. Let me know in the comments if you want to see a video on how I cook a spatchcocked chicken. #bbq #bbqtips #howto #chicken #spatchcocking #spatchcockchicken #cooking #chickenprep
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Brisket Full Cook - Part 4 - Trim Let’s learn how to trim a brisket. I start by taking off the mohawk and then rounding off the point. I square off that long side and round off that corner. This brisket had a lot of fat on that side, so I carved more of that out. On the meat side, I shaved off the deckle and then cleaned up that long side. I’m using a 10” slicing knife for most of these cuts today. I personally like using a longer knife to trim, but I switch to my 6” or 4” knife when I need to be more precise. I shortened the brisket to 18” so it would fit on my smoker and then cleaned up the corners. None of this goes to waste, I make burgers, sausage and tallow with it. I shaved some of the hard fat off the hump. And then cleaned up the fat on top of the flat. I shoot for about a quarter of an inch to a half an inch of fat there. Back on the meat side, I carved out the deckle and then cleaned up the fat globs from the flat. Slather and rub is coming up next…
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How to trim a brisket. I like trimming briskets, but I also want to do it as quickly as possible. I follow the same flow for every trim, which has helped me be much more efficient. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to harden the fat making it easier to cut. I wear a cut glove on my left hand and nitrile gloves on both hands. I have 3 tubs, one to trim, one for meat trimmings, and one for fat. Save the meat trimmings for burgers and the fat for tallow. I also have a roll of paper towels and a trash can nearby. I use a 6” boning knife for most of the cuts and a straight-edge slicing knife for the meat side and some of the bigger cuts. Remove from the bag by cutting along the deckle fat, so you don’t gouge the meat. Pat down with a paper towel. I start with the fat side because fat is easier to trim when cold. Cut off the mohawk. Round off the point. Splay out the flat. Clean up the long side. Carve out the deckle on that side a little. Cut that corner at a 45 degree angle. Round off the edges. Do the same with the other long side. Trim the flat fat to a quarter of an inch. Trim the slope section between the point and the flat. Trim the hump, working from the middle to the side. Flip it over to the meat side. Carve out the deckle. Remove any fat globs. Go with the grain. I put my left hand under the brisket to get it curved at a good angle for easier cuts. I’ll sometimes use my straight-edge slicing knife for efficiency. Clean up any rough edges and move onto the next brisket. #brisket #bbq #bbqtips #howto #smokedmeat #brisketprep
4M
The improved spatchcock gets you max skin and keeps oysters intact #bbq #bbqtips #knifeskills #howto #learnontiktok #chicken #spatchcocking #chef
3.5M
Here’s how I trim dino ribs. You could just throw them on the pit as-is, but I like to touch them up a bit. I start by removing the lean layer of meat on top and use that in a stir-fry. If you leave it on, then it may slide around and mess up your top bark. I inspect the whole thing and clean up any loose or hanging bits. This is completely optional, but if I have time, then I’ll remove the fat cap and thick silver skin. It doesn’t hurt to leave it on, but you will get a cleaner bite without that silver skin. You definitely want to leave the bone side membrane on because that is what keeps everything together as it smokes. I used to score the membrane, thinking some of the rub would get up in there. But now, I just leave it alone because I don’t want any of the rendered fat to leach out through the score marks as it smokes. I also used to round off the corners but stopped doing that as well as I was just throwing that away. Of course, I save the fat trimmings and render it down into tallow and any meat trimmings are used in stir-fry’s or stews. Nothing goes to waste. Thanks @PorterRoadButcher for the amazing ribs and @dripez for the knife! #bbq #smokedmeat #bbqfam #dinoribs #beefribs #beef #meat #bbqtips
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Brisket Trim IRL 4 of 4 This is the 4th and final brisket trim for a recent catering event for 70 people. This is the 22 pound on that needed a lot of help. In this video I’m going to show you some things I haven’t talked about yet and show you a bunch of mistakes I made to help you avoid them. I keep a honing rod near by and hone my knives between each brisket trim. I cut the wrapper along the deckle fat so I don’t gouge in to the meat. I pat it down with a paper towel so it’s easier to handle. I inspect the brisket to see what I’m working with. I notice that the mohawk is lopsided and there’s a lot of hard fat cap to remove. Ideally I should have put this in the freezer for an hour before slicing, but I didn’t have the freezer space or time. I cut off the mohawk, round of the point, and then clean up the fat that was under the mohawk. I square up the long side. A cut off the end of the flat to get it down to 18” to fit on my smoker. I’ll use that in burgers. I shave off the deckle fat. I don’t remove it entirely because I like some of it to render and keep the flat moist as it cooks. I shave off the fat build up on the meat side. Notice how I’m using my left hand to prop up the brisket - that helps get it at the right angle to shave off the fat. I square off the other long side and clean things up. I pound the point down to be more level with the flat. I move on to the fat cap. You can see here I start to cut into the meat - as soon as I notice that I can either back out and fold the fat back down, or I can angle my knife upwards and keep the exposed meat. In this case the gouge wasn’t too bad so I kept cutting with an upwards angle. You’ll notice here that I continually look under my knife to see if I’m starting to expose the meat. I inspect the fat and see that more needs to be trimmed off the top of the flat. I got a little to close with this cut, but you just have to keep moving. It’s not the end of the world. Here I’m lightly scraping the fat cap with the edge of my knife to see if anything pops out. I discover there’s some stringy fat and remove it. I put some final touches on the corners. I notice there’s a gouge from the butcher here, so I shave that lip off. I don’t want that hanging off and I want my rub to be applied evenly to the flat. I pound it out a little to even it out. And finish with a final inspection and move onto applying the rub. Hopefully these trim videos helped you out. I thought it would be cool to show my process when I just working on feeding people. #brisket #foodprep #catering #bbq #smokedmeat
2.6M
When I was first learning how to trim a brisket I stressed pretty hard about not gouging into the fat cap. I’m here to tell you that I’ve done it and I’ve survived and it’s okay. Exposing a little of the meat through the fat cap isn’t the end of the world and the brisket will still be fantastic. In fact, some briskets come with meat exposed and there’s nothing you can do about it and it still turns out great. Your goal should be to trim the fat cap down to about a quarter of an inch all the way around. Sometimes that means putting your knife in awkward positions. It helps to learn what a quarter inch of fat feels like - so once you get a section down to a quarter of an inch, push on the fat to get a sense for it. As you are trimming, feel and look around for anything that looks more than a quarter of an inch. Trim a little, then lift the fat, look under the knife, gauge the thickness, and keep cutting. When you’ve accidentally cut into the meat, and you will, you can either back out and cover it up or finish the cut and leave it exposed. I personally like to continue cutting because aesthetically I don’t want a piece of flappy fat left on top of my meat. Everything about bbq should be enjoyable, including brisket trimming, so go into it without stress and just move on if you make mistake. Music by @ianmullmusic amazing guitar work on his channel. Check him out! #gifted #affiliate #bbq #bbqtips #brisket #briskettrim #howto #learnontiktok #smokedmeat #smokedbrisket #brisketprep @backyahdbbq @backyahdbbq @backyahdbbq
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How to Slice a Brisket First put cotton gloves under your nitrile gloves to protect your hands from the heat. I like this 12” serrated victorinox knife, because it’s long enough to cover the whole brisket width, and it’s thin, but any bread knife will work. Place the brisket down on your cutting board with the point on your right and flat on your left, find the end of the point in the middle, gently rest your left hand on the flat and place your knife to the right of your hand. Using a gentle sawing motion, slice all the way down to the board being careful not to upset the top bark and don’t drag the bark on the underside of the brisket. Slice a big chunk off the hump, that’s the side of the point opposite the mohawk, optionally cut off the bottom flat muscle, and slice that into burnt end chunks. Slice the point into roughly ½ inch slices. Only slice as much as you need to serve because the meat will start to brown and dry as soon as it is sliced. Slice the flat in roughly ¼ inch slices. #bbq #brisket #smokedmeat #howto #cooking
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Here's why I bought an electric knife sharpener - the Chef's Choice 15VX

