Category: Chef knives Column

Deba knives are a traditional Japanese knife designed primarily for filleting fish and breaking down poultry. With their thick spine and single-beveled edge, Deba knives offer exceptional cutting power and precision. Selecting the right Deba knife can be challenging, given the variety of options available. This guide will help you understand the key factors to consider when choosing a Deba knife, including blade length, materials, and craftsmanship.

Blade Length

Deba knives typically have blade lengths ranging from 105mm (4.1 inches) to 210mm (8.3 inches). The optimal length depends on your personal preferences and the tasks you frequently perform in the kitchen. A 165mm (6.5 inches) blade is a versatile choice for most users, providing a balance between control and functionality for filleting fish and breaking down poultry.

Blade Material

Like other Japanese knives, Deba knives are usually made from either carbon steel or stainless steel. Carbon steel offers a sharper edge and easier sharpening but is more prone to rust and requires extra care. Stainless steel is more resistant to rust and low maintenance but may not hold its edge as long. Choose the blade material based on your preferences and willingness to maintain the knife.

Blade Profile

Deba knives typically have a single-beveled edge, which allows for precise cuts and easy filleting. Some Deba knives also feature a “yo-deba” design, which incorporates a double-beveled edge for more versatile cutting techniques. Consider your preferred cutting style and the tasks you frequently perform when selecting a Deba knife.

Craftsmanship and Quality

To ensure the longevity and performance of your Deba knife, pay attention to craftsmanship and quality. Look for knives made by reputable manufacturers or artisans, such as Masamoto, Aritsugu, and Nenohi. Hand-forged knives often have higher quality, but they can be more expensive. Inspect the knife’s fit and finish, as well as the sharpness and polish of the blade.

Handle Type

Deba knives are available with traditional Japanese “wa” handles or Western-style handles. Wa handles are lightweight and well-suited for precise cutting techniques, while Western-style handles tend to be heavier and may offer more balance. Choose the handle style that feels most comfortable in your hand and suits your cutting style.

Choosing the perfect Deba knife involves understanding the importance of blade length, materials, craftsmanship, and other key factors. By carefully considering these aspects, you can find a Deba knife that not only enhances your culinary skills but also serves you well for many years to come.

Japanese knives are definitely distinct and very different from the ordinary kitchen knives. A Western knife is much wider in its own blade surface space, while a Japanese knife is known to be much narrower, thinner, and longer. Highly exotic, unique, and extremely sharp, Japanese blades are forged and made specifically to handle and support the traditional techniques required to craft culinary art pieces like Sashimi and Sushi. The delicacy of Japanese dishes is presented in a much refined, subtle way that requires the mastery of the blades in order to accomplish what we call the ‘ideal Japanese aesthetic’. With this being one of the most important components, the selection of Japanese blades is highly essential in the crafting of authentic Japanese dishes, as the accurate slices, chops, and cuts determine the final touches of savory blends.

Despite its rising fame and popularity among domestic and international culinary experts, the selection of suitable Japanese knife still leaves questions among users as there is still a lack of understanding upon which knife to choose. As there are a wide variety of knife types that perform distinct tasks, it is indeed a must to learn about all common Japanese knives before deciding on a model to purchase or own. To adapt to the needs of your personal kitchen tasks, scanning through the most common Japanese blades will help you through the selection process with ease.

Gyuto Knife

Also known as the Japanese chef’s knife, Gyuto is a long, narrow bodied knife perfect for the mincing of ingredients and the slicing of various meats. A Gyuto knife is considered a ‘multi-purpose’ knife and a must-have essential item for all chefs and culinary experts alike. It is a helpful blade that makes all tasks simpler, forged to aid in all preparation processes. Its average length is around 20 cm – its narrow body makes it a perfect knife for all kinds of ingredients; however, it definitely works best with fish and meats of all kinds.

Santoku Knife

Known as the Japanese traditional knife, the Santoku knife is a multi-tasking blade forged to especially perform three kinds of motions: slicing, mincing, and dicing. A Santoku knife equips three advantages in its mere body, allowing chefs to perform all kinds of tasks with ease. Usually forged in between the range of 16-18 cm, its shape is slightly curved. Most Santoku knives come with mysterious dimples – the dimples are present on the blades to prevent food and ingredients from sticking onto the blade surface while cutting or slicing.

