Catfishes are one of the types of fishes that are quite hard to skin without any sort of equipment. In fact, it would take you hours and hours if you do try to skin them with a regular knife. And most of us do not really have that much time to invest in one task only. Well, that is where the skinners come in.

With them, the skinning task will be just like taking a walk in the park. However, choosing one of the best catfish skinners can get a bit challenging because of the overabundance of options that are in the market. But as you have found us, you can remain worry-free. We are going to make the choosing process feel like driving a hot knife into a slab of butter for you.

#List of the Best Catfish Skinners –Editor’s Pick:

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Best Catfish Skinners Tools Reviews

As we said, the overabundance of options is sure to make you baffled while you try to choose one for your fish skinning task. And we would not let you go through that type of uncomfortable scenario. Thus, we have gone through the most popular options that different manufacturers are offering in the market and choose only the ones worthy of recommendation. They are:

1. Maybrun Commercial Catfish Skinner

Having a good amount of grip is quite important when it comes to using a catfish skinner. Without that, your hands are going to slip, and eventually, skinning would be tedious for you. Well, you would not have to worry about that if you get this one that Maybrun is offering.

First of all, the overall construction of the unit is of stainless steel. The steel is also of heavy-duty. It will be able to comply with the heavy-duty skinning tasks. For that reason, you can expect it to last for an extended amount of time without showing any signs of performance degradation.

Apart from that, the handle that it comes with has heavy ribbing. That allows it to be held on securely. In other words, the possibilities of your hands slipping while you are skinning will be fairly low. That handle also makes it comfortable to hold the device.

Other than that, the top of the unit is quite efficient in skinning tasks. You will be able to peel through a large number of fishes within a short amount of time. For that reason, it is termed as a commercial skinner by the manufacturer.

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2. SKINZIT Electric Fish Skinner

Skinning a large number of fish manually can take a huge amount of time. And in those cases having something automated can let you quickly skin through all of them. And a good example of a unit such as that would be this one from SKINZIT.

Unlike some of the fish peelers that are out there, this one is fully automated. It relies on the electricity to remove the skin of the fish. For that reason, it can cut the overall time required to peel a large number of fishes into half. That means you are not going to have to invest a lot of time on that.

Apart from that, the unit is capable of removing rib bones too. Because of that, you will not have to use a pincher to remove all the bones out of the fish. It boasts a unique design for the handle. For that reason, you can skin the fishes for a prolonged time without having to worry about any hand fatigue.

Alongside that, the handle has contouring too. Those make it comfortable to hold. The peelers that it has on the bottom are quite efficient. Those can peel through the skin and provide you a clean fillet without wasting that much meat.

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3. Maybrun 03101 Catfish Skinner, Nickel Finish

While there are a plethora of skinners in the market, there are hardly a few that are as versatile as this one that Mayburn is offering. And if you were looking for something versatile, then you should definitely pick this one up.

First of all, unlike some of the units, this one can clip fins. That means you will not require any separate tool to chop off the fins out of the fishes that you are planning to cook.

Apart from that, the pinchers that it has on the front are quite efficient. It can skin through catfishes relatively fast. For that reason, it would not take that much amount of time for you to peel through a large number of fishes. And the overall construction of the unit is quite sturdy. It is of hardened steel, which is exceptionally durable. You can expect it to last for an extended amount of time.

The exterior has a nickel finish. That finish does not only look good but also resists rust and corrosion. Eventually, that will enhance the overall lifespan of the unit. The handle also has a dotted pattern, which will ensure that you have a firm grip on it while you are peeling skins. You are not going to have to worry about your hands slipping because of those.

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Best Catfish Skinners Tools Comparison Table

How to skin catfish 

The steps that you would have to follow to skin a catfish are as follows:

Step 1: Cut off the gills on each side

Before you start the skinning process, you would have to cut off the gills of the fish. For this, you are going to require a knife. A regular fillet knife would work the best for this step. Cut them at a 45 degrees angle. Do make sure that you do not poke your knife deep into the skin, or else the skinning process would get much difficult for you afterward.

Step 2: Make cuts on the body

After you have removed the gills, you will have to use your knife to make cuts on the body. For this, start the cutting process from the head. Start from the base and make your way towards the tail.

When you do reach the upper fin, do make sure that you maneuver the knife in such a way that the cuts do not go straight. Instead, you will have to move your knife around it. The cut should be about 6.4 millimeters deep for large-sized fishes. Make shallow cuts, or else you are going to break the skin, which can make the process difficult.

Step 3: Slice the skin a bit

Now that you have made your primary cut, you will have to slice the skin open. For this, you need to make a 6.4 millimeters deep cut aligned with the stomach. Start from the incision that you have made on the head and work your way towards the tail again. End this cut right at the place where the fin starts. However, do ensure that you do not poke deep enough to puncture the fish’s internal organs.

Step 4: Make slits on the tail and peel the skin

The last step would be to make vertical slits on the tail. For that, you should make another 6.4 millimeters deep cut. Start from the spine and end at the belly. This cut that you are going to make will intersect with the two other cuts that you have made on the previous steps.

Finally, you need to use a skinner to peel the skin off. Make the pinchers hold the skin on the cut that you have made on the had and pull the skin off.

Does catfish fillet have bones?

Yes, catfishes do have bones. The bones that they have a large and remain in an orderly manner. Once the head is removed, you will be able to find these bones. Because of them being large in size and remaining in an orderly manner, they can be filleted relatively easily.

However, cutting the fillet for catfishes is a bit different from the other fishes. The ribs are a bit short for catfishes, and they are quite stiff too. They lie horizontally in the backbone.  So you are going to have to follow a different procedure if you want to make fillets out of catfish.

Final Words

We hope that we were effective in the case of narrowing down the overall options, and hopefully, it is now easier for you to choose one of the best catfish skinners for your skinning needs. To conclude, we would like to wish you good luck and hope that you can perfectly make fillets out of the catfishes that you are going to skin.