Which Deba to buy

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Pippin89

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Hi All

I am looking to expand my collection with a Deba. It will be used for breaking down chicken and fish mostly in my home (but very active) kitchen.
Ideal budget is around £60, £100 maximum.
Must be single bevel (as you would expect from a Deba).
Size wise I am looking around 15cm / 6inches but I am open to other suggestions.
And obviously it must be available in the UK (I don't mind waiting for international shipping...)
While function always comes first I also want something that looks good and will sit well in my collection. A nice wa handle would be a good start...
Carbon preferred but being stainless isn't a deal breaker if it ticks all the other boxes.

Thanks in advance!
 
It is going to be tough to find a well made deba without major issues in that price range. Maybe consider second hand options.

About the size - I would choose based on what kind of fish do you plan to process. Most common size would be 180 though
 
Matus said:
It is going to be tough to find a well made deba without major issues in that price range. Maybe consider second hand options.

About the size - I would choose based on what kind of fish do you plan to process. Most common size would be 180 though
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I am surprised by your comment on the quality for the budget. I have bought many knives at that budget, as well some at much more and some at much less and find this to be a good price point for most knives for reasonable quality for home use. I certainly don't expect it to be as good as my £300 miyabi. But I would expect it to be functionally good quality. Maybe the case is different with Deba's and I am missing something? Always possible as this will be my first Deba....
 
A 100 dollar chefs knife is as good as you really need tbh. More expensive ones are nicer but you don't need it. The case like you said is different for traditional Japanese knives. They're much harder and more expensive to make, and the price is reflected in that. Other than the Uber cheap tojiro shirogami (in f&f, grind, and QC not just price) I can't think of a deba in that range even. The cheapest that's worth looking at is probably the uraku on jki for 200 dollars.
The other thing is why do you need a deba? It really isn't built for breaking down chicken. It's a fish butchering knife, it does one thing perfectly but really shouldn't be used on anything else. If you're going to use it on chicken too, and for that budget, you're better off buying a honesuki, misono has stainless and carbon options in your budget.
 
minibatataman said:
A 100 dollar chefs knife is as good as you really need tbh. More expensive ones are nicer but you don't need it. The case like you said is different for traditional Japanese knives. They're much harder and more expensive to make, and the price is reflected in that. Other than the Uber cheap tojiro shirogami (in f&f, grind, and QC not just price) I can't think of a deba in that range even. The cheapest that's worth looking at is probably the uraku on jki for 200 dollars.
The other thing is why do you need a deba? It really isn't built for breaking down chicken. It's a fish butchering knife, it does one thing perfectly but really shouldn't be used on anything else. If you're going to use it on chicken too, and for that budget, you're better off buying a honesuki, misono has stainless and carbon options in your budget.
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I don't really NEED it.... I'm a collector and interested in all knives so want to expand my collection. I don't currently have a Deba so I feel its time to get one and see how they work. (I'm also an engineer so my intrigued mind is difficult to silence!) I included chicken as my research said they are often used for this purpose. In reality when I get it I will try it for a handful of tasks and see how I get on with it. For fish it will mostly be fish that I have caught. Skate, bass bream etc. Plus the odd salmon that I buy.
I have found this one... Looks good and is a very reasonable price. Of course I am not expecting it to be perfect in my budget but it looks good for the money! Might be worth a plunge to see how it goes. I should explain that probably 60% of the knives I own I don't use because something else I have is better at the task. This doesn't bother me. By buying it I have expanded my knowledge of knives and makers. And more importantly my collection!

https://www.sakaiknife.com/product.asp?id=SH00109
 
Also to add if I find that I love Deba's and use them all the time I would probably buy one at the higher end of the market. But not worth doing until I have one and have tried it for a while.
 
I second finding one second hand if that is your budget. Post a WTB ad here and see what comes up. Always fun to try out new things, very specialized tool tho. Rarely ever use mine.
 
Pippin89 said:
Also to add if I find that I love Deba's and use them all the time I would probably buy one at the higher end of the market. But not worth doing until I have one and have tried it for a while.
Click to expand...
150 isnt that big though, I also agree you're better off finding a used one (even though a honesuki or even the munetoshi wa butcher knife would be be better)
 
Couple three years ago I dropped 400+ on a nice Suisin deba. GF (at time) thought I was crazy. She then bought a $40 deba from a local Asian market. POS, no ura, piss poor f/f, basically a chunk of steel on a stick. But she loved it for chicken, I was happy with my purchase, she was happy with hers.

Buying used will let you get more knife for the money. Expanding your budget to $200 will get you out of the POS range and into a no frills but solid knife. Have fun.
 
I've recently acquired a deba, bit like yourself I'm a home cook but I certainly am not a collector so my selection is based on practicality
I looked up and down and concluded that it's not that easy to get a decent single bevel for that money I ended up contacting japana who had been very helpful and sourced a knife from Japan by jikko for me It was probably around the £140 to £150 mark.
I've not really seen anything regarding the second hand market in the UK and if there's one I'd like to know more about it.
180mm is a great size and I mainly use it on Gurnard, or any odd salmon I buy or breaking up birds In my opinion the more weight behind it the better but that's just myself, not based on evidence.
I did however have to sharpen it up when I first got the knife which was pretty fun.
Would be interesting to see what you eventually get
 
Pippin89 said:
Thanks for your reply. I am surprised by your comment on the quality for the budget. I have bought many knives at that budget, as well some at much more and some at much less and find this to be a good price point for most knives for reasonable quality for home use. I certainly don't expect it to be as good as my £300 miyabi. But I would expect it to be functionally good quality. Maybe the case is different with Deba's and I am missing something? Always possible as this will be my first Deba....
Click to expand...

daveb said:
Couple three years ago I dropped 400+ on a nice Suisin deba. GF (at time) thought I was crazy. She then bought a $40 deba from a local Asian market. POS, no ura, piss poor f/f, basically a chunk of steel on a stick. But she loved it for chicken, I was happy with my purchase, she was happy with hers.

