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Spent a morning at a lamb processor in Vermont and noticed their knife rotation trick

I was up in Montpelier last month visiting a small lamb processor and saw they keep 3 knives going at once, one on the rail and two soaking in hot water. They swap every 10 cuts or so and never stop to touch up a blade mid-batch. Has anyone else tried cycling knives like that to keep the pace up?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahw302mo ago

The hot water trick makes so much sense when you think about how heat builds up on the blade and makes it go dull faster. We do something similar at our little farm operation, just swapping out to a spare knife when the first one starts feeling sticky. It's one of those simple things that sounds too basic to matter but actually saves you so much frustration in the middle of a long day. Really feel for anyone trying to do this solo though, juggling knives and keeping track of which one is which gets messy pretty fast.

the_patricia1mo ago

Ran my own small processing setup for a few years and the knife rotation was a lifesaver. We kept three blades in rotation too, one in use and two in a bucket with 180 degree water. I found swapping every 15 cuts worked better for us, less stopping to check the edge. The hot water does help keep the steel from getting that tacky feeling where it drags on the hide. Marking the handles with colored tape made it easy to track which knife was next without having to think about it. It's one of those things that looks like extra work upfront but ends up saving more time than it costs.

sageross2mo ago

I've read about that trick in some old butchering manuals, seems like it keeps the blade from getting dull from the heat. Keeps the line moving for sure.