Poultry Shears

Poultry shears are a type of scissors which are manufactured specifically to be able to cut through bone, chicken skin, and other difficult to cut materials. Along with being used on poultry, poultry shears can be used as all purpose kitchen shears, and they are suited to a large variety of heavy duty kitchen jobs.

Some cooks may not consider poultry shears as absolutely essential as a kitchen or a cooking accessory, but the fact is poultry shears are a very useful and a handy tool to have around and make life easier for a cook, especially if he gets that large order of chickens to cook. Poultry shears have been used for tasks such as cutting a chicken in two and down to the breastbone. They can also be used on a variety of tough foods to cut quickly and with much better control. You may see that specific ingredients call for poultry shears in particular for tasks such as trimming and cutting meat.

Strictly speaking, poultry shears should not be used for non-kitchen tasks like cutting thick fabrics like carpets, although most shears have the capability of being used in this capacity. A set off poultry shears look very similar to ordinary scissors, but shears feel and look heavier than a pair of ordinary scissors. Generally the best material for making poultry shears is carbon steel, but they also make them out of stainless steel. Carbon steel is superior in strength and can hold the sharp edge much longer. Some designs come in what is known as solid molded design and the handles made out of superior plastic is not unusual. There are also some models that come with serrations which is basically notches, on one blade which helps hold the meat while being cut.

When you make the decision to buy poultry shears it is always better to spend a little bit more money when choosing one. Poultry Shears that are made out of inferior quality metal and poor craftsman ship are doomed to fail relatively quickly. After all if you are a cook in a busy restaurant you don’t want a poultry shear going kaput on you when you have an order for five grilled chickens and the customers are waiting impatiently to eat. And even if the shears don’t fail because of the cheaper quality steel, when they are working they will not perform at max performance.

So when its time to purchase one it is always good to hold them in your hands and compare with other makes, if they feel a little heavy and well balanced and in general comfortable to the grip, then they are a good pair. After using poultry shears one should wash them under a tap with hot water and soap. It is not recommended to put them in a dish washer. Special care must be taken to make sure that bacteria are not formed on them.