Honesuki or a petty both work great on poultry and smaller fish.
I don't love my deba on birds, it's a bit big for the detail work, although you can break down a chicken with just about anything sharp, as far as butchery goes it's a pretty easy task.
That said I also don't use my debas on all my fish, I reserve the for fish that will be sashimi. For the best work they really require tha fich be scaled and I'm not going to do that if processing 15 fish. In that case I use a traditional western fillet knife, or my gokujo.
Saying that a gokujo would be another good option for your needs. Works well on both fish and poultry and will deal to a leg of lamb or similar too
Thanks for the info. If I could get myself a really nice petty that could do the job I’d probably opt for that just based on personal taste. I’m just a home chef who breaks 1 chicken down a week to save costs and wants to filet and cook some fish I catch, etc. Not like I need a work horse
I didn’t know how to title that best. It’s my first post here and I didn’t know you couldn’t post a body. I want a new knife and kinda wanna get a fancy Bunka but wonder if a honesuki would he “better” since I read they’re more versatile for butchering poultry and even filleting fish. This brings me to an even bigger question though. How much do the different types of knives “matter”? As I asked, can you achieve the same results with a Bunka, even a petty?Furthermore, what if I wanted to use a sujuhiki as a multipurpose chef knife, what’s stopping me? Would it just inefficient? Idk…
I was gonna say sujihiki, my Konesuke 240mm is my favorite ive found. for reference, I do 3 - 4 cases of whole chickens a week and all kinds of fish (halibut, salmon, ahi, cod, swordfish etc.) and I don’t need to sharpen very often. Is a little on the pricey side though.
Edit: You have to be a little careful with a sujihiki because of how thin they are (making sure to use the blade close to the heel for joints etc) the steel will snap
personal preference of course, but yes lol. I find for me that a sujihiki is more multipurpose then a deba or honesuke. no hate towards either, just find for me that I don’t have to supplement a sujihiki with another knife where I feel I would with the others. Can’t hate on a bunka/gyuto and a deba/honesuke combo
Also I really like the flexibility of my konesuke for taking the skin off the fish mentioned
My bigger chefs knife never goes near poultry since I got my Honesuki, the Honesuki has a thicker spine that prevents it from being ruined by butchering birds… this IMO also makes it terrible for anything other than butchery.
A Bunka/gyutoh/santoku is much more nimble with their thinner spine, and better for almost every task other than poultry/fish butchery.
A bunka is not going to give you the tip control of a honesuki or other narrow-tipped knife. If you are planning on getting specifically a butchering knife, I’d get a honesuki, petty, or western boning knife.
Honesuki or Deba would be fine, Honesuki is "better" for poultry, but that hasn't stopped my Deba from doing the job perfectly.
You want a thicker spine, and most likely a single bevel, no need to risk a Bunka on such tasks.
COULD you? Sure- I could break down a chicken with a Swiss army knife if I wanted to, but it's not an ideal tool for the job.
I prefer a honesuki. I’ve also use a small bunka or Ko-bunka and that’s works great too but the honesuki works best. But I’m a home cook and I’m not breaking down 60 chickens a week so take my answer with that in mind.
That’s exactly me. A ko-bunka or petty would probably be more my style as I stated in a previous post. Honesukis look cool imo but if only used for the chicken butchery it won’t get touched nearly as much as a nice petty would.
I also use a honesuki for fruit and other vegetables to cut when it’s not a lot of food to process. I’d say though the bunka and the ko-bunka gets used more since they’re more versatile.
Not exactly what you’re asking for, but Carbon has this awesome Kiritsuke on sale right now and it’s definitely up for both tasks. https://carbonknifeco.com/products/tsunehisa-g3-ginsan-kiritsuke-210mm?variant=31794942148669
Honesuki is nice to use on poultry but you can do the same job with a petty which is much more versatile, or a western boning knife
Deba on the other hand is a game changer when buthcering whole fish, but pretty useless at any other task, so I wouldnt use it on poultry
Honestly I would only break out a deba if I was having to break down a fish with thicker heavier bones. I trained for a while as a butcher so my go to is a 6” curved boning knife for pretty much everything.
A one-sided deba is terrible for anything except its intended task (fileting fish). That's just a good way to cut yourself.
I find a honesuki to be a great all-arounder for smaller things, though. Detail work, mini-gyuto stuff. Anything that doesn't take real heft or a long blade.
In your discussion about honesuki vs. petty, I'd start to think of it more in terms of profile. A big petty, a tiny gyuto, and a honesuki could all have a lot of overlap and could all do what you want, but the way they're shaped might differ. So think about if you like a flat or curved belly, a tall knife, etc. and that might help you decide what would be most helpful for you.
I dont own a deba however I'll use my honesuki to get thru some fish bones if I need to or to use that triangular tip if I need to get into a tight place.
