Fillet vs “head-guts-scales”

I am telling you right now, I get more meat with the electric and it is cleaner. Out of respect, I try getting all the meat I can when keeping a fish. With a regular fillet knife, sometimes that doesn’t work out too well because I hack the meat up more that have pieces that end up coming off and being wasted. That and I take forever and after a while I lose my stamina and start speeding things up just to get it done.

I am sure there are a lot of guys who keep a lot of fish and are hand filleting a lot and getting a lot of practice. Because I don’t keep a ton of fish, I am always out of practice. The electric seems to make up for it though by making things easier.

Even with the electric having 2 serrated blades, the edges come to a fine point. There is negligible tearing going on.

Like I said though, I am sure there are guys out there who are much better with a manual knife. I’ve seen it. But for me personally the electric works better.

What Pug said.

So the blade shape, handle shape and AC/DC Power supply is what makes the Rap fillet knife different than the $5 electric carving knife for Goodwill… right, Pug?

I can’t say for certain, because I can’t remember the last time I saw a electric carving knife, but I can say that the electric fillet blades also bend like a fillet knife.

How do those blades do when they come up against tiny bones? The most important part of filleting fish is feeling for and cutting out the bones, which is really easy with a nice thin sharp fillet knife. Do the electrics ever just cut right through them?

I’ve never had a problem with the bones. I have noticed sometimes I have knobby remnants of the cut out rib bones. Those are tiny and aren’t noticeable after you cook the fillets. And the only reason they are there is I don’t cut out the rib bones after filleting a side. I cut around the ribs by lifting them out as I slowly cut with my blades flat against the ribs.

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Because I don’t keep a ton of fish…

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Was that too subtle?

If you are thinking electric filet knife this is a review from a while back that you might want to read before making your choice.

Electric Knife Review

Thanks, Bret… that was really helpful.

Chris Tuckner Filleting a Perch

That is exactly how I do it.

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Using a fork to hold the fillets is a great idea. I’ve never seen that done before. Thanks for posting.

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I have used another fillet knife or a table knife to hold the fillet…

Everyone has their preference of eating/preparing fish..I think it’s usually the way you ate fish growing up.
I prefer scales/gut you get all the meat and full flavor of the fish. hate to see fish meat go to waste. But I have noticed that my tastebuds have changed and don’t really care for the skin of the fish. yet I still love to see the full fish head and all cooked. Bones don’t bother me but like I said to each his own.

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Chris Tuckner Filleting a Perch

That is exactly how I do it.

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He’s leaving bones in the meat in those fillets. This is what I was asking about – those electrics go right through bones so you don’t have the same feel to fillet around them that you do with a regular fillet knife.

Use whatever makes you comfortable. I tell you what I will never deny a sunfish meal by the way it was prepared.