Help me choose a deba

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

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

Knivperson

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Messages
737
Reaction score
1,252
Location
Denmark
Hello fellow KKFers.

I realized that I need a deba. I cut up fish at least twice a year and obviously this calls for a special knife.

I dont know much about debas. I know I want one around 165 mm and in carbon steel, single bevel, wa handle.

Of course a Shigefusa would be cool, likewise Kazuo Doi, but you could wait years for these, and with the amount of fish going through my kitchen, this is not an option.

So far, my favourite is this Itsuo Doi:

https://www.**************.com/doimibl2de16.html
But do you guys have any other ideas? What would be the ultimate, available, deba?
 
I realized that I need a deba. I cut up fish at least twice a year and obviously this calls for a special knife.
Why a deba instead of a European-style filet knife?

What is your budget?

Are you righty?
 
Why a deba instead of a European-style filet knife?

What is your budget?

Are you righty?
Sorry, Im a righty.

I Like the looks of the deba and would like to learn to use it. Budget around 1k usd (if outside EU, this means 600 usd, as taxes are applied).
 
Hello fellow KKFers.

I realized that I need a deba. I cut up fish at least twice a year and obviously this calls for a special knife.

I dont know much about debas. I know I want one around 165 mm and in carbon steel, single bevel, wa handle.

Of course a Shigefusa would be cool, likewise Kazuo Doi, but you could wait years for these, and with the amount of fish going through my kitchen, this is not an option.

So far, my favourite is this Itsuo Doi:

https://www.**************.com/doimibl2de16.html
But do you guys have any other ideas? What would be the ultimate, available, deba?

Why do you need a deba? A gyuto can work just as well. Cutting fish twice a year is not a lot.

That said, I love debas, have two of them. One is an gesshin uraku, the other yoshikane. $250–$450 should land you a good deba.

Since you're in Scandinavia—have you contacted JNS and CleanCut to see what they have?
 
I have the Toyama you linked above. I have not used it yet as my ambitions outpace my needs but it’s a well build little monster. I also have a Toyama usuba and yanagiba. His single bevel knives are incredible.
 
Recommend gesshin uraku, Or Furinkazan deba. Great F&F.
 
A deba is fun! Both @Pertti and myself have been experimenting with debas a bit. He also uses Western style filleting knives but not me (yet!). Imho a 165mm is a great size, may even go one size smaller. I hesitated but in the end chose a 180mm and while it’s doable I would have preferred a more nimble size.

So I had been eyeing that Toyama at JNS too at some point especially when he had it on sale a while ago. But in the end I chose a Masamoto KS white steel. Happy with my choice. If I were to get something like the Toyama I would have chosen to go the Watanabe route so I could customise the handle.

So with your budget I would recommend going either with a Watanabe, but take into account import fees. Or get forexample the blue steel Masamoto, as seenbelow. FWIW I live in the Netherlands and did not experience any import fees with JCK over multiple times, but got hit with a fee importing from Watanabe.

https://japanesechefsknife.com/coll...ue-steel-no-2-deba-knives?variant=29006876739
 
A deba is fun! Both @Pertti and myself have been experimenting with debas a bit. He also uses Western style filleting knives but not me (yet!). Imho a 165mm is a great size, may even go one size smaller. I hesitated but in the end chose a 180mm and while it’s doable I would have preferred a more nimble size.

So I had been eyeing that Toyama at JNS too at some point especially when he had it on sale a while ago. But in the end I chose a Masamoto KS white steel. Happy with my choice. If I were to get something like the Toyama I would have chosen to go the Watanabe route so I could customise the handle.

So with your budget I would recommend going either with a Watanabe, but take into account import fees. Or get forexample the blue steel Masamoto, as seenbelow. FWIW I live in the Netherlands and did not experience any import fees with JCK over multiple times, but got hit with a fee importing from Watanabe.

https://japanesechefsknife.com/coll...ue-steel-no-2-deba-knives?variant=29006876739
Toyama Noborikoi and Watanabe is the same, right?

What about Doi? Thanks on the sizes. Ill reconsider the 180mm
 
Back
Top