fillet knife for the kitchen

Michael_Aos

Michael_Aos

Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
1,639
I'm generally partial to Wusthof, but this isn't something I'd expect to use a lot.

Any suggestions on a "good" or "better" fillet / boning knife for the kitchen?

Mostly just something to trim large cuts of beef / pork. Not necessarily for fish.

Mike
 
Hello Mike,

Take a look at Model # 101, Large Fillet Knife, at www.sunrisecustomknives.com I had one customer use his to carve the Holiday Turkey. He said it was the sharpest knife in the house, so why not!!

Best Regards,
Jay Maines
 
Mike,Check out Grohman knives' 7" rosewood handle fillet. While your in thier site,check out the other cutlery,too.
 
A meat boning knife wants to be rigid, very sharp, especially on the edge near the tip. This is useful for tunnel boning as well as trimming meat off the bone. The grip is overhand with the knife in your fist pointing downwards

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A fish filleting knife is thin and very flexible and sharp along the whole edge. The flexibility helps the knife to bend flat on the bones of a flat fish.

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A turkey carving knife wants to be long, almost swordlike and very sharp.

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Jay Maines

Sunrise Custom Knives!

Beautiful knives! I love the #404 Bowie! With buffalo horn handle! Totally awesome.

Thanks, Jay

Dan
 
Say I wanted to trim a brisket or a 12lb beef strip loin subprimal.

Would that be a "boning" knife or a "fillet" knife?

Mike
 
You 'need' a boning knife, only if you can spare the money, and if you think you will get your use out of it. You should only use a boning knife for boning or trimming meat as it should be maintained sharp on that curved tip. It should be scary sharp. At catering college, it was the only knife I was scared enough to be really careful of. It was a gift from a butcher who lived next door.

If that is a problem, buy a good quality french pattern chefs knife about 6" to 8" long that you can use for other jobs. As I knife enthusiast you will keep it sharp won't you.

As mentioned, a fish filleting knife is a bit too flexible for meat. Having said that, you can buy flexible meat boning knives, but they are still more rigid that a flexible fish filleting knife.

My best advice is to go to a good cook shop and handle the knives. See how they feel and sideways flex the blades on the counter.

I am a chef BTW.
 
I use my folding Catcherman by Spyerco in the kitchen all the time. The thicker older model AUS8 blade is my favorite. The thinner MBS26 blade is almost too thin for my tastes but it works well also for some jobs in the kitchen. I run them through the dishwasher with little in the way of ill effects also.

STR
 
tim8557

As always: you seem to show up at my posts and lend me a helping hand.

I do notice this, tim.

Thank you!

Dan
 
ALAMEDA said:
tim8557

As always: you seem to show up at my posts and lend me a helping hand.

I do notice this, tim.

Thank you!

Dan
Click to expand...
No problem Dan...glad to help.

I've purchased 2 of the KAI (Kershaw) Shun Classic knives and I think that they are just a tremendous knife. I don't know where you live in Mass., but a decent Culinary type store probably carries them and at least you could see and feel one up close.

I just purchased a third one ( the Kai SHUN Alton Brown Utility 6") to give to my oldest son as a gift when he gets back from South Africa. He's starting to get serious in the kitchen and like his father, will get obsessive with it.

Good luck.
 
Trimming fat is not the same thing as boning. There are really short boning knives that are called "trimming knives". You use those on steaks or roasts to remove fat around the edges. Usually bones are not involved. When I think of trimming a brisket I think of broad areas covered by layers of rather stiff fat. I don't use a boning knife or a filet knife for this. I want a long thin blade that is an inch to an inch and a half wide. I want to be able to make a rather steady horizontal cut to strip off the fat. I want some width to the blade so that it sort of planes along level through the meat. I don't want the blade to twist or the meat to be able to sort of wrap around a narrow blade and get cut deeper than I want. I want a long blade so that I can run the blade back and forth with a slicing action to glide through uncooperative fat. I like the blade thin, not for flexibility as much as for low drag.

For trimming a full brisket I like my old 10-inch Sabatier Au Carbon chef's knife. The carbon steel takes a particularly wicked edge for slicing. The blade on a french chef's knife is narrower and thinner than your usual German or American style. Here's a slicing knife that is suitable for the purpose:
http://www.cutleryandmore.com/details.asp?SKU=9387
 
tim

I'm sold!

Actually, I've just this second went online and bought (and it's being shipped) the "Kai Shun Alton Brown Utility 6".

I took your advise, and then read a few reviews and decieded that I just can't miss on this utility blade!

So, tim.....you just went and sold me a kitchen knife.

P.S.

I called and spoke to a knifemaker by the name of R.J. Martin, a couple of weeks back, and he is going to custom build for me a model of one of his knives. It is a bit smaller than the standard build version of his Manta Ray model. It is a fixed blade that I do want from this knifemaker.

It will not be used in the kitchen. In fact, I hope I never need to use it at all!

We will cross paths again, my friend.

Meantime....thanks for the Kai Shun!

Dan
 
As my screen name would indicate, I am an avid fisherman. I have more fillet knives than I could use in twenty lifetimes. They all have uses for different sizes of different fish. What I can tell you, above all, is that any of my fillet knives are too long for boning about any cut of beef, pork, or venison. They're probably too long for trimming most of those, too, as your driving hand ends up being much too far away from your work for good control of the knife. Slicing may be a different matter, though. Even then, fillet knives just dont balance and control as well as a bonafide slicing knife when doing that work. Looks like you (and I) got some great suggestions on the type of knife that you really need. If you find yourself wanting to really work on fish, I'll be glad to help you.

Pescatore
 
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