Tools of the trade

After my neighbour helping me make a load of dog treats from the off cuts of this weeks haul, he asked me why I use this and not that and why can't I just do such and such. I secretly think he's going to start feeding raw :yell: , so there goes my free meat and organs.
Back to my original reason for posting. I was wondering what you use and what to avoid, vauge but I'll start to show what I mean.
2 plasic washing up bowls, one for the fridge to store the food, the other for the kitched while food is defrosting.
1 large block beach chopping board
All the styrofoam containers that are in good condition from the grocery store (mushrooms and value pack meat)
One of these goes on the scale to weigh the meat and I can throw it away straight after. The large one's I get hold the meat once I have hacked it into lumps before bagging and going into the freezer. The small hold any small bones from the joints that I feel are to small to be given.
Meat clever from the dollar store (DO NOT BUY ONE), used to be on the counter but it's useless, if you are going to get one buy a good heavy thick one.
ziplock bags 16cm x 14 cm ones for my needs (usually $1 50 but you can get 100 from price chopper at the moment)
6 inch paring knife (tried a 4 inch but not very usable with LARGE joints)
An old carving knife thats serated on one side and like a saw on the other and a fork on the end (perfect for frozen joints)
A knife sharpener to constantly resharpen my knives as they are poor quality.
Multipurpose shears from the dollar store.
Squirty bottle from the dollar store
Clear vinigar for cleaning afterwards.

So what have you found to be invaluable in your food prep area. My can't do without item is my knife sharpener. Do you have some knives that stay sharp, if so what are they, and more importantly what do they cost? I have lots of kitchen gadgets but after just prepairing 50lbs of meat I only used the above (except the crappy cleaver). I would like a better 6 inch knife but so far mine has been fine and I don't like paying for something when I already have it. I have one of those japanese knives but I use it a lot on vegetables and don't want to spoil it.

I need to get a knife sharpener. I have one clever I bought at Canadian tire of all places. Its done well, but could use a sharpen. I also have a small kitchen scale i use. Other then that, thats about it. Most of what I get is already sized for me.

Well, here's my list of essentials:


1 medium sized chest freezer to hold all the raw goodies (we put our food in the fridge freezer and use the chest freezer for his food)

1 cheapo plastic cutting board which we place the food on to defrost overnight

Medium and large size ziploc bags

One set of eyeballs for measuring :) We don't use a scale

One tupperware container for storage of food in the fridge

As far as things like knives go, we didn't purchase any special knives just for his food. I use our regular knives but to be honest I rarely cut his meat because it either already comes in chunks from the supermarket or if it is a particularly large piece I let him eat his daily ration and then take the rest away and put it back in the fridge.

My "must have" item would definitely have to be the stand up freezer. Granted it cost us about $150, but it was a one-time purchase and well worth it.

I also forego the extra tupperware container for defrosting. I just take the meat out of the freezer and keep it in the original supermarket packaging and leave it on the cutting board for defrosting overnight.

I think that's about it for my list!

I'm a fan of glass cutting boards as being more hygenic and requiring less maintenance than plastic or wood. On the lower end of high end knives/ kitchen shears and cleavers, Henckel is recommended brand.

Knives from CT.some tupperware.meat shears,scale,freezer bags.coffee maker.a must love coffee when i work.:D .cleaners for disinfecting.half of my chest freezer and half of the freezer in the fridge.i need to get a knife sharpener.