I have many knives that I bought from Costco many years ago that I recently sharpened with the AccuSharp, but the AccuSharp isn't a 15-degree sharpener and I wanted to get all my knives to 15 degrees. So, while it was sharp for a little while, it quickly dulled. I'm also growing my knife collection with many knives that are 15 angles.

Boning Knife
Victorinox

Boning Knife

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AccuSharp
AccuSharp

AccuSharp

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I debated for a long time on if an electric sharpener was worth it and recently decided it was. Considering the amount of time it takes to sharpen with a whetstone, I decided that my time was worth the upfront cost. The Chef's Choice 15XV is $150ish, which sounds like a crazy amount to spend on a sharpener at first, but if you consider the amount of time it takes to sharpen with a whetstone, it might be worth it for you. You can get fast with a whetstone, but for myself, I don't find pleasure in the art of sharpening knives, I just want sharp knives so I can cut food and experiment with recipes and cooking technics.

Trizor 15XV
Chef's Choice

Trizor 15XV

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You don't have to buy this model, they have plenty others, but I would encourage the 15-degree model as that is what Victorinox ships all their knives with. I chose this one because it got good reviews, has diamond abrasives, and sharpens serrated knives.

While not as sharp as what I would get with a whetstone, it's sharp enough for me.

This model has three stages, sharpening, honing, and polishing.

Stage 1 Sharpening


For really dull knives, you'll want to do 20 pulls for 3-4 seconds on each side in stage one and move to stage 2 when you fell a burr along the whole edge of the right side of the knife.

Stage 2 Honing

Then do 1-2 pulls for 3 seconds each in stage 2 until you feel a burr.

Stage 3 Polishing


Then 3 pulls for 3-4 seconds each in stage 3, followed by 2 pulls for 1 second. You can continue to do more 1 second pulls to get it even sharper. At the end of this stage you shouldn't feel a burr, just check for sharpness by cutting a piece of paper for the full length of the knife.

Serrated Knives

For serrated knives, do 5-10 pulls for 2-3 seconds in stage 3, and if damaged, do 1 pull for 2-3 seconds in stage 2, then back to stage 3 for 3-4 pulls.

Resharpen Knives

To resharpen, start with stage 3, if it takes too long, then do stage 2, and if that takes too long, to stage 1. You work your way back from Stage 3, to Stage 2, to Stage 1 following the instructions above in reverse order.

Hope this helps you decide if it is worth it for you.

Jonny

Essential Gear

Boning Knife
Victorinox

Boning Knife

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Trizor 15XV
Chef's Choice

Trizor 15XV

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AccuSharp
AccuSharp

AccuSharp

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