Having quality knives should be a high priority for every home cook. Good knives result in more even cuts, and having a good knife will also save a lot of work. It’s also important to make sure you’re using the right knife for the task at hand. Trying to cut food with a dull blade or the wrong knife means you’ll be working harder than necessary.
One kind of knife that sometimes gets overlooked is the fillet knife. If you eat fish, dealing with bones can be a pesky problem. An uneven cut of bread is no less edible, but a poorly filleted fish is an unpleasant eating experience and can even present a choking hazard. Some tasks can easily be handled by different kinds of knives, but removing bones should be left to a boning or fillet knife.
Many boning knives can be used for fish, but there is a difference between boning and fillet knives. Specialized fillet knives are thin and flexible, making them good for maneuvering through cuts of fish. Boning knives are thicker, straighter, and less flexible, making them better suited to tougher pieces of meat like beef and pork. These are some of our favorite fillet knives.
1. Dalstrong Fillet Knife
De-boning? Filleting? Butterflying? De-scaling? Whatever you’re doing with your fish when preparing it for a meal, the Dalstrong Fillet Knife is hard to beat in terms of strength, accuracy and durability. You can get it all done in a matter of minutes using this razor-sharp blade. Each knife uses intensely strong German steel with a hand-polished edge for beauty and strength purposes. This really should be your true one-and-only.
Pros: This knife is built to last and is incredibly durable.
Cons: It definitely isn’t the cheapest fish fillet knife in the world.
2. imarku Boning Knife, 6-Inch Fillet Knife
If you want to get precise with your knife-work, reach for this option from imarku. This 6-inch fillet knife can de-bone with the best of them and is made from German steel which is incredibly sharp. The blade is hand-polished before arriving at your door, to ensure a sharp and fillet-ready blade.
Pros: Sharp, high-quality blade. Handsome-looking wooden handle.
Cons: 6-inches may be short for some.
3. KastKing Fillet Knife 9 inch
The fillet knives on this listing range between 6″, 7″, and 9,” so it’s easy to find the one that you’re most comfortable with. It has a unique, textured orange grip and black blade, and there’s a loop on the end if you want to hang it from a hook. It also comes with an orange blade cover. The knife is made from German stainless steel, and it’s flexible and bendy for efficient filleting.
Pros: Textured polymer grip for a comfortable grip, unique orange and black look, comes with a slotted sheath.
Cons: May not be very sharp out of the box, meaning it might need to be sharpened.
4. Mercer Culinary Millennia Narrow Fillet Knife
Mercer Culinary makes a lot of affordable knives, and you can choose between most major kinds of knives from this listing. Their fillet knife has an 8-inch Japanese steel blade. Various features are designed for comfortable and safe holding. A curved handle makes it comfortable, and there’s a large guard with a textured grip at the end to protect the user’s fingers.
Pros: Well-designed, ergonomic grip with a textured guard to protect fingers. Very sharp blade.
Cons: Difficult packaging.
5. Calamus Fishing Fillet Knife
This beautiful, blue fish fillet knife will slice up your fish in style. It’s made with German steel with a corrosion-resistant finish, which will help you maintain the knife’s sharp edge for longer. This fish fillet knife also comes with a sheath so you can bring it with you without fear of slicing your hand in the process of reaching for it.
Pros: It has a gorgeous look to it and is made out to be incredibly durable.
Cons: Some might not love the color.
6. BUBBA Li-Ion Cordless Electric Fillet Knife
Why have a regular fish fillet knife when you can have an electric fish fillet knife? This non-slip electric fish fillet knife is asking you the same question. It uses a stainless steel, serrated blade and an ergonomic trigger that slices through fish and other meats in a matter of seconds. It makes your life so much easier and doesn’t even need to be plugged in. That’s right, it uses a battery.
Pros: This cuts fish and meat a lot more quickly, plus electric knives are really neat.
Cons: Some folks might not like that it is serrated or electric, since the majority of fish fillet knives typically aren’t.