Fish tweezer vs. needle nose pliers

[esquire.]

After trying on some Brooks Brothers' pants and finding them a bit snug, my New Year's Resolution is to start eating healthier and lose some weight.

As such, I've decided I'm going to start eating more fish. But, the quality and options for fish here in SoCal is surprisingly limited even though its by the ocean so I've decided to take matters into my own hand by buying whole fish which should be fresher than fish that's already been broken down into fillets and steaks. I read somewhere that a lot of the fish with pinbones removed were frozen in america or where they were caught only to be defrosted in a country like China with lower labor costs to remove the pinbnones. And, then afterwords, they re-freeze the fish to send it over here and that freezing and defrosting kills the quality of the fish.

So, does anybody have any recs for a fish tweezer or a plier to remove pin bones from a fish? And, what's the difference between a tweezer vs a plier, and when do you use which tool?

I've been looking at all the available fish cookbooks in the local Barnes, and most of them say you could use either. But, a few say to use only tweezers and just as many say to use only pliers.

 

[Annadale]

Good fish tweezers have engraved plates to catch the slippery bones, and an angled nose to facilitate ease of use.

 

[Runningman411]

Originally Posted by esquire.

After trying on some Brooks Brothers' pants and finding them a bit snug, my New Year's Resolution is to start eating healthier and lose some weight.

As such, I've decided I'm going to start eating more fish. But, the quality and options for fish here in SoCal is surprisingly limited even though its by the ocean so I've decided to take matters into my own hand by buying whole fish which should be fresher than fish that's already been broken down into fillets and steaks.

So, does anybody have any recs for a fish tweezer or a plier to remove pin bones from a fish? And, what's the difference between a tweezer vs a plier, and when do you use which tool?

I've been looking at all the available fish cookbooks in the local Barnes, and most of them say you could use either. But, a few say to use only tweezers and just as many say to use only pliers.

Huh? Why don't you just fillet it?

 

[KJT]

Originally Posted by Runningman411

Huh? Why don't you just fillet it?

Pin bones are present in certain fish even when filleted.

Salmon for example:

 

[foodguy]

i use a small needlenose. works just fine.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i use a small needlenose. works just fine.

Yep. Although the smart money says to keep a separate one for kitchen work.

 

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Yep. Although the smart money says to keep a separate one for kitchen work.

versus the one I use for nose hairs.

 

[mm84321]

Why not just cook the fish whole and then remove the bones? They come out a lot easier that way.

 

[itsstillmatt]

I prefer the ones that look like the pair pictured.

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by mm84321

Why not just cook the fish whole and then remove the bones? They come out a lot easier that way.

Pin bones don't come out easier that way. The spine and other bones, sure.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Pin bones don't come out easier that way. The spine and other bones, sure.
Also uses more valuable time.

 

[Cary Grant]

I keep a pair like this around:

Though I suspect a simple stainless tweezer as pictured might be easier to clean/maintain....

 

[ratboycom]

Easy enough to remove the bones when eating the fish, pin bones included. Either that or if you are frying the fish and its small boned you can just eat the bones.

 

[philosophe]

I use the tweezer-style and put them in the dishwasher after use.

 

[binge]

Phoque! And I've been pulling them out with my fingers all this time. Who knew...