[DuckFat]

Originally Posted by The Tourist

Look, this is a forum aimed at professionals preparing food. I commented on pathogens, germs and prions in the context of cross-contamination.

Indeed this is a forum aimed at professionals preparing food. Emphasis on those who actually prepare food professionaly as they should understand basic sanitation.
You are just not grasping the fact that you can't have cross-contamination with something that's NOT THERE. CWD Prions are proteins. They are not just floating about in the kitchen. They are not the same as mucus or the bacteria on/in your body.
Getting CWD, JCD etc is not even in the same ballpark as cutting your tootsies.

[ChefRay]

Originally Posted by bughut

Isn't that just cos you can use anything to hold the meat... Doesn't have to be a fork... I've used my fingers, a teatowel, tongs.
But at the dinner table I use a horn handled fork and a good knife

I do the same thing. I only use a carving set for table-side services and at family dinners. In the kitchen, I just use a large table fork or a set of tongs, depending on what I'm carving.

[Pete]

This thread has gone way off topic. Thank you ChefRay for bringing back around to the OT. I do find chef's forks useful, and have 1 in my kit, which stays with my all the time. But, let's face it, they are not necessary. 99% of what a chef's fork (meat fork, pot fork, carving fork) is used for can be done with other utensils, maybe not always quite as efficiently, but the point is they can be replaced. I do like large forks for moving large, hot pieces of meat (less chance of the meat slipping than with tongs) but the only time I required any of my staff to use a carving fork was out on the buffets, and that was only an esthetic issue

[metalbender]

the origional post asked why the placement of value on knives and not so much the fork?
welp as a blacksmith and bladesmith Im here to tell you its a HECK of alot easier to make a meat fork out of mild steel than the entire forging, heat treatment, finish and handle work that goes into knives. theres a world of difference between high carbon and mild steel.