Yanagiba Knife

A Yanagiba knife is indeed a must-have knife for Sushi chefs and Sashimi lovers. Especially forged and made to perform all techniques and skills required to craft delicious sushi pieces, ultra-thin slices of fish and seafood are the final results of the perfect motions a Yanagiba knife can perform.

Nakiri Knife

A Nakiri knife is also known as a Japanese vegetable knife. From its name, it is a special knife made to cut and chop vegetables gracefully. Although it is a vegetable knife, users can also use this knife to cut through herbs and fruits of all kinds. However, it is not recommended to be used for the slicing, cutting, or mincing of meats of all kinds due to its blade body and shape. Usually forged to be around the range of 14 to 18 cm, a Nakiri knife’s rectangular blade surface also makes it a great knife to crush fresh garlic.

These are all the common kinds of Japanese knives – the essential must-haves most chefs have in possession. If one owns all the knives mentioned above, crafting delicate pieces of Sashimi and Sushi would definitely be more than possible.

While sharpening a knife may seem like a simple task, the reality is that’s it’s not so simple. Sharpening a knife properly is an art that requires lots of practice and experience, and without it, your results may be mediocre at best. In some cases, incorrectly sharpening a knife may lead to irreparable damage.
In today’s article, we’re going to learn that sharpening a knife is an extremely precise process that leaves little room for improvisation. Below are some tips to help you sharpen your knife the correct way.

Why do we sharpen knives?

You can think of a knife as a type of micro-saw. The reason for a blade’s sharpness is because its thin edge has numerous serrations at a microscopic level. With every use, these serrations are smoothed until they completely disappear, leaving the blade ‘flat’ and then the knife is no longer able to cut into the material. At this point, you must sharpen your knife.

Sharpened knife

The word sharpening means restoring the thin serration of the blade as much as possible. Sharpening is not a simple task because the microscopic serrations are difficult for the naked eye to see, which makes it hard to see how much a blade is sharpened. Due to this reason, there are processes put into place in order to guarantee proper sharpening.
There are two types of sharpening: maintenance and grinding. Maintenance sharpening can be done with another knife or sharpener, whereas grinding, also known as true sharpening, is necessary when the knife performs and cut blade. When grinding, a whetstone or sharpener is used.

A whetstone is a tool which sharpens a blade by means of rubbing and are usually made of ceramic. You may have seen sharpening wheels before, which can be categorized as whetstones with the difference being that it must be lubricated with water or oil as opposed to manual whetstones. With manual whetstones, it’s good practice to lubricate with a little bit of sharpening oil for maximum performance. When you’re ready to sharpen, the blade should be slid on the whetstone in the opposite directions of its cutting edge. The sharpening work begins on the coarser side, which is used for grinding, and the finer side is used for sharpening.

A matter of angle

When sharpening knives, the consistency of your movement and above all, the angle at which you sharpen your knife is the most important aspect. The smaller the sharpening angle between the blade and whetstone, the sharper the blade becomes. With this in mind, does it mean it’s necessary to always sharpen at a small angle? The answer is no, because the more a blade is sharpened, the more fragile it becomes, and the more often it has to be sharpened. This is where experience comes into play, as it’s important to find an angle that

Speed is not as important as the consistency of movement, and, above all, the angle. Thousands of pages of physics books discuss the matter, and legends were born. We try to simplify our life: the smaller the sharpening angle between the whetstone and the blade, the sharper the blade becomes. So is it necessary to sharpen at a very small angle? No, because sharpening also corresponds with greater fragility. As such, the sharper the blade is, the more often it has to be sharpened. This is why, with experience, it is necessary to find an angle that offers just the right amount of compromise. In most cases, the perfect sharpening angle is 20°.

The sharpener

Sharpeners are another tool which is generally used for maintenance sharpens. They offer lighter action when compared to whetstones. The function is sharpeners is to put the microscopic serrations of the blade back in line after they’ve been bent in different directions after usage.
Using a sharpening is easy. Simply hold it firmly and slide it along the length of the blade with a linear and continuous movement. The angle of the blade with respect to the sharpened should be approximately 20°. Maintenance sharpening can be performed as soon as you start to feel your knife is losing its cutting performance. When the sharpened is no longer enough to restore your knife’s original cutting ability, it’s time to move to the whetstone.

If you’re in an emergency situation where you don’t have access to sharpening tools, there is one little trick you can perform. Simply take a ceramic coffee cup, turn it upside down, and pass the blade on the edge of the bottom of the cup approximately a dozen times at a 20° angle.