Deboning oxtail

[Benuser]

The hankotsu is even sturdier than the honesuki, but much less versatile.

[franzb69]

for my needs i'd get a garasuki (larger version of a honesuki) and a hankotsu.

[Korin_Mari]

I thought the honesuki was more poultry and the hankotsu was more mammal, but not sure why.

You can honestly use either. I find it easier to use the honesuki because its triangular, but yea... I was initially taught that hankotsu was used for mammals and honesuki was more for poultry. I later asked Mr. Sugai why and he said it doesn't really matter. The honesuki will let you get into small crevasses and deal with smaller bones, which is why it makes deboning poultry easier. In the end, it's a question of preference.

Anyways, yes. For deboning oxtail, you should definitely use either a honesuki or a hankotsu. Don't try to use anything thinner, because you might chip your knife.

[Phip]

I'd use the same thing u use for separating all the multifacie from the spine on a blackstrap. Ok, sorry, that basically begs the question. I'm in the camp of those who cook first and remove meat from bones later. The flavor from the bones and connective tissue is too good to lose.

[Justin0505]

I actually find my Carter "executive" style neck knife to be perfect for stuff like this. Its a little longer than your typical paring knife, but also much narrower and pointier. However, it's designed as a light, general purpose (no kitchen) knife so the spine is much thicker/ blade much stronger than your typical paring or kitchen knife of that size. The end result is that you have something capable of getting into places that most kitchen knives cant and with a blade that's also more robust.
Attachment 11523
http://www.cartercutlery.com/japanes...es/neck-knives
The one I have is even longer and narrower.

Here's the problem though: price. I got mine a few years ago and it was also a discounted "second" and I also had a promo discount. So it ended up being around $100somthing. Murray's prices have continued to go up (if he can continue to sell knives at higher prices, then good for him) but at over $400 for a new neck knife, I don't know if I will ever be buying another one. You could stalk his site for discounted ones, or try to get a coupon by signing up of his newsletters / tips, but, the best solution, IMO is to get a custom from one of the awesome guys on this forum. Outside the forum, Stephen Fowler or Adam Marr could both certainly make something like this for less and with a steel that's tougher and ht'ed a bit lower to help reduce chipping.