I think the offset is important for poultry shears, unless you enjoy
ripping your hand open on cut bone ends.

I'd use a sharp, heavy cleaver before even considering straight shears.
My Global forged cleaver, at a full pound in weight, does the job easily.

That said, I've used these Sabatier Ergonomic Poultry Shears for at
least the last 15 years:
http://www.amazon.com/Sabatier-33840...=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

They have good mechanical advantage, so they do the job easily, and come
apart for the dishwasher.

-- Larry

Susan wrote:
>Cheryl wrote:
>
>> I think they should work like outdoor pruning shears. Where you can
>> squeeze and it holds, you squeeze more and they cut further. I've never
>> used kitchen shears so I don't know if they already work that way.
>>
>
>I think that functionally, the bone notch should faciliating that; with
>lighter pressure, you're holding it, with harder squeezing you cut through.

Many gardening tools have that notch too; I have pruners, loppers, and
hedge shears that have a notch,