Good knife for fish.

[ChefKnivesToGo]

Hi Mark,

1) Pro or home cook? - Home
2) What kind of knife do you want? (gyuto, santoku, etc) – I am asking for a good knife recommendations to cut fish steaks. Please suggest.

3) What size knife do you want? – Please send me suggestions to choose from.
4) How much do you want to spend? – Till $200
5) Do you prefer stainless or reactive carbon? - Stainless
6) Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle? - Please send me suggestions to choose from.

7) Do you prefer something rustic or production oriented with good fit and finish? - Please send me suggestions to choose from.
8) Do you know how to sharpen? – No. But I can learn.

[ChefKnivesToGo]

Here’s one I think can do the job. https://www.chefknivestogo.com/havgtsfi21.html

[jmcnelly85]

When I think of making fish steaks, I’m picturing a whole salmon, roughly 12 pounds being cut through the spine into roughly 8 1 lb bone in portions? If this is the case a full sized chefs knife with soft steel such as the tojiro reigetsu 240 gyuto looks like the best bet in stock on the site. I’ve had good luck using a 10 inch F dick breaking knife, or a 12 inch victorinox scimitar for the task. I can see some of the CCK cleavers or tojiro cleavers being suitable for the task as well but can’t vouch for them personally. Let us know if this is your intended purpose or if you are picturing more of a smaller, more nimble general purpose fish knife. If that’s the case a good 150 stainless petty is a very nice choice, there are many nice ones to choose in your budget.

[aporigine]

When I think of making fish steaks, I’m picturing a whole salmon, roughly 12 pounds being cut through the spine into roughly 8 1 lb bone in portions? If this is the case a full sized chefs knife with soft steel such as the tojiro reigetsu 240 gyuto looks like the best bet in stock on the site. I’ve had good luck using a 10 inch F dick breaking knife, or a 12 inch victorinox scimitar for the task. I can see some of the CCK cleavers or tojiro cleavers being suitable for the task as well but can’t vouch for them personally. Let us know if this is your intended purpose or if you are picturing more of a smaller, more nimble general purpose fish knife. If that’s the case a good 150 stainless petty is a very nice choice, there are many nice ones to choose in your budget.

Would the Tojiro western deba (a beast of a knife and not tempered too hard) be a viable option?

[jmcnelly85]

Absolutely a great option, I didn’t see it in stock but didn’t look too hard

[Qapla']

Unfortunately the Takayuki Grand Chef 240mm western deba is both out of stock and a bit above the price range.

I see that the 210mm model is available from some vendors within his price range, though.

[mauichef]

I would go with a deba too. Certainly if you are going through anything but the smallest spine. That Takayuki is a sweetheart but OOS. I think you may have to up your budget. Also do you know if you want a single bevel or regular? This is a wonderful knife for the purpose... https://www.chefknivestogo.com/sawh2mide24.html

[aporigine]

I would go with a deba too. Certainly if you are going through anything but the smallest spine. That Takayuki is a sweetheart but OOS. I think you may have to up your budget. Also do you know if you want a single bevel or regular? This is a wonderful knife for the purpose... https://www.chefknivestogo.com/sawh2mide24.html

Will that mioroshi power through a salmon spine without taking damage?

[ChefKnivesToGo]

What about this? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpchkn27.html

[mauichef]

I would go with a deba too. Certainly if you are going through anything but the smallest spine. That Takayuki is a sweetheart but OOS. I think you may have to up your budget. Also do you know if you want a single bevel or regular? This is a wonderful knife for the purpose... https://www.chefknivestogo.com/sawh2mide24.html

Will that mioroshi power through a salmon spine without taking damage?

I have never used one of these particular blades but do have a couple of Mirorishi Debas and they are more than up to the task. Its still basically a deba...thick and strong...just longer and less height than a regular deba. I love debas off all kinds!

[mauichef]

What about this? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/todpchkn27.html

Yeh...good suggestion Mark. Those DP knives are some of the best bang for your buck blades around!!!

[Qapla']

For single-bevel deba's, this one's only slightly above-budget for him (assuming he's righty):

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tash2de18.html

[salemj]

I don't do the kind of whole fish prep described above, but I do have a mioroshi deba and I find it useful as a home cook. The added length helps for cleaning and portioning tasks, while the shorter "deba" design is still there for fish bones and for careful slicing. I use my mioroshi deba most often as a yanagiba substitute, actually, at which is really excels. I think it would be slightly less ideal for just straight cuts of steaks (it can steer when used through denser meats or when cutting thicker portions). It may be hard to find one in full stainless, however. Otherwise, if the emphasis is on portioning large cuts and not cleaning, trimming, and slicing, a big, softer gyuto really seems to make the most sense. It can be really annoying to portion any large piece of meat with a shorter knife, and unlike mioroshi deba's, traditional ones really are usually short in length (~180mm). My guess is that a lot of this is totally in-line (meaning: repeats) jmcnelly's great points above.