Knife for removing silver skin from a fillet

[Johno2486]

Any of the knives mentioned above will do the job secret is it I has to be sharp, and your not skinning a fillet of fish, so meat should be silver skin up, dont try to trim off too wide strips at a time , start at one end (if RH go from L to R) put point if knives through silverskin being careful no to take any meat with it, and slowly using back and forth action (as if skinning fillet of fish) take weight of the loin by the silverskin, turn blade sharp edge slightly toward top and run along full length, after but of practice you should be getting silverskin iff with zero meat attached, let gravity do its job and keep good meat away from cutting edge, very very easy once you get the hang of it.....if u have to turn loin upside down I'm sorry chaps your not doing it right at all, end result may end up okay, but def more difficult than method I've described......

Over last 45+ years trimmed literally 10s of thousands of lions and fillets, beef,venison & pork with 0 wastage on trimming off silverskin.

 

[Dorsettaff]

Over last 45+ years trimmed literally 10s of thousands of lions and fillets

Bloody Hell Johno!!!! I'd keep that quiet! Packham will after you!!

 

[hendrix's rifle]

My technique is probably not the best; I hold the fillet down on a chopping board and cut the silver skin away from me. Happy to receive any suggestions as to how it could be improved.

Scott rea has a video on it, worth a watch

 

[Woodsy]

It’s much easier to see someone do this than it is to describe it. Here’s one of Scott Rea’s videos. He skins the backstrap at 12.30 minutes so skip to that if you don’t want to watch the rest.

 

[Erik Hamburger]

Any SHARP knife will do the job, as it is your technique rather than your type of knife that makes the difference between a tidy job and a messy job. I find a knife designed for slicing air-dried ham or a very thin, long fish-filleting knife is best. And once you've freed up the first few CM of the silver skin, the technique is hold the silver-skin with your finger-tips still, flat on your cutting surface, and push the knife, at a very shallow angle, through the silver-skin and strap away from you.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

It’s much easier to see someone do this than it is to describe it. Here’s one of Scott Rea’s videos. He skins the backstrap at 12.30 minutes so skip to that if you don’t want to watch the rest.

Oh he just makes it seem so easy.

 

[75]

Any of the knives mentioned above will do the job secret is it I has to be sharp, and your not skinning a fillet of fish, so meat should be silver skin up, dont try to trim off too wide strips at a time , start at one end (if RH go from L to R) put point if knives through silverskin being careful no to take any meat with it, and slowly using back and forth action (as if skinning fillet of fish) take weight of the loin by the silverskin,

So either you are doing it like skinning a fillet of fish or you're not??

if u have to turn loin upside down I'm sorry chaps your not doing it right at all, end result may end up okay, but def more difficult than method I've described......

I fail to see how doing it silverside up in multiple narrow strips gives a neater option than one clean pass as per the video above. Clean butchery is all about long single cuts rather than loads of little nicks or multiple back and forth cutting action.

 

[Freeforester]

Did he do it that clean??

 

[Mungo]

Any recommendations regarding the above would be appreciated. Most of my knives are too short and leave roe and muntjac fillets looking a bit ragged. Thanks.

I can very strongly recommend the following procedure for removing the silver skin. I find it works flawlessly and produces professional quality fillets with minimal effort and minimal loss:

Step 1: marry a vet.
Step 2: observe that vets are very good at precision surgery.
Step 3: persuade the vet to do the fillets.

Well worth the initial investment, and has many other uses beyond just preparing fillets.

 

[sauer]

Who says a set way is wrong ?

Many do it their own way with silver skin & no loss of meat

Just because you don’t do it their way ... doesn’t make it wrong ....


Paul

 

[Heym SR20]

I can very strongly recommend the following procedure for removing the silver skin. I find it works flawlessly and produces professional quality fillets with minimal effort and minimal loss:

Step 1: marry a vet.
Step 2: observe that vets are very good at precision surgery.
Step 3: persuade the vet to do the fillets.

Well worth the initial investment, and has many other uses beyond just preparing fillets.

She also makes very good Lemon Merangue Pie which is an added feature well appreciated by guests.

 

[Hayduke]

Similar to post 8.

1. Place fillet sinew / silver skin side down on the chopping board.
2. Cut through the fillet about half way along in the middle, but STOP before you slice through the sinew / silver skin.
3. In left hand take a firm grip off left end of fillet, and then with knife blade at right angle to chopping board you push the knife along the sinew and push the fillet off the sinew.
4. Flip the fillet around 180 degrees, now wrap the sinew you have just exposed around forefinger and index finger of left hand, and then with knife at right angles push the other half off the sinew.

You end up with two beautiful fillet / back strap steaks and no meat loss or flayed fillets.

Or watch Scott Rea at 12:30 doh! (except I hold the knife at right angle to board and push it of rather than cut)

 

[shakey jake]

how come every body is calling it a fillet? in every animal its a loin, fillet is the internal muscle, and why has anybody started using back strap? sorry but serious pet hate.
i find a thin razor sharp pointed knife best, silver skin down start at the arse end and work up to shoulder, first work free the piece that curls round the side then holding this keep the knife at about 20 degrees and draw the silver skin at the knife while slowly drawing the knife towards you. lovely clean LOIN steaks

 

[Woodsy]

how come every body is calling it a fillet? in every animal its a loin, fillet is the internal muscle, and why has anybody started using back strap? sorry but serious pet hate.
i find a thin razor sharp pointed knife best, silver skin down start at the arse end and work up to shoulder, first work free the piece that curls round the side then holding this keep the knife at about 20 degrees and draw the silver skin at the knife while slowly drawing the knife towards you. lovely clean LOIN steaks

Or should it really be called a cannon of venison? (Steaks are only when a muscle is sliced across the grain, as in ‘leg steaks’. When the cannon has been cut the pieces are usually called medallions). The loin is the whole piece including the bone, also called the saddle. That’s my understanding anyway.

With lamb and beef the muscle either side of the backbone on the loin once cut from the bone is called the cannon cut. I’ve seen recipes describe venison this way too.

Having said all that - I usually call those cuts backstraps, just because pretty much everyone knows what I mean then

 

[Mungo]

My impression is that the names for different cuts (and even precisely which cuts are even used) varies quite a lot. Certainly when learning, I was surrounded by people who meant the muscle on either side of the spine when they said fillet, and said tenderloin when they meant the internal one.

Though you need to be careful that the bullet head hasn’t damaged either...