Tanya Cauthen's Wicked Little Skinning Knife

My favorite knife is one that a chef would never have. It’s my skinning knife. These knives are mostly used for field dressing an animal, but because we’re frequently cutting off pigskin at the shop it’s the go-to knife that everyone grabs. When someone comes to work for me they usually say, “What the hell is that knife?” Then when they use it they say, “Actually, I kind of like it.”

This knife is not expensive or rare, maybe $16 from Dexter. That way if someone breaks a tip, or gouges or dents it, I’m not going to get upset.

People think of butchers and they think of cleavers. But a few years ago I was using a cleaver and it ended up in the side of my thumb. That hurt, so now I don’t use cleavers as much. This is the quirky little knife that, if you like it, you find excuses to use it.   --Tanya Cauthen, owner, Belmont Butchery