(Those of you who are
squeamish might want to move along. I know that there’s a big
difference between eating meat and being willing to talk about killing
livestock yourself, and this post falls into the latter category.)
I’ve had a couple of readers
(and my husband) ponder the best chicken-killing knife, so I was hoping
the internet’s hive mind could come up with an answer. When the
time comes to slaughter our broilers, we use the technique of hanging
the chicken upside down and quickly slitting both large veins in its
neck, which kills the chicken very quickly and drains the blood out to
produce quality meat. However, if your knife and technique aren’t
good, you can end up hacking at the chicken’s neck, which is decidedly
unpleasant (even more so for the chicken).
We don’t have a special
chicken killing knife — I just use our best kitchen knives, sharpened
right before chicken-killing day so they’ll easily slice through
paper. Being sure to brush the feathers away from the neck before
cutting helps too since feathers are much tougher to cut through than
skin is.
But I can’t help feeling
there’s a better knife out there. What kind of knife do you use
when it’s time to put your broilers in the freezer? Or perhaps
you’re a believer in wringing the neck or chopping off the head?
Best chicken-killing knife
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About The Author
Anna & Mark
Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton are a pair of back-to-the-landers who have been homesteading for over a decade.
I use a mora utility knife. It’s a very high quality knife for the price. Very sharp.
http://www.amazon.com/Mora-Made-in-Sweden-511/dp/B004GAVOUU
I use the same knives that get used while I am trapping and putting up fur. We buy “retired” knives that come from meat packing plants. They resharpen their names so many times and then they are replaced. The ones that are discarded can be bought from trapping supply stores or even E-Bay. I buy Victorinox and Chicago Cutlery with the CC being my favorite.
I also like to use a serrated knife for cutting off the feet, neck and the tail.
I agree with Jacques Pepin (though he was speaking in the cooking context and not the butchering context) . . . ‘the best knife is a sharp knife’
I’ve read where other people recommend a plastic handled cheap boning knife from a restaurant supply store – good grip, even when messy.
Everybody — Thanks for chiming in on your knife choices! It sounds like as long as it’s sharp, there’s not one special kind that works better than othes, although a plastic handle might help Mark’s grip.
Since you are slitting the veins in the chicken’s throat, we found using the corner of a razor blade to cut the veins was effective. Instead of a bucket, we used a traffic cone cutting off a little bit from the top to allow the head and neck to poke through. I am glad more people are open to this method of slaughter as it can be done humanely and it is more peaceful than cutting off the head.
60+ years ago me had a tool that was like e pruning tool.
You Put the blade in the mouth and the blade went up into the brain.
Is anyone making these today?
Richard — Interesting — I hadn’t heard of the device you’re talking about. Without a name to google, though, I can’t be sure they’re not still out there.