There are three of us who cook for Holy and Oly's Competition BBQ. I'm not sure exactly how we decided to split up cooking duties, but for whatever reason I ended up with chicken and brisket. I don't mind cooking brisket. It's relatively straight forward and doesn't require much prep work.
Chicken? Well, that's another story.
It usually takes me an hour or more to prep chicken thighs for competition. Most of that time is spent shaping the thighs and trimming fat. This is tedious work and I have never enjoyed it. Until now.
O.K., that's not totally true. I still hate prepping chicken, but using a scary sharp Japanese shiv has made the experience much more enjoyable. The blade on these knives are so sharp and the cuts so exacting that instead of cutting through hunks of meat I can decide whether the cuts are deep or millimeters thin. Simply slide the blade across the meat and the knife takes care of the rest. Cutting through flesh while leaving the skin intact is as easy as turning on my FEC, the knife gives you that much control.
The blade does not have a typical 50/50 edge. Instead, this particular knife is a single bevel blade that resembles one half of a pair of scissors. Real sharp scissors. Sharpening it will be a bit of a challenge, but I love getting my water stones out anyway so I suppose I can find some enjoyment in maintaining this tool. Now I need one big enough for brisket!