Buying used will let you get more knife for the money. Expanding your budget to $200 will get you out of the POS range and into a no frills but solid knife. Have fun.
Click to expand...

Dave nailed it. Accidentally - I also had Suisin Honyaki (monosteel stainless) 180 Deba. Cheap? No, but superbly well made. I bought two 165mm single beel funayuki in the past to learn on (and put new handles on them). One of them could be saved with some work, the other has a warp which can not be corrected.

Simply put - single bevel knives offer a lot more screw-it-up potential for the maker and thus you will not find the same level of 'usable quality' with them as you would with a double bevel knives. While a knives like Zakuri may have some funky grinds, with some work you can turn them to really nice knives. But there are many possible issues with single bevel knives that a user will not be able to fix.
 
Thanks all for your replies. And happy new year to you all.

I have purchased a Nakiri from the website I posted earlier in the thread as its a knife I know well so a good one to test them on. If I am happy with it I will go ahead and buy the Deba from them too. I will let you know my findings. As Adrian pointed out there isn't much of a second hand market for knives in the UK (at least as far as I am aware of) so that's not really an option. Will see what I find if and when I get the one from Sakai....
 
Something to consider is a miorishi deba. I feel it will suit your needs a bit better and be more nimble for filleting skate and still handle the joints of chicken easily. More and more sushi chef have switched to thinner debas (mioroshi/funayuki/ai deba) for their main fish knife. They give you more feedback, more nimble and less fatiguing. The thick hon debas are still used for large fish with thick bone structures. Epicurean Edge has good quality one for the price in the 165mm size which in my opinion would be perfect for your needs. You could still fillet 10lbs salmon with that too. http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=85688&bc=no&bc=no
 
Im not very well versed in single bevel knives. But I owe Tanaka deba and it does it job. I can fillet the fish fairly well with it using the three piece technique.
And this knives should be around your budget.
 
Might be a smidge over budget but I recently got a 210mm Yoshikazu Ikeda deba with saya for $240 usd delivered to my door. Id suspect a 150mm to be in the 150-180 range. Arguably one of the best Smiths alive and a good sharpener in kasahara
 
Godslayer said:
Might be a smidge over budget but I recently got a 210mm Yoshikazu Ikeda deba with saya for $240 usd delivered to my door. Id suspect a 150mm to be in the 150-180 range. Arguably one of the best Smiths alive and a good sharpener in kasahara
Click to expand...

Where from?
 
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DitmasPork said:
If you’re in UK, can you up your budget and get this?
https://japana.uk/shop/naoki-mazaki-deba-190mm-aogami-2-stainless-kasumi/
[Though check on availability, Japana’s processing time seems excessive. Perhaps other dealers carry it too.]
One of my fave makers.

I have a Gesshin Uraku Deba from JKI which I love, great budget Deba, very good F&F on mine.
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That's a very pretty knife. And while I could in theory I don't want to spend out that money on a knife I might end up not using. If I find I like Deba's and want to get a higher end one that will definitely be on the short list though!
 
Personally, I feel it's a false economy to go too cheap on single bevels. You can pick up a brand new deba for $50—but it would probably be difficult to sharpen, not a great decent performer—and you're likely to pine away for a higher quality knife. It's like deciding to try sushi for the first time at the cheapest sushi joint in town.

Compared to western fillet and butchering knives, single bevels are not a bang-for-buck choice.

That said, the Maz KU Deba at JNS is a great deal to me. It's in stock, $229,05 (inc VAT)$183,24 (exc VAT).
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/mazaki-kurouchi-deba-180mm/
 
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childermass said:
It’s even more funny because they do actually carry a left handed version of this knife where the picture is oriented correctly:

https://www.dictum.com/en/traditional-hocho-faa/nakagoshi-hocho-for-left-handed-use-deba-719480
Click to expand...
Good catch—lazy website photo editing. Man that's a cheap looking handle, major buzz kill for that piece of steel—I'd replace that handle. I really feel that a decent handle makes a huge difference. That nakagoshi deba seems a good price, about the same as the Maz KU deba.
 
Yes, the handle looks crappy.
They also sell two different replacement handles with horn ferrule. Depending on how the tang of the blade is made, the bigger one might fit with some minor fine tuning, but no guarantee.
https://www.dictum.com/en/semifinis...wood-knife-handle-buffalo-horn-ferrule-719561

And yes, a decent handle goes a long way, my cheap Miura Yanagi came with a really nice octagonal handle which makes the knife look and feel really classy.
 
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Thanks for all your replies. I ended up buying a Nakiri from Sakai Knives in Japan as it is a knife I know well so I could judge them a bit better. I have made a separate post about that. But it has definitely enticed me to try a Deba from them as well soon. Will report back on that when I get it!
 
I have a couple of debas of different single bevel varieties - ko, hon, Mioroshi - and I really enjoy using them. In fact I enjoy using them so much that it would be great to use them even more. But for what? (Fish of all sizes is too obvious: chicken and poultry? Nah) Any suggestions as for when it might be appropriate to use a deba (of any of single bevel kinds)?
 
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