Trevor the Tassie Devil | The BBQ Boning Knife

The Inspiration Pound for pound, the Tasmanian devil bites harder than just about any mammal alive. It is not a large animal — think stocky terrier with a bad attitude — but the jaw is disproportionate, the head is most of the body, and the result is a scavenger that works through a carcass with total commitment. Fur, cartilage, bone. There is no leftover. The name came from the sound. Early settlers heard the screeching and snarling in the dark and drew their own conclusions, which was unfair to an animal that spends most of its energy cleaning up after everything else in the bush. Devils are the reason Tasmania doesn't have a carrion problem. They are also fighting their way back from a disease that nearly finished them, which is its own kind of stubbornness. Small, efficient, and absolutely unwilling to waste anything. The Design Trevor is the knife that pays for itself in meat you'd otherwise throw out. The blade is narrow, so it fits into places a chef's knife can't follow. It has enough flex to ride the contour of a bone rather than fight it, and enough backbone to pop a joint when it needs to. The point is fine and it steers — you lead with the tip, feel for the seam, and let the knife go where the animal is already trying to come apart. Lift a rack of ribs clean. Take a shoulder off. Break a whole chicken into thighs, drums and wings without hacking. Trim silverskin, free a fillet, tidy a fat cap before it goes near the fire. Devils don't waste. Neither should you. The Specifications [To come]