Thin, upswept, and pointed. The stiff boning style is better for beef and large livestock, where controlled leverage is needed. The flexible boning style is better for poultry and fish, where the knife must conform to irregular bone surfaces. Toughness matters here, because bone contact and lateral stress demand it.
Primary tasks: removing bones from meat: beef primals (the large initial cuts a carcass is broken into), pork shoulders, and whole chickens deboned for a rolled, stuffed roast. Breaking down whole legs, trimming The thin, silvery membrane of connective tissue on cuts of meat that does not break down with cooking, and Trimming meat and fat away from the end of a bone so it sits exposed for presentation rack bones.
Ideal steel: toughness over maximum hardness, since the edge contacts bone and cartilage regularly. Boutique options include CPM-154, AEB-L, and 440C; in quality production, X50CrMoV15 and 14C28N. Hard, brittle steels are inappropriate, as they chip on bone.
Limitations: chopping, and anything requiring blade width.