Fish filleting knives

When cutting up a trophy catch, everyone wants to quickly cut up what they caught and cook it outdoors. To cut pike or salmon into neat pieces, you need a fish fillet knife - the best parts of the back can be easily separated from the skin and bones with such a tool. Buying good knives is a complicated matter, so it is important to know all the intricacies of choosing.

What is the name of the knife for cutting fish and its external characteristics

The cutting tool for processing seafood is colloquially called a "fillet knife". It is purchased as a set, but a flexible fillet knife is used more often than others. This convenient device is often included in a standard set for preparing meat and fish for cooking specific dishes.

In most cases, among other guru gadgets, there is a quality branded fish fillet knife. Its distinctive characteristics are:

• narrow, curved blade;
• a handle made of natural materials with an ergonomic shape (with a blade limiter or a thumb rest, with a handle extension at the end);
• a leather or fabric case for carrying a sharp blade, into which it is placed only when clean and dry.

Specifics of a fillet knife

Sharp knives make it easy to cut meat and fish into thin, uniform pieces. With a quality tool, you can quickly separate the skin and bones of freshly caught game for kebabs or prepare fish for fish soup right in the wild.

Knives vary in shape, length and blade size. Any professional has a whole arsenal of devices of different formats for slicing meat and fish for any request.

Helpful advice! To get a high-quality cut with minimal loss of flesh on the spine, choose a knife approximately one and a half times larger than the width of the carcass.

Good blades remain in perfect condition for a long time, but over time they have to be "brought back to life". It is impossible to sharpen a Japanese or Finnish fillet knife on your own, which are considered the best among their counterparts for professionals. For one-time sharpening, you can use an electric sharpener, and then use the services of specialists.

A professional's tool is always kept in perfect condition, otherwise it will not be possible to get the maximum amount of boneless meat. Often, after proper processing, it seems that the fillet volume is larger than the carcass itself before cutting. This is the best confirmation that a professional worked with a properly selected knife with a sharpened blade.

Types of fish filleting knives

Typically, the thin slices for large quantities of sushi are prepared by hand in Japanese restaurants. A good cutter is easy to use, separating the best parts of tuna and carefully cutting fillets from the thick skin of trout or pink salmon.

Every Japanese master has his own knife, which fits comfortably in the palm of his hand, its sharp flexible blade easily makes delicious thin pieces of the same shape.

In our culture, good equipment for Asian cuisine is just taking root. High-quality tourist, hunting and kitchen knives for professionals made of alloy steel cope well with the "duties" of a Japanese knife. Specialists are well familiar with their varieties, although they are not cheap.

Tourist

Hunters and fishermen also often use fillet knives to cut up freshly caught game on the spot. They are great for handling a generous catch and still-warm game meat.

Important! It is not recommended to use the thin blade for other purposes while hiking or on a picnic.

It is important to have other tools with you when you go out – knives, skewers and hatchets. Otherwise, there is a risk of damaging, breaking or even injuring yourself with an expensive accessory for perfectly cutting delicious translucent slices. A good device has a narrow specialization; it cannot be used to chop bones, fry pieces of meat on a fire or plane wood for making a fire.

Professional

A quality tool must be reliable, it must not break during painstaking work in the hands of a master. Therefore, the Japanese prefer flexible versions of fish knives that only bend. Each guru has at least a dozen of them, not counting other devices for cooking meat and fish, cleaning and cutting vegetables.

Electrical

The traditions of different countries have established certain requirements for the shape of knives, materials for making blades and handles, and there are also traditions of safe storage. The twentieth century gave kitchen workers electrical equipment, and there were also mechanical knives, with which it is easy to process mountains of catch.

Japanese professionals don't often work with power tools, usually only using them to cut up carcasses at fish markets before the preferred parts of the tuna or marlin are shipped off to restaurants.

The electric table knife set includes a case, several replaceable attachments of different lengths and configurations, as well as forks for holding the product. The electric drive is connected to the handle.

Fillet handle material

In fishing equipment, not only a flexible and thin blade is valued, but also a proper handle.

Basic requirements for knife handles:

• non-slip material, preferably of natural origin with a dirt-repellent impregnation;
• the base does not absorb moisture and specific fishy smell;
• The knife is quickly cleaned even after cutting fatty fish.

The handles are made from traditional and modern synthetic materials.

1. Cork wood with impregnation. Elite base, used for many years of impeccable work. Palm grooves are gradually formed during the work, which is appreciated by real gurus. Only one chef works as a filler like this.
2. Expensive soft wood varieties - knives look very respectable, the handle widens towards the end. Most often, this is how the Japanese traditional fillet blade looks like.
3. Rubber or multi-component high-tech rubber. Very comfortable products of different colors and designs, the advantage is that they do not slip in wet hands. The handle is usually straight with limiters on the edges.
4. Polymers and plastics – for inexpensive tourist and hunting knives. They are inexpensive, but convenient and practical, they are easy to wash.

