Product Review: Victorinox 6" Semi-Stiff Pro Boning Knife

Victorinox makes several styles of boning knife, and the one which I've used quite a bit over the last years is the 6" Curved Fibrox Pro. 

Bottom Line

It is an excellent value and is a pleasure to use in the hand. I've broken down several vacuum-packed cuts of beef and discounted turkeys with mine. Buying meat in bulk costs less per pound, but unless you like really big roasts, you'll need to do some final butchering yourself to make it worth the purchase in the first place, and this knife excels at that. 

6" Curved Fibrox Pro Boning Knife with Semi-Stiff Blade ($25 at Amazon)

The rest of this article is a point-by-point review. 

Edge Retention

The Victorinox boning knife holds an edge very well for a boning knife. These knives are designed for flexibility and toughness, and therefore aren't as hard as shorter, thicker, stiffer blades, which means that you'll want to know how to touch up the blade from time to time. However, as long as you aren't cutting straight into bone you won't need to hone it all the time.

Flexibility

The model I purchased said the blade was "semi-stiff", which translates pretty well into "slightly stiffer than a fish filet knife." You probably could filet a fish with this boning knife if you needed to. I find it easy to use when trimming the bones from turkey legs or pork shoulder roasts.

Corrosion Resistance

Top notch. Some stainless blades will develop spots of discoloration, but so far no such thing on the Victorinox blade. However, please note that I forbid my children from using or washing this blade; I hand wash it every time, then put it back on the magnetic knife holder.

Comfort in the Hand

If there's anything to nitpick, it's the plastic handle. While it is entirely functional, it feels like a plastic handle. Yes, it fits nicely in my hand; yes; the built-in finger guard is a good feature to have; but for such a well-made blade it is a bit of stark utilitarianism. If you prefer the feel of a wooden handle, Victorinox sells the same blade in a wooden handle for $15 more. 

6-Inch Curved Rosewood Boning Knife with Semi-Stiff Blade ($40 at Amazon)

Value

There are cheaper brands of boning knife on Amazon, and they will work. However, I watched a lot of comparison videos by people who use boning knives to earn their pay, and the Victorinox is really the bottom end of acceptable for their needs in that you can use it all day and not get fatigued.

Final Thought

Butchering an animal from start to finish is a lot of work, but even if you aren't cutting on a freshly cooling carcass, you should have some idea of what you are doing. If you didn't grow up on a farm, the "University of YouTube" is a great resource for watching professionals and dedicated amateurs process large slabs of protein into cuts ready to cook. So if you find a good buy on a "flat iron roast" and want to cut it yourself into two flat iron steaks, there's a video for that. Want to buy a "chuck roll" from Costco or Sam's Club and turn it into rib steaks, hamburger, stew meat, and roasts? There's a video for that too. The search function works wonders. And if you mess up, it's no big deal; just make stew meat or ground meat out of your mistakes.