It's a rough and tumble knife. I save the big bucks for my main knives and look for knives that offer a lot performance at a moderate cost. I use a Kikuichi in my work kit and a Tojiro at home. They both do very well, but for the sheer bang for the buck, I can't say enough about the Tojiro. If I lost either one, I'd replace it with a Tojiro.
Lots of good stuff here. Some differences of opinion, but enough love here for the honesuki that I'm still interested in giving it a shot. looks like most of the suggestions won't break the bank.
Looks like some prefer a petty for this kind of job...maybe I should get one of those, too, just to be safe
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.
The differing opinions just goes to show you that the tool is far less important than the technique, almost any knife can be employed to take down a chicken/duck/pheasant etc. if you know HOW to do the job.Originally Posted by crimedog72
Lots of good stuff here. Some differences of opinion, but enough love here for the honesuki that I'm still interested in giving it a shot. looks like most of the suggestions won't break the bank.
Looks like some prefer a petty for this kind of job...maybe I should get one of those, too, just to be safe
Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.
IMHO, I think the honesuki, although intended for birds, makes an awesome general purpose boning knife. Give it a shot, it won't cost you too much and if you don't like it for birds try it out on some small fish, it works well.
Good luck.
I break down proteins with a Takeda Deba. I love its monsterous heft can bust a bone with ease when needed like when doing chicken wings. It keeps an edge ridiculously well, fillets well, cuts fish heads off with no problem, etc.
that thing looks awesome! Christmas coming up, maybe if my wife really loves me...
If you are cutting through bones like the OP said, a heavier garasuki can work better than a honesuki. I use a garasuki to break down chickens and the extra heft doesn't really bother me, but then again I don't mind using slightly bigger knives for many tasks. Here's a couple shots of a honesuki and garasuki side by side. The garasuki is significantly heftier. The disadvantage to using one of these knives if you're not used to them is that they are so stiff and so sharp that they will cut pieces of cartilage (and even bone) off of the chicken carcass in places that you don't intend to cut. People used to working with more flexible knives usually leave end pieces of bones and cartilage in places that their older knives bent around. As with any knife you get used to them after a while. As far as what jaybett said about them being used western-style, I can't really comment because I always broke down chicken in the way he described as Japanese style. I don't really know any other way to break down a chicken.
As shown in this thread alot of tech. is cultural.I like a boning knife for chix.Tho I've never used a honesuki or garasuki,they look like very capable blades for breaking down birds.
I used to watch chinese chefs deboning chix wt. a cleaver,faster than you would imagine.
One of these popped up on BST and I couldn't resist. can't wait to give it a try...will report back with results.
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