When choosing knives for hunting, fishing and picnics, it is important to choose a model that will not freeze your hand while handling the catch.

What steel is used for fillet blade

In ancient times, bone knives were used, obtained by splitting the tibia of a large animal. They were very sharp, and the narrow wedge shape was obtained by frequent sharpening on a stone, as archaeologists say.

Today, the best grades of stainless steel are used, for example, X30Cr13 (chrome surface), which remains in working condition for a long time without additional sharpening.

It is not advisable to use universal filleters for other kitchen manipulations. Sooner or later it will become dull due to improper use. Narrow specialization will guarantee long-term operation. After work, the blade must be wiped manually, stored in a sheath or special kitchen stands.

Expensive branded knives are distinguished by a special alloy composition, which is kept secret. This is hardened steel with additives that give flexibility and strength. High-alloy alloys are distinguished by high strength and flexibility, do not rust, and hold the primary sharpening. Other options are possible, similar to carbide soldering on drills.

How to Choose a Knife for Cutting Fish

For a long time, fillet knives were known only to specialists in expensive restaurants. With the popularization of Japanese cuisine, sushi began to be offered everywhere, chefs strive to arm themselves with impressive equipment. Although they most often have only a semblance of Japanese knives for professionals, some samples are worth paying a real price.

Secrets of processing.

1. Large carcasses are slaughtered immediately after catching and gutted with a large serrated knife, which copes well with salmon skin.
2. A blade with indentations is used to cut sea fish (perch, cod), then the dense flesh comes off better from the smooth surface.
3. Frozen product is the main volume of deliveries to remote regions. Small fish are conveniently cut with a slicer, large carcasses - with a cleaver or a knife in the form of a saw.
4. Fish fillet knives are the best assistants in preparing thin pieces and transparent slices from fresh products that have not been frozen.

Experts recommend having several filleters of different formats to process any catch. The classic fish knife is small, the blade is no more than 32 cm.

It is advisable to choose a flexible blade that is resistant to breakage at the joints with the handle. In a solid product, the "vein" of the blade is visible from below and above.

How to use a filleting tool

A classic fish cutting kit includes several items. It is better to cut, clean and fillet the fish with different tools. A large serrated knife is suitable for processing large carcasses with leathery skin. It is better to cut the thick flesh of defrosted trout or pink salmon with a thin blade at an angle, separating equal slices from the skin.

The Japanese even use devices whose purpose is hard to guess, each one requires special skills. Cutting of finished products is done with a slicer. The special blade has a serrated sharpening, which is convenient for cutting off fins and tail. Basic manipulations in cooking fish:

• descaling;
• beheading;
• removal of fins and tail;
• ripping open the belly and gutting (removing the entrails, which often contain caviar);
• division in two along the spine line;
• formation of fillets with subsequent removal of ribs and other bones.

To obtain the fillet, you need a convenient surface - a cutting board or its equivalent. The fillet cutter works slowly, cutting the flesh from the skin and spine. If you need identical slices, cut at an angle, then separate from the skin.

Important! The scales can be removed immediately after catching with the back of the blade if you don’t have a skinning knife or a special scraper at hand.

To find out how real professionals work with a fillet cutter, it is better to watch a video - it is very interesting. However, not a single Japanese or Michelin-level master will fully reveal their professional secrets. They manage to cut the fish so that the volume of the fillet pieces is greater than the mass of the carcass.

Best Fillet Knives for Fish

Among the tools for processing seafood produced today, Finnish and Japanese filleters are highly valued. Germans and Belgians are not far behind. Domestic handicraft workshops make real masterpieces for elite hunting and fishing, if there is the best steel for fillet knives. Today, excellent products are offered by "SV Blade" and "Russian Bulat". They order exclusive items with the owner's monograms on the case and engraving on the blade even for foreign safaris and fishing on exotic islands.

Real "Finnish knives" and excellent kitchen "cutters" are produced by Scandinavians - the companies Marttiini and Rapala. A wide range of products, including fillet knives of different formats.

The best manufacturers are the Japanese companies Kasumi, Guito Deta and Yanagida. They have no equal in terms of convenience and service life. The classics are the tools from Samura OKINAWA, which are prepared at the imperial court. Fillet knives are called "willow leaf", the handle is made of natural wood without impregnation. This country also produces "safe" budget knives for Europeans.

The Germans have impeccable models that supply almost all of Europe – products of the Wusthof company. The French have mastered the production of folding knives for hunters and fishermen – these are the products of Laquiole and Opinel. Good knives from Berghoff are produced in Belgium.

Branded kitchen tools are often offered in sets, of different lengths and shapes, neatly packed in a case with a logo. However, the most important criterion is not the brand, the engraving on the blade or a beautiful leather sheath, but the ergonomic handle. When buying, you need to try the thing "on your hand". The Japanese prefer tools with a stop under the fingers, it will not slip out of your hands when working with any catch.

VIDEO:Cutting fish with a Tramontina fillet knife.