# Best knife for removing silverskin.



## stopbarking (Nov 1, 2013)

I've just recently moved into a position where I am going to have to clean a whole lot more animals requiring silverskin removal. Until now I have not had to do a whole lot of that and have done an admirable job so far using my gyuto. Yesterday I was cleaning a whole lot of seriously rough cleaned beef and lamb for the first time and realized that if I had the power I would fire myself. I'm decent at it, but due to the limitations of my knives, my scrap pile was embarrassing.

I have a crappy messermeister boning knife that I could spend some time on thinning and sharpening often but I'd rather get a decent knife to take care of this large volume.

I'd like this knife to double as a WOG knife but if there is a sweet knife out there, I am REALLY good at breaking down WOGs with what I've got now.

I'd like to keep it under 250.

There is a double bevel Murray Deba for sale that I've almost bought twice tonight alone. The Gesshin Ginga Honesuki and Honkotsu speak to me as well. Cant afford a custom Rader though that would be ideal I think.

Any suggestions?


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## panda (Nov 1, 2013)

i actually quite like using wusthof scalloped flexible utility knife for that purpose. just gotta thin the crap out of it and then the edge will last plenty and easy to maintain on a steel.


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## ThEoRy (Nov 1, 2013)

I like honesuki especially for this task.


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## phan1 (Nov 1, 2013)

I wouldn't go for a deba. A narrow blade makes the most sense for this job: a suji, or honkotsu. Personally I have an 18cm petty that I really love because it's a "tweener" knife that is small enough to do petty jobs but also long enough that it can be used as a suji as well. My recommendation would be a 21cm petty... Honkotsu seems really nice if you want something really task specific.

And if you're on these forums, I'm sure you've probably studied some youtube videos? That would really help. I know some chefs that are pretty much entirely youtube trained.


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## Sabong1 (Nov 1, 2013)

I've always had good luck with my wustof boning knife which has been sharpened professionally. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Flyingpigg (Nov 1, 2013)

What does WOG stand for?


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## ecchef (Nov 1, 2013)

Whole chicken..WithOut Giblets. I've been using a 210 suji for silverskin. Works OK for me.


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## tripleq (Nov 1, 2013)

A long as there isn't any bone around its tough to beat a yanagi for silver skin. WOG. Double bevel deba. If you want a knife that can do both the Takeda Mioroshi deba comes to mind. I no longer have one but in the past I've found it competent for both tasks.


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## RRLOVER (Nov 1, 2013)

I made a knife just for this task.....it's a petty thats crazy thin...works perfect


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 1, 2013)

+1 210 suji/ Kono HD, has a touch of flex, too.


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## Chuckles (Nov 1, 2013)

http://youtu.be/45YpSNUV-CY

http://youtu.be/hAt6LP_sEFo

Masamoto KS0418


http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kurouchi-170mm-wa-butcher/

The Fowler on BST would be great too.


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## Geo87 (Nov 1, 2013)

NO ChoP! said:


> +1 210 suji/ Kono HD, has a touch of flex, too.



What's the reason for the 210 just out of interest? 
I personally use a 150 petty for trimming..Works well for me, alot Easier to sharpen than a boning knife also.


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## Matus (Nov 1, 2013)

I find removing silverskin with 210 Tanaka R2 gyuto on the edge on enjoyable


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## NO ChoP! (Nov 1, 2013)

Geo87 said:


> What's the reason for the 210 just out of interest?
> I personally use a 150 petty for trimming..Works well for me, alot Easier to sharpen than a boning knife also.



The size probably isn't that important. It just happens to be the size I own, and it works. I also have a 150mm Carter, but prefer the Konosuke for this task.


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## Geo87 (Nov 1, 2013)

I guess having it at 210 makes it a bit more universal, could double as a line knife. 
My 150 doesn't really get used on anything else...

Edit: although a knife for silver skin & a line knife may need different grits...


