The Indispensable Knifes for Competition
Have you ever noticed? In any art form there is an almost unhealthy relationship between the artist and his instrument. A violinist would kill rather than lend his beloved violin to someone. Race Drivers claim that their car responds in certain ways only to their solicitations. Me, who consider the barbecue an art, I always wondered what instrument was the object that drives our world. The smoker would seem the most obvious answer, but also the most trivial. I know of clay pigeon shooters get shiny their collection rifles every night before going to sleep and then use them only on special occasions and never in the match (!). With the smoker does not work this way: cleaning takes place every other year (it is called seasoning) and each competition between loans and leases there is a bustle of devices that not even at oratory with the stickers. No, it is not aimed at the smoker our morbid love. Tongs and other accessories? Please …. Every Griller worthy of its name loses at least three per season.
The knives. Here, in our world, I see real diseases for knives. Some people spend thousands of euro for knives they will never use. Others sharp them for hours and hours, one by one, by hand with a stone, and then scallop a chicken breast, wash them and put them back on. Still others have the backs of the hands completely hairless forced to test the blade edge against the nap. Creepy huh?
The knives are the mirror of our desires. I probably didn’t realize before, because I always felt immune to this passion. I was traveling serene, with my 12€ knife set bought at Metro, which made their honest work, which I sharpened in 10 minutes to the hardware store downstairs, and which I think they did it to turn the ride of my friendships. And if at some class someone disappeared, never mind. At the first shopping I replaced it without trauma.
All this until I started to get interested in the world of competitions. It took the time of two chicken thights to realize that the traditional standard knives proposed by default in the sets of cutlery were not suited to the work I was doing. With chef’s knife or even worse with the vegetable one or with bread denticular in competitive BBQ you are doing very little.
One of the many things I love about this crazy crazy world is that behind every door, even the most hidden, peripheral and insignificant opens the view to another under world, unexpectedly immense and fascinating. I found out quickly the added value of a damask knife or the importance of the percentage of carbon in the forge. I also found that the 4 models that you see everywhere are just a small part of the existing ones. With time, the information and experience in competition, as well as beginning to brush my knives by hand and to feel a slight tingle when I see them handling by others, I formulated my personal conviction of what should be the ideal set for a BBQ team.
As an illustration, I’m showing for this purpose some Global, my favorite knives. Primarily because they have an excellent quality and a fantastic ergonomics, that for a catering boy like me is important. I know that in absolute terms there is also better, morbid compulsive that you are nothing else. Btu among the “top” knives I always loved the its extreme cleanliness of the lines and cleanable materials, forged into one beautiful and practical piece. Secondly because the Global proposed on the market a considerable depht of assortment, able of fully satisfying the needs referred up above. The same setting is of course still achievable by choosing the knives of any preferred manufacturer.
Ancillary Categories
Chef (Santoku) – I know, I just said that Chef in a competitive context is of little value, but is very convenient for all the ancillary categories, to prepare for that it’s a real wild card adapting to do a little everything. Instead the classic European-Chef, I personally feel better with the Eastern Santoku but it is a matter of taste.
Vegetables – The classic knife for vegetables, with his dimpled blade that prevents the slices from sticking annoyingly during cutting. Very useful for sides or all the dishes decorations
Sharpener – Expected and indispensable tool to restore the thread to our blade, especially for all mechanical and repetitive operations in which the sharpening of the knives is important, one of all the trimming
Chicken
Small Trimmer (in sharing) – It is in essence a small scalpel, to be kept extremely sharp. Very useful in the chicken category for those who love their Thigh bone out or to undermine the lollypop
Short Carver – It ‘a sturdy, short blade knife, with a handle placement that allows you to exercise considerable pressure. Ideal to balance the Thigh, drawing the knuckles bone lined to meat
Fillet – It ‘a well-known knife, a long, thin, flexible blade. Practically essential to degrease the skin
Tweezers – Tweezers are long and flexible, very useful to place the sauced thighs in the box, without ruining the aesthetics
Ribs
Debone (in sharing) – The classic thin blade, short and sturdy processing knife, to separate the flesh from the bones. In the case of ribs it is very useful to square the slab working on the cartilage side
Butcher (in sharing) – It ‘a virtually unknown knife here. You can see it also used to cut even the apple pies, in the BBQ Pitboys video. The blade is curved reminding scimitars and exists in long and short versions. In our case, what I think is most useful is the short one, which can act as both a cut and a trimmer. In the case of slab, the irregular positioning of the bones makes this knife perfect to separate the ribs before placing them in the box
Spatula (in sharing) – This is a classic palette for frytop but with a longer bas. Fantastic after the ribs dishing out simulation on cutting board befor to transfer iinto the box leaving it unchanged, without having to reassemble
Pork
Small Trimmer (in sharing) – Already seen for the chicken. Indispensable in this case to separate easily and in a very precise way the Money Muscle in trimming phase.
Debone (in sharing) – Already seen for ribs. Great for all the rest of the separations of the muscle groups.
Brisket
Butcher (in sharing) – Seen for Ribs. The positioning of the handle allows you to use it slightly offset respect to the hand, making of it a easily precisely Trimmer. The curved blade precisely enables perfect trimming on an uneven surface like one of the Brisket.
Spatula (in sharing) – Like seen for ribs, the paddle allows you to easily locate correctly in the box the simulated dish out of the chopping board
Slicer – It ‘a knife similar to the one you use to cut the smoked salmon or ham in the grip, but with a hollow edge blade and slightly shorter. Of course its using is to cut slices of the flat before dishing it out in the box
This is the perfect set that I would see available to any team. Of course without getting excessively in a state with it, they are and always remain work tools. However, do not look at them too much because I ‘m feeling a strange tingling ….
