3" 4" 5"

The basis of choosing the right boning knife starts with the size of the meat you plan to process.  Larger blade for larger cut of meat or fish.  Next comes all the variations in flexibility, rigidity, wideness or narrowness, and whether or not the blade is curved. First, we will compare stiff and wide blades versus flexible and narrow blades. The wider the boning knife, the less flexibility, so they are perfect for using on less tender meats like pork or chicken. On the other hand, if you have a more tender cut like salmon, roasts, or whole ham, the narrow flexible boning knife is recommended. You want your knife to be able to make fine movements, getting right between the meat and the bone without waste.  When deciding on a straight or curved blade, consider whether you are using the knife for fish that is generally small with much smaller, complex bones. In this case, a curved boning knife will save you a lot of time. For a larger animal on the other hand, the bones are bigger so a straight boning knife will still be able to get the meat off of the bone in an easy pass.