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## knyfeknerd (Nov 1, 2013)

I say 150mm Honesuki for silverskin. Not sure about WOG's though. I used to just power through them with a German beater, a Miroshi Deba does sound cool though. I wouldn't spend too much money on a WOG killer though.


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## EdipisReks (Nov 1, 2013)

I don't do it professionally, but I've trimmed a pork loin a time or two. I find a thin 6 inch or so petty knife to work great. It's usually the knife I use for chickens, too. I use a Shun utility, myself.


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## stevenStefano (Nov 1, 2013)

210 suji


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## DWells (Nov 1, 2013)

+1 to the itonomon wa butcher. I like a curved tip to aid in not puncturing the silverskin. My preferred is a well used 10" carbon dexter cimiter.


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## stereo.pete (Nov 1, 2013)

This is an easy one...


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## 99Limited (Nov 1, 2013)

stereo.pete said:


> This is an easy one...



Show off!!!! This is getting off the subject, but how do you sharpen the area near the finger guard?


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## jcsiii (Nov 2, 2013)

+1 on the 150mm petty knife.


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## franzb69 (Nov 2, 2013)

i currently use a $20 tosa 165mm funayuki. works awesome for that purpose.


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## Brad Gibson (Nov 2, 2013)

210 takeda yanagi. so perfect. long petty and super thin. it kills the silver skin!


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## tripleq (Nov 2, 2013)

Did some pork loin last night using a Zakuri yanagi (double bevel), a small suji and a single bevel yanagi. Can't believe there hasn't been more votes for the single bevel yanagi. Did a killer job. Best of the 3.


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## chefcomesback (Nov 2, 2013)

As long as you remove the silverskin by cutting towards your self small yanagi will do great :scared4: It becomes challenging when you cut away from your self and the knife start steering away


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## shaneg (Nov 2, 2013)

Honesuki
Or in the mean time a birds beak is a lot better than a gyuto.

How do people find different carbon varieties 'sticking' when slicing through meat, my kono white 210 is really grippy when trying to portion venison especially, same white white fish, salmon is fine as its an oily fish.

Some better than others?


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## Pensacola Tiger (Nov 2, 2013)

shaneg said:


> Honesuki
> Or in the mean time a birds beak is a lot better than a gyuto.
> 
> How do people find different carbon varieties 'sticking' when slicing through meat, my kono white 210 is really grippy when trying to portion venison especially, same white white fish, salmon is fine as its an oily fish.
> ...



It's likely "catching" on the patina. "Polish" the blade with 0000 steel wool; it should help.


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## Von blewitt (Nov 2, 2013)

That boning knife is one of my favourite knives that I've seen on this Forum! So sleek! it would look better with some Patina though 



panda said:


> i actually quite like using wusthof scalloped flexible utility knife for that purpose. just gotta thin the crap out of it and then the edge will last plenty and easy to maintain on a steel.





stereo.pete said:


> This is an easy one...


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## berko (Nov 2, 2013)

honesuki or petty.


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## cheezit (Nov 2, 2013)

99Limited said:


> Show off!!!! This is getting off the subject, but how do you sharpen the area near the finger guard?



I'm sure there are different methods that accomplish the same goal, but I would use the corner of the stone to sharpen the concave bevel near the finger guard.


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## Slypig5000 (Nov 2, 2013)

stereo.pete said:


> This is an easy one...



Good god Pete, that is one sexy knife.


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## Miles (Nov 3, 2013)

My fave is a Moritaka 240 yani-suji. I had to do a fair bit of work to it to make it a good performer. It's the only Moritaka in my extended batterie. Much to my great surprise, once I got it dialed in, I found it excels for trimming and portioning. I picked it up just to have a hands on look at a Moritaka after all the discussion. I didn't have much in the way of expectations, so to that extent, it's really exceeded them, but I've been happy with it despite it's somewhat rustic character and quirks.


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## chuck239 (Nov 3, 2013)

Although I really like the traditional style boning knife... I prefer this one for the majority of my meat and chicken butchery. That includes removing silver skin.

