# Recommendations for a Garlic Press



## schmoozer (Jan 10, 2010)

What do you like and use, and why?

Thanks!

Schmoozer


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Mostly I use my knife. I was given a fancy Rosle (umlaut that o please) that's way overpriced but works well and is easy to clean.


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## wildboar (Nov 25, 2009)

Zyliss (plastic handle version). Only takes a couple seconds to mince a few cloves, and it's easy to clean.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

I've never understood their purpose.

The one time I tried one I found it cumbersome to use and a bear to clean. Not worth the effort, as I can achieve that effect other ways and not have another useless gadget cluttering up the place.


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

I use whatever's cheap and only metal. To clean, I immediately pass it under the faucet and wipe it with my fingers. No soap needed. The trick is to not wait - otherwise the dried garlic becomes sticky and you have to let it soak to clean it. 

I use it for various purpose where I need crushed garlic but don't want to take out the butcher's block and chef knife, i.e. for a garlic vinaigrette, for aioli, etc...


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## mamadelbosque (Jan 29, 2010)

My mom got me one that was labeld for 'sushi' - its all metal and works great. Theres no insert to pop out. I was skeptical when she got it for me, but I'm now a convert, and am meaning to donate my old ones to the goodwill


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## kirstens (Jul 3, 2009)

I use a micro plane grater


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

I have one of those, never thought of using it for garlic! I'll try it out next time!! Thanks for the tip.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Knife.

If I'm using garlic, I'm almost always using onions and other vegetables so might as well get the cutting board good and stinky before tossing it in the d/w.

Yes, the garlic presses do work, but for me, they're just a hassle to clean and store, I'm just as fast with a knife.....


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

*"I have one of those [Microplane], never thought of using it for garlic! I'll try it out next time!! *

As I have posted repeatedly, the Microplane, introduced 12 or 15 years ago as an innovative and highly effective wood rasp, was pointed out by Leonard Lee, the founder of the woodworking tool supplier, Lee Valley Tools, as a really great kitchen tool.

It's not only great with garlic, but with any hard grating cheese, nutmegs, and similar foodstuffs. They now make a wide range of kitchen tools, all based on their ultra-fine, razor-sharp rasp technology. You don't have to go to a woodworking tool store- Williams-Sonoma has a dozen variations of the tool.

Mike :thumb:


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

Use your knife. It's faster and cleaner. The funniest thing I ever read about a garlic press was by Anthony Bourdain and some thing to the effect of I don't know what that shite is that comes out of those things but it sure as he++ isn't garlic! :lol:
I used a Zyliss for a bit but it was more of a pain to clean and slower than a knife.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Not worth cleaning time required..Put garlic in plastic bag , smash with frying pan or meat mallet. Throw bag away /no cleaning, counter, knife or frying pan.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Oxo is very good at those sort of small tools. Kitchen Aid has a decent line out for a low price. Westmark is the king of small tools. Zyliss are OK. Supermarket generic do a good job. Etc.

You're catching a lot of flak about using a garlic press at all and it's worth listening to the thought behind it. Garlic presses didn't becompe popular for their utility. Rather so a housewife could keep the smell of garlic off her hands, because a few decades ago it was considered "stinky."

There really are more efficient ways. But, if you want a garlic press you should have a garlic press. They're only a few bucks, so _toujours gai toujours gai _and_ wotthehell wotthtehell_.

BDL


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## romad (Jan 31, 2010)

Knife only much faster and easy cleaning, use a drop of oil and some coarse salt for a paste.


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## schmoozer (Jan 10, 2010)

Ha - never thougfh I'd see an Archy and Mehitabel quote here - loved the series! Don Marquis' poetry and short stories are a nice experience as well.

I often use other methods besides a press for processing garlic, but there are times that the press does what I want faster and easier than using a knife. Depends on the cooking situation and my mood which way I'll go.

Schmoozer


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## banpreso (Jan 25, 2010)

anthony bourdain said in kitchen confidential if you're too lazy to chop garlic you don't deserve to eat it, lol


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## cabosailor (Jun 5, 2009)

Ya know, I've got a garlic press in the drawer somewhere but the only time it comes out is if the recipe I'm trying specifies it. Otherwise I just reach for a knife. Hmm, maybe I'm progressing. 

Rich


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## tyrocook (Sep 24, 2009)

I use a garlic press for one thing: when making tahini sauce (i.e., raw tahini, lemon juice, raw garlic, salt). The first time I made tahini sauce, I didn't have a garlic press, and just minced as finely as I could with a knife. But biting down on pieces of raw garlic in the sauce will definitely wake you up. So I got a press and have enjoyed my tahini sauce ever since. I got lucky and found a heavy duty SS Rosle brand for one or two bucks. This thing must sell for at least $20 or more new. It never occurred to me till much later that I could use a fine grater and achieve a similar result.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_and just minced as finely as I could with a knife......._

If you can't mince garlic fine enough for a tahini sauce I'd say you need to practice your knife skills rather than buying a limited-use tool.

Also keep in mind that if you mix the minced garlic with a little salt, you can use the flat of your knife to create as fine a garlic paste as needed.

