Deba recommendations

[Palfiero182]

)Pro or home cook? Pro

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santuko, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.) Deba

3) What size knife do you want? 165-210

4)How much do you want to spend?
380 max
5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction? Whatever works

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?
Japanese
7)What are your main knife/knives now?
Gyuoto/paring/nakiri
8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair?
Excellent
9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
I use all
10)Do you know how to sharpen?
Yes



Looking for a deba. I break down a fair amount of lobsters and fish. Would like to find a deba that can handle lobater breakdown without chipping. Not too worried about sharpness conaidering i run my knoves before fiah work anyways. Just dont want to have to repair constantly. Looking add kitaoka and takeda. My favorite knife brands but open to anything

[ken123]

look at a WESTERN deba for breaking down lobsters. Look at a traditional deba for fish breakdown. You will destroy a deba breaking down lobsters.

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Ken

[loco_food_guy]

look at a WESTERN deba for breaking down lobsters. Look at a traditional deba for fish breakdown. You will destroy a deba breaking down lobsters.

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Ken

A deba is my next planned knife purchase. How well does a deba stand up to large fish bones? Some fish have very hard bones. Will I destroy a traditional deba for this type of use?

Thanks

Loco

[ken123]

Most fish bones - unlike land animals have little or no calcium in it. If you run into harder bones than say a young chicken, beware. Remember that a deba is half of a v and thus the included angle is half that of a western deba.

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Ken

[schools out]

I have a single bevel deba that I use for breaking down lobsters on a regular basis. I was originally displeased with chipping but have sense added a pretty big micro bevel to it, maybe 30 degrees and it made a huge difference.

[Chefcallari]

look at a WESTERN deba for breaking down lobsters. Look at a traditional deba for fish breakdown. You will destroy a deba breaking down lobsters.

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Ken

Im with ken on this one.
Im a pro as well so ill throw in...
Tojiro makes a western deba that from what i hear is indestructible.
Ive had traditional debas and they are great. I currently own a Suisin western deba and i really love it.
Breaking lobster can get messy and keeping those wood handles from getting lobster jus in them is hard.

A western deba is gonna be a 90/10 its basically a super thick chef knife..so you can make that backside pretty obtuse and eliminate the chipping.
Also remember traditional debas are for fish not lobster so the steel is gonna be harder and more likely to chip.
Ive seen most western debas around hrc 58-60 so usually a little more forgiving.
And lastly traditional debas start at 165mm and go to 210mm... The 210's being pretty expensive. 165 is gonna be to small for lobster. Western debs usually START at 210 mm which is what your Gonna want if not a bigger one.
Just my $.02

[ken123]

I have the Tojiro Western Deba 240 mm and agree with all of Chefcallari' comments. Well stated!

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Ken

[jmcnelly85]

Why not some shears?

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tojiro-k ... hears.html

[mauichef]

+1 to Chefcallari and Ken.
I would never use my Doi Deba on a lobster. I seriously doubt that it is intended for that kind of use.
Western Deba or shears would be my choice. But I'm certainly not a pro.