-Chuck


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## Miles (Nov 3, 2013)

Georgeous!


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## stereo.pete (Nov 3, 2013)

chuck239 said:


> Although I really like the traditional style boning knife... I prefer this one for the majority of my meat and chicken butchery. That includes removing silver skin.
> 
> -Chuck
> 
> ...



Well played Chuck, well played.


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## tripleq (Nov 3, 2013)

chuck239 said:


> Although I really like the traditional style boning knife... I prefer this one for the majority of my meat and chicken butchery. That includes removing silver skin.
> 
> -Chuck
> 
> ...



It's been an hour since I've seen this and I still can't stop drooling.


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## brianh (Nov 3, 2013)

This thread made me order a tojiro honesuki. Damn you guys.


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## ThEoRy (Nov 3, 2013)

brianh said:


> This thread made me order a tojiro honesuki. Damn you guys.



[video=youtube;eYDkGJmSfy0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDkGJmSfy0[/video]


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## ecchef (Nov 4, 2013)

This what I used to use before switching to a suji:


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## brianh (Nov 4, 2013)

ThEoRy said:


> [video=youtube;eYDkGJmSfy0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYDkGJmSfy0[/video]



haha! You also reminded me of this.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/embed/MnQ_mp9TzZY[/video]


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## JKerr (Nov 4, 2013)

I don't get much variation in proteins at work. But I've been trimming up piles of beef eyefillets and lamb shoulders over the last few weeks and I've been switching been a gokujo and a hankotsu. I really enjoy the hankotsu for this, but it's such a specific knife that it has basically no value outside of butchery (which is fair enough, as it is the intended purpose of the knife), but even in butchery there's some tasks it seems to excel at and others it just flat out sucks at. 

Perhaps it's the wide (single) bevel which helps with the silverskin, so in that sense I guess a yanagi would be a decent choice. Certainly a little bit of height would make it much more versatile. I reckon the Hattori FH honesuki would be a good choice for trimming silverskin and general butchery; would probably double as a decent line knife too.


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## Benuser (Nov 4, 2013)

No idea why a honesuki or garasuki should be needed for it, and certainly no hankotsu. My butcher does it with a worn désosseur, thin, narrow. I'm quite sure any thin petty will do.


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## stereo.pete (Nov 4, 2013)

Benuser said:


> No idea why a honesuki or garasuki should be needed for it, and certainly no hankotsu. My butcher does it with a worn désosseur, thin, narrow. I'm quite sure any thin petty will do.



I find the thickness of my Fujiwara Honesuki is counter productive when it comes to trimming silver skin. Could very well be a technique issue... :tease:


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## daveb (Nov 4, 2013)

I do a few tenderloins a month and like a Petty for the task. 150 works well, 180 works best. For me. Rolling the knife to reverrse direction is easily accomplished - not so with a SB.


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## easy13 (Nov 4, 2013)

Global 6 inch flexible utility. Only Global I've ever owned, or used and only for cleaning up proteins. Thin, nice tip, fits the hand nicely.


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## Geo87 (Nov 5, 2013)

I've never used anything other than a 6" petty or 6" boning so I can't really comment... But I thought a honesuki was designed more for poultry? 

How thick are they? The extra height at the heel looks like it could be useful for some tasks. 

But is the tip thin enough?


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## apicius9 (Nov 5, 2013)

I lways thought this is what these thin 180 or 210 Tasatsuna or Suisin suji/petty knives were for, but Pete's Rader knife gives the definite answer IMHO.

Stefan


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## Canadian (Nov 7, 2013)

For that amount of volume I would stick with the traditional "_desosseur_" pattern. Victorionox making a good workhorse boning knife that is thin and easy to maintain. If I was working in a professional setting this would be the knife I would use. I've harvested a lot of big game and so this is my point of reference. 

If I wanted something a little more fancy then I would just commission something.


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