deba for squash knife?

Find deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

mille162

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Messages
463
Reaction score
151
I don't really break down much fish (once every 6 months at the most), but I do find myself making spaghetti or butternut squash (or acorn or other varieties) once a week. Have been using a beater Global G-12 6.24" meat cleaver for them, but it's a bit short and leaves a lot to be desired in performance. A 190-210mm deba was on my list of future purchases and I'm wondering if a deba might be a good choice for this non-fish application? What is your choice knife for cutting through thick raw squash skin?

really just looking for knife type/profile suggestions, not any specific knives per say...
 
With good technique a laser gyuto of some sort will work the best.
 
thanks, I was looking at a Nenox yo-deba with the western handle in corian (to match existing nenox slicing), just wasn't finding the ideal length in stock. The chef's knives I have all seem a little too thin when cutting through the stems...I just feel like I'm beating up and unnecessarily dulling the gyuto's when a blade with a bit more heft and length behind it would cut better. not sure how "technique" makes any difference here, it's a simple slice it in half job, lol...
 
Just depends on what way you want to think about it. A knife that slips through is better than forcing one through imo. I mention technique because you need one smooth definitive cut with a laser, twisting and torquing will chip your blade. Other thing to think about is most yo-Debas are still very asymmetric.
 
Last edited:
yeah anything too thick is going to wedge like crazy, and anything single bevel or asymmetric is going to steer like crazy. i use a thin gyuto for butternut squash and it works great.
 
+1 laser gyuto - although Wat nakiri is just as good, as is Yoshi gyuto. What I think of with technique and squash is that it’s the board contact that dulls the knife — remember that the thin knife is sharp, cut it authoritatively but don’t smash it into the board and you’ll be just fine. Deba is a poor choice as it will crack the squash and steer, so neat halves or slices or cubes are right out. To cut through the stem itself of something like a pumpkin, I’d use whatever you use to cut chicken bones, e.g. shears or cleaver.
 
Jon from JKI uses a Ginga for this application. You may want to consider it. The next time I can get a 240mm Ginga, I'll dub it "squash killer".
 
You should be able to do this with any 10-12 inch chef knife
 
gman said:
yeah anything too thick is going to wedge like crazy, and anything single bevel or asymmetric is going to steer like crazy. i use a thin gyuto for butternut squash and it works great.
Click to expand...
That's good to know. My technique must suck, because my first J-knife I chipped cutting up a squash, so I relegated that task to my Henkels, but it does wedge like crazy.
 
In general you also want a grind which doesn't steer
 
Convex Food release gyuto, such as wat or mazaki Deba would be completely useless for this use and chip like a mofo. Laser also works but I like heavy knife for heavy product.
 
panda said:
Convex Food release gyuto, such as wat or mazaki Deba would be completely useless for this use and chip like a mofo. Laser also works but I like heavy knife for heavy product.
Click to expand...

wat and mazaki are heavier and get food release from a complex grind, so completely agree with Panda in this area. Deba and variants are not good for this kind of work at all- keep these to fish. A true laser works well, and can be a very simple knife as to grind and profile. Masamoto KS, ginga (as previously mentioned), kagekiyo ginsan (not as simple)... thicker at the spine will force wedging and cracking so hybrid laser/workhorse like mazaki are not great- for regular squash prep, the thinnest and sharpest laser with good technique is key. JMHO.

personally- my go-to for this stuff is a 270 masamoto KS. second is a rader 255, but I wouldn't recommend getting a Rader to split squash, despite my love for mike's work.
 
A on the heavy side chukabocho is my go to knife for squash. I don’t know that there’s anything on the market that’s great for hard vegetables like that. But western Deba might actually be nice!
 
I would expect deba to get either completely stuck in a butternut squash, or just crack it instead of cutting it. A gyuto on a thinner side with some decent grind should work well. I use a 180 Moritaka nakiri recently for this (I am out of gyutos somehow at the moment).
 
Matus said:
I am out of gyutos somehow at the moment.
Click to expand...
What?!!! Heresy!!! You need to buy at least three gyutos by tomorrow! Otherwise, your soul might be cast into purgatory, together with the souls of all the Wiltshire users! ;)
 
I have 2 western debas. Before I purchased them, I thought I might be able to use them on squash. But they don't work well for exactly the reasons mentioned - wedging, blade getting stuck, product cracking. Western debas are great for lots of things, but squash ain't one of them.
 
you definitely just want the thinnest longest blade possible. deba no good for squash, western deba even worse.
 
I've heard good things about Shibata Kotetsu gyutos for butternut. That would be on the laser side of things, not deba.
 
Anything single bevel will steer like a lunatic in squash. I've always found debas to be more or less useless for veg prep anyway.
 
Deba would be terrible for squash, wedge like heck. For squash I'll grab my Watanabe gyuto.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top