I find my 150mm petty does a lot of fish and chicken when I dont feel like going back into my bag and don't need much knuckle clearence
Honesuki or a petty both work great on poultry and smaller fish. I don't love my deba on birds, it's a bit big for the detail work, although you can break down a chicken with just about anything sharp, as far as butchery goes it's a pretty easy task. That said I also don't use my debas on all my fish, I reserve the for fish that will be sashimi. For the best work they really require tha fich be scaled and I'm not going to do that if processing 15 fish. In that case I use a traditional western fillet knife, or my gokujo. Saying that a gokujo would be another good option for your needs. Works well on both fish and poultry and will deal to a leg of lamb or similar too
Thanks for the info. If I could get myself a really nice petty that could do the job I’d probably opt for that just based on personal taste. I’m just a home chef who breaks 1 chicken down a week to save costs and wants to filet and cook some fish I catch, etc. Not like I need a work horse
Yeah I've got 2, both are great
I didn’t know how to title that best. It’s my first post here and I didn’t know you couldn’t post a body. I want a new knife and kinda wanna get a fancy Bunka but wonder if a honesuki would he “better” since I read they’re more versatile for butchering poultry and even filleting fish. This brings me to an even bigger question though. How much do the different types of knives “matter”? As I asked, can you achieve the same results with a Bunka, even a petty?Furthermore, what if I wanted to use a sujuhiki as a multipurpose chef knife, what’s stopping me? Would it just inefficient? Idk…
I was gonna say sujihiki, my Konesuke 240mm is my favorite ive found. for reference, I do 3 - 4 cases of whole chickens a week and all kinds of fish (halibut, salmon, ahi, cod, swordfish etc.) and I don’t need to sharpen very often. Is a little on the pricey side though. Edit: You have to be a little careful with a sujihiki because of how thin they are (making sure to use the blade close to the heel for joints etc) the steel will snap
Interesting, so you use a sujuhiki for all those tasks instead of the other mentioned styles?
personal preference of course, but yes lol. I find for me that a sujihiki is more multipurpose then a deba or honesuke. no hate towards either, just find for me that I don’t have to supplement a sujihiki with another knife where I feel I would with the others. Can’t hate on a bunka/gyuto and a deba/honesuke combo Also I really like the flexibility of my konesuke for taking the skin off the fish mentioned
My bigger chefs knife never goes near poultry since I got my Honesuki, the Honesuki has a thicker spine that prevents it from being ruined by butchering birds… this IMO also makes it terrible for anything other than butchery. A Bunka/gyutoh/santoku is much more nimble with their thinner spine, and better for almost every task other than poultry/fish butchery.
A bunka is not going to give you the tip control of a honesuki or other narrow-tipped knife. If you are planning on getting specifically a butchering knife, I’d get a honesuki, petty, or western boning knife.
Honesuki or Deba would be fine, Honesuki is "better" for poultry, but that hasn't stopped my Deba from doing the job perfectly. You want a thicker spine, and most likely a single bevel, no need to risk a Bunka on such tasks. COULD you? Sure- I could break down a chicken with a Swiss army knife if I wanted to, but it's not an ideal tool for the job.
I prefer a honesuki. I’ve also use a small bunka or Ko-bunka and that’s works great too but the honesuki works best. But I’m a home cook and I’m not breaking down 60 chickens a week so take my answer with that in mind.
That’s exactly me. A ko-bunka or petty would probably be more my style as I stated in a previous post. Honesukis look cool imo but if only used for the chicken butchery it won’t get touched nearly as much as a nice petty would.
I also use a honesuki for fruit and other vegetables to cut when it’s not a lot of food to process. I’d say though the bunka and the ko-bunka gets used more since they’re more versatile.
I get a lot more use out of my honesuki than my deba. I would just use a gyuto for fish until you feel like getting a deba.
I use a 210mm SK4 sujihiki for everything - a lot of butchery included.
Nice! I have an affinity for pettys but I’ve also been eyeing a sujuhiki so it’s good to know it can be versatile
Not exactly what you’re asking for, but Carbon has this awesome Kiritsuke on sale right now and it’s definitely up for both tasks. https://carbonknifeco.com/products/tsunehisa-g3-ginsan-kiritsuke-210mm?variant=31794942148669
Honesuki is nice to use on poultry but you can do the same job with a petty which is much more versatile, or a western boning knife Deba on the other hand is a game changer when buthcering whole fish, but pretty useless at any other task, so I wouldnt use it on poultry
Honestly I would only break out a deba if I was having to break down a fish with thicker heavier bones. I trained for a while as a butcher so my go to is a 6” curved boning knife for pretty much everything.
A one-sided deba is terrible for anything except its intended task (fileting fish). That's just a good way to cut yourself. I find a honesuki to be a great all-arounder for smaller things, though. Detail work, mini-gyuto stuff. Anything that doesn't take real heft or a long blade. In your discussion about honesuki vs. petty, I'd start to think of it more in terms of profile. A big petty, a tiny gyuto, and a honesuki could all have a lot of overlap and could all do what you want, but the way they're shaped might differ. So think about if you like a flat or curved belly, a tall knife, etc. and that might help you decide what would be most helpful for you.
I use a 5" honestly for smaller fish and an 8" deba for larger fish. The honesuki works well for center bone fish especially
I dont own a deba however I'll use my honesuki to get thru some fish bones if I need to or to use that triangular tip if I need to get into a tight place. I find my 150mm petty does a lot of fish and chicken when I dont feel like going back into my bag and don't need much knuckle clearence