Garlic press: like or dislike?
Welcome to Like or Dislike, where you get to share how you really feel about ingredients from the pantry, ingredients I'm thinking about adding to my pantry, other seasonal foods, and favorite cooking gear. The things you like are sure to find their way to the recipes here on The Perfect Pantry, so do tell.
In The Downsizing, many kitchen gadgets that had been relegated to the back of the pantry drawers didn't make the trip from country to city. I found an old garlic press, like the one pictured above, and realized it had been years since I used it. Garlic presses are great for mincing garlic quickly, but I find that a bit of practice with a very sharp knife accomplishes the same goal. Other ways to mince garlic include a Microplane grater, or even a Chinese ginger grater. As I continue to purge my kitchen of single-purpose utensils and tools, the garlic press had to go. Do you use and love your garlic press?
Garlic press: like or dislike?
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Don't like. For a few cloves I chop with a sharp knife. To chop a lot of garlic I use an Oxo spring-loaded chopper.
I do not like the garlic press, it is too hard to clean and mine has too many parts. To mince garlic I use a small food processor. Usually, the same dish will have minced onion too, so the processor is put to use again.
No, I have one but never use it. I'm with Denise..too hard to clean. I find myself using minced garlic from a jar alot!
Dislike. I don't like gadgets that are hard to clean even if they might be useful. I do love my Joseph Joseph garlic "rocker". Works awesome, cleans up easily and you can throw it in the dishwasher!
Grab mine sometimes, but cleaning it is hardly worth the bother.
I remember how sophisticated I felt when I first bought a garlic press. My mother never had one, so it was an exotic tool to me. But I haven't used one for years. I have a mini-vegetable chopper from Williams-Sonoma that does a beautiful job on garlic if the dish calls for a lot of it, but otherwise I just use a knife.
I use my garlic press almost every day and don't find cleaning it a problem. (I use Zyliss presses.) Dr Weil uses a garlic press instead of using knife work because he thinks the flavor is more pronounced and the health benefits are greater. That's the method use in his restaurant, True Food. I've been using a press for many years because I prefer the flavor and texture of that method. The health benefits are an unexpected bonus. I also let the pressed garlic rest for 5 minutes before using it.
Its a stable in our kitchen, we too have a Zyliss--however, ours came with a small plastic cleaning tool--it fits the press and forces any garlic out--works like a charm--easy to clean
gordon
Dislike. I have one but I never use it anymore. I use my knife or mini food processor. I really need to clean out my kitchen of stuff I don't use.
I used a garlic press for years and years, but like you I finally decided chopping with my trusty knife saves me time. If I want my garlic really fine I'll grate it. My garlic press is now sitting in the box with the other kitchen items I decided I can live without when restocking the cabinets after my recent kitchen renovation.
My Pampered Chef garlic press is my used cooking tool, easy to use, no need to peel the garlic. Love it!
Like but it's troublesome to clean.
have one but don't ever use it....it's not that i don't like it, it's just easier a lot of times to use a nicely sharpened knife, altho PATT's feedback makes me want to try using it again LOL lately, i have been on a kick to thin out my tools-of-the-trade, keeping ONLY those gadgets that can be used for more than just one job; i just don't have the space to keep things that have one use only. getting rid of some of those types of gadgets will relieve the space crunch so i can store the useful ones better
I'm with the 'likes.' I didn't use the first garlic press I go -ineffective. Now I have one from Pampered Chef which works beautifully, and is easy to clean, so I use it frequently. When I don't, I depend on my knife skills and perfume my fingers with garlic.
I haven't tried microplaning garlic yet - afraid of shredded fingertips.
Sort of half and half here. Sometime use, sometimes not. If I'm smashing the cloves with a big knife, then I find myself usually using the knife to mince. But then there are times when I decide to use the press. No rhyme or reason! Have an older press and not difficult to clean. So it's definitely that I could probably live without it.
Didn't like until I had a Zyliss! Super easy to use and easy to clean! The America's Test Kitchen people use one often.
I have a really old one, but I don't find it that hard to clean, and it's way more efficient when the cloves are small. So I use the press for the small ones (thereby avoiding having to smash and peel them) and a knife for the larger ones.
Like, really like the garlic press. However, I am very picky of the one that I use. It comes from Pampered Chef - the shape is designed for a clove of garlic. Nor square or round like so many others. When pressed garlic is needed (and when is it not), the "good" press get a workout.
I like my mother's garlic press which got me interested in using one;but the one i have is not very useful. I use my microplane. the holes are a little larger that the regular microplane and I find it works very well.
I use my Zyliss garlic press quite a bit. I find it easy to clean and efficient to use. I've had about four different presses over the years. I didn't care for the Pampered Chef one as well and have passed the others on to my daughters. I use a knife if I'm already using a knife and cutting board, but if not, it's the garlic press.
I have 2 but use them rarely. If I don't want visible pieces of garlic in something I will use a garlic press. I have been experimenting lately with using a microplane to grate garlic, and I think that works better. And it s easier to clean.
I definitely prefer my Zylis garlic press. The cleaning thing broke but a quick rinse with a stiff brush right after use and it cleans in seconds. From 1 to 100 cloves of garlic it is much faster than tedious chopping and I agree you get more flavour out of the garlic.