Core77

A Tool in Need of Design: Fish Scalers

There's a lot of DIY solutions, but nobody's nailed it yet

By Rain Noe - June 10, 2015

in Food

People often say "There's more than one way to skin a cat," but no one ever talks about how many ways there are to scale a fish. And in general, when there's a lot of different ways to do something, in means no one's designed the perfect tool for it yet. So there's an opportunity for you, the upstart industrial designer, to think of something better to make this messy and time-consuming process easier.

First off, here's how your mother scaled fish in the sink when you were growing up:

Enter a caption (optional)

Or if you were raised by a sushi chef father, here's how he did it:

Enter a caption (optional)

Obviously both of those methods are way too time-consuming. Let's look at the various contraptions people have come up with to speed the process.

Charles Jones invented this bottlecap-based scaler:

Enter a caption (optional)

Fishermen use this stainless steel device:

Enter a caption (optional)

Then we get into the power tools. This one's called a "bear paw," and it's wielded by a guy who makes very creepy noises while he uses it:

Enter a caption (optional)

Here's an electric fish scaler with a guard. The guard is transparent, presumably so you can see through it. But after two seconds it becomes clogged with scales, rendering it opaque:

Enter a caption (optional)

This guy uses a drill attachment and a bucket filled with water. This is the type of thing that sounds like a great idea, but then you actually do it and realize it ain't:

Enter a caption (optional)

And here are the automatic methods. A guy named Tom rigged up a drum with sharp puncture marks on the inside:

Enter a caption (optional)

Floridian Clint White invented this drum-style fish scaler that has the added bonus of being fairly transparent:

Enter a caption (optional)

Both Tom and Clint's methods are pretty messy and use up a lot of running water. This guy below has what I think is the better design, as he's rigged up a drum to revolve within a tub of water. This keeps it a bit cleaner and uses less water:

Enter a caption (optional)

So, there we have ten solutions, spanning manual/powered/automatic. None of them seem like Shark Tank material to me. Can one of you do better?

o

Favorite This
Q
4

Comment

Comments

Lucas Smith

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

My extensive experience has taught me that the goal of scaling is a preparation where crisp skin is paramount. Any scaling method should seek serve that purpose first. The primary job to be done is give the diner supple flesh *and* crisp skin. The secondary job is save time and effort for the cook.

It seems to me that all of the above solutions are serving the secondary job to be done.

!Report as spam
matt willox

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwxB-K5m1Ro

!Report as spam
Austin Liu

9 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

There's a urawaza (Japanese secret trick) for scaling fish using a hard spatula that doesn't spray scales everywhere. I saw it demonstrated in a video, but I am having a hard time finding it now; if everyone knew spatulas could be used that way, nobody would bother buying fish scalers. I'll try to find a link.

!Report as spam
- . JC
  
  Austin Liu
  
  9 years ago
  
  Z
  
  Z
  
  Reply
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITDsM-G7A4o
  something like this?
  
  !Report as spam