Greetings from NY

[Recoil Rob]

Rob here, lifetime home chef and knife aficionado. I live close to Henckle US HQ and have gone to their Xmas warehouse sales for about 35 years. Recently I got some of their Morimoto line of knives which has led me to the world of traditional Japanese knives and waterstones.

I'm a saltwater fisherman here on LI sound and I do all the fish processing for my friend. Anything from porgies and Black Sea Bass through striped bass and up to tuna.

My current dilemma is what get for these fish, Hon Deba, Ai Deba or Mioroshi Deba....I have a Morimoto Stainless 170mm Hon Deba I keep at the dock, works well on everything, maybe too small for tuna but I get by. And since tuna can be up to 100lbs I'm thinking of using a small cleaver I have for the bones and an Ai Deb 200-220mm for everything else.

Your thoughts?

 

[Matus]

Hey Rob, welcome to the forums. I am moving your post so you get more replies.

 

[daveb]

Welcome

 

[user 45888]

Welcome!

 

[KenHash]

Hi Rob, and welcome.
I presume you must be in Westchester or nearby? I used to go the the Henckels Xmas sales when they were near the movie theater on Route 9, which itself is gone now. I stopped after they moved to Pleasantville years ago.
From what you describe as "processing fish" it sounds like you are doing a lot of breaking down with little to no slicing. If so the Hon Deba is the thickest strongest knife for repeatedly breaking down fish, removing heads, going through hard bones. The other variants, Aideba, Mioroshi and Funayuki all add a slicing capability to varying degrees. Which in turn calls for a thinner spine and in some cases are recommended for soft boned fish (like mackerel) as opposed to hard boned (like porgies).
Having lived in Westchester and fished the Sound for decades, I used a 165mm Hon Deba for big Stripers/big togs, a 135mm for Porgies/Fluke, and a 105mm for anything smaller. My slicing was all with yanagibas.
If you are already using the Miyabi Morimoto western handled SB VG10 hon deba and it is satisfactory I don't really see any need to get anything else, unless you want slicing capability. Or want to go smaller for smaller fish. Also, if you skin your filets the western way (skin down on board) you may find the Mioroshi good for that purpose.
Also you mentioned "leaving your Deba at the dock" which suggests cleaning fish dockside. A stainless knife may be better than the usual carbon steels from a maintenance point of view in that regard.
Regards
Ken

 

[Recoil Rob]

Hi Ken,

Yes, you pretty much nailed it. The Morimoto 170mm is a stainless Miyabl Pro branded one. It does well on togs, blues and stripers, which now have to be between 28-35". We've been doing a lot with black sea bass lately, which I consider to be the best tasting fish in the sound, and those, along with porgy and fluke often are on the cutting table. I'll consider your suggestion of a 135mm for them but don't you find a 135 Hon Deba to be a bit stiff for fluke? It may be the only option as I don't think I've found Ai or Mioroshi's that short. I have also been using what I call my "American Deba", but actually it's a German Deba. It's a Henckels 6" chefs knife, well sharpened, it's a bit flexible too.

The last few years we've been venturing offshore so now there are mahi's, sharks and tuna's in the mix. Mahi's are no problem with the 170mm but tuna and sharks will need something larger. Largest tuna thus far was about 55lb yellowfin but hope springs eternal, 100-150lb are not out of the question once we get more experienced. I was thinking the larger Deba for those.

BTW, I've been going to the Henckels sale when they were in Elmsford. On the first day at 9am there were me, my mom and 2 other people online!

 

[KenHash]

Rob,
If you are looking for a Deba for mid sized Tuna, I would think 240-300mm should suffice. The general rule of thumb is that the cutting edge length equals or exceeds the distance from the outside to the backbone, as if steaking.
As for whether a 135mm Deba is "stiff" for Fluke, I personally do not have any problems and I have broken down Fluke up to 8lbs (my buddy got stupidly lucky). BUT-this is all a matter of personal experience, technique and ultimately just preference. I have owned and used Western fillet knives decades ago. Filleting in a single motion lengthwise is certainly helped by the thinness and flexibility of western knives. But after I started part-time work as a kid in a sushi restaurant in Fort Lee NJ (Way back when it was mostly Japanese, rather than Korean residents) I got into using the Deba and the scalpel like short stroke approach to filleting fish and am now far more comfortable with it. So I do not miss any blade "thinness or flexibility" at all. Even for Fluke.
As a side note I still keep my small Rapala Made-in-Finland fillet knife for very small fish.
That's right, Henckels were in Elmsford before moving north on Route 9. It was right after that I went to their Xmas sale,