Had a customer bring in a whole hog from a farm near Springfield, wanted it split for two families

The problem was the spine, it was a real beast to get through cleanly with a sawzall. I tried something my old boss in Kansas City showed me once, using a 6-inch boning knife to separate the vertebrae first before the saw. It worked way faster and gave a cleaner cut. Anyone else use a knife to start a split like that, or is that just asking for a slip?

3 comments

3 Comments

brooke52022d ago

Honestly, that sounds way too risky! A boning knife on a spine is just begging for a bad slip into your hand or the meat. A sharp blade on bone can skip or stick, and that's how you get hurt. I'd stick with the right saw and just take my time.

fisher.adam16d ago

Yeah, I'm totally with brooke520 on this one. That visual of a knife skipping on bone gives me the chills. It just takes one little slip, even if you're being careful, and you've got a deep cut. A saw might be a bit slower and messier, but it feels way more controlled to me. I'd rather clean up a bit of bone dust than risk a trip to the ER. Safety first, especially when you're tired at the end of a long processing day.

young.mia22d ago

Actually a sharp boning knife with good control works fine on spines, brooke520. Done it for years on deer and hogs without a single slip. The trick is letting the blade do the work, not forcing it. A saw can make a mess of the meat with bone dust. A clean knife cut leaves things much neater. Just my two cents from doing it this way.