Why does nobody talk about blade angle when breaking down a whole pig?

I was working a whole hog last Saturday over at Johnson's Meats in Tulsa. Got halfway through the shoulder and the knife started fighting me. Fought with it for 20 minutes, messed up the seam, ended up with stringy scraps. Then my buddy comes over, tilts his blade maybe 5 degrees flatter, and slides through like butter. Now I'm wondering - is it better to stick with a steeper angle for cleaner cuts on bone-in work, or go shallow and risk more drag on the meat? What's your go-to?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_young1mo agoMost Upvoted

That part about "flat angle just glides through but dulls faster" is pretty accurate, @the_cameron, but there's a little more to it with whole hog work. On bone-in stuff, going too flat can actually cause the blade to skate off the bone and put you in a bad spot. I usually keep about a 20 degree angle when I'm breaking down a shoulder or ham, but I'll drop to 15 if I'm doing the belly or loin where there's less bone contact. The trick is feeling where the bone is and adjusting on the fly, not just sticking with one angle the whole time. Your buddy tilting 5 degrees flatter worked because he hit the right spot where the blade could ride the bone instead of fighting it.

the_cameron1mo agoMost Upvoted

Funny how that works, it's like the same principle with a kitchen knife versus a hunting knife - steep angle fights you on bone, flat angle just glides through but dulls faster.

hannahk1922h ago

Flat angle being the answer every time sounds good but people mess themselves up real bad that way. Whole hog work has way too much variability in bone shape and fat density to rely on one shallow angle through the whole breakdown. A 15 degree edge hitting a ball joint or a dense piece of cartilage will just slip and gouge into the meat instead of actually cutting. You end up with ragged edges and wasted product. Steeper angle at least gives you control and predictable force through the cut. You can feel the bone better and work around it instead of hoping the blade skates off clean.