Alternatively, a mortar & pestle does a better job than any garlic press ever made, IMO.


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## tyrocook (Sep 24, 2009)

I mostly use a knife because I usually only need to mince the garlic. But for a few things, e.g., Tahini sauce, crushed garlic is required and a press works very well for this and does the job very quickly and easily. To mince garlic with a knife fine enough so that it is equivalent to crushed would require an inordinate amount of time and effort. So when you need crushed garlic I can recommend the Rosle brand that works well for me and is very easy to clean. There's no model number on it, but it appears to be stainless steel and has a number of moving parts for easy cleaning, but is all connected and does not disassemble.

One other thing: When Key Limes are in season, and I can find a good price, I'll buy a couple hundred or so, juice them, and freeze them in cubes for future use (mainly my favorite, Key Lime Pie). But since most of them are smaller than golf balls, juicing is really difficult, time consuming, and tiring on the hands and fingers. But awhile back someone mentioned they had used a garlic press to juice Key Limes! I haven't tried it yet but, if it works, the amount of time and effort saved would make owning a press well worth it just for that. That would also make the press a multi-tasker.

One last thing on a more general topic: I found this site a few months ago and have visited a few times. As far as forums go, this is one of the best I have found. The depth of knowledge displayed by nearly everyone is pretty amazing. When you couple that with nearly everyone being very nice, and very helpful, even to a tyro cook like myself, I just wanted to mention my appreciation for the help I have received from those kind folks. I hope you have had a similar experience. So, this is why I feel like reciprocating with whatever knowledge I have picked up. Cheers.


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## dantheman (Feb 13, 2010)

After ten different garlic presses, the only one I will tolerate is the one from Pampered Chef. Just my experience.

Dan


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## wildboar (Nov 25, 2009)

I was a press 'doubter', as I had only used some crappy ones. But the Zyliss is very fast, and only takes a couple seconds to clean. And it also does a decent job producing a 'mince', vs just squeezing out the juice. I can process 2 - 3 cloves in just a few seconds. If I had the knife skills of a kitchen pro, maybe I could mince almost as quick. But for a reference point, it took me about 45 seconds to mince a medium-size clove with a knife last night. For multiple cloves, the time difference really adds up. (The resulting seared duck breasts with cognac-infused cherries turned out really well, though!)


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## dantheman (Feb 13, 2010)

Can I get that Recipe? I've been dieing to make duck for weeks and that sounds incredible.


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## wildboar (Nov 25, 2009)

from Food TV web site -- (the URL is too long -- you need to cut and past both parts):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...verts-brandied-

cherry-reduction-sauce-recipe/index.html

Also, just go to FoodTV.com and search on "duck cherry" -- the top one should be the one we made, and the second one is very similar. The sauce was great!


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## apolloeq (Feb 17, 2010)

i will Probably Use the Knife, Its the easy and fast way.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Dan,

While you're playing at the FN site, check out Ann Burrel's recipe for Duck Breasts with Clementine Sauce and Kale.

Fantastic!


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## missyjean (Nov 5, 2009)

That's a good idea! I recently bought a Trudeau and it is more effort than it is worth to use it


KirstenS said:


> I use a micro plane grater


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## nickorsr (May 22, 2016)

Check out a plastic tube/screw type garlic press, they are on EBAY as a "TURN-IT GARLIC PRESS"  easy to clean & I also use it to extract drops of juice from diced up celery for my Bloody Marys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## rndmchef (Mar 16, 2016)

Micro plane for small amounts....

Robot-coupe for large amounts.... It is amazingly precise and consistent.


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## steve tphc (Sep 18, 2012)

I once saw Martin Yan of "Yan Can Cook" wack garlic with the flat of his Chinese cleaver. Certainly it would be hard to be more effective than this but, while I own two Chinese cleavers, clean-up seems an over kill. A while back, while making a sauce, I tried the same trick using a tomato-paste-can bottom. First wack removes the skin, second wack breaks up the garlic well enough for cooking. If your using the tomate paste anyway, there is nothing extra to clean up.


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## devash (May 11, 2016)

*I use the garlic press from the Pampered Chef. It is easy to use and super easy to clean. I have used many other sorts of presses, but this one is by far, the best.*/img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Steve TPHC said:


> I once saw Martin Yan of "Yan Can Cook" wack garlic with the flat of his Chinese cleaver. Certainly it would be hard to be more effective than this but, while I own two Chinese cleavers, clean-up seems an over kill. A while back, while making a sauce, I tried the same trick using a tomato-paste-can bottom. First wack removes the skin, second wack breaks up the garlic well enough for cooking. If your using the tomate paste anyway, there is nothing extra to clean up.


I simply crush my garlic using the side of a plain old chef's knife; one or two whacks and the garlic skin is then easily removable and the bulb crushed.


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

[product="26505"]Kuhn Rikon Stainless Steel Epicurean Garlic Press [/product]
This is the one I have and it is very good.


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## morning glory (May 28, 2015)

I use a microplane as well but I think there is a difference between microplaned garlic and crushed garlic. Not sure what, but I'm sure there is! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif On recommendation I bought a WMF Profi Plus. Its horrifyingly expensive but its the last garlic press you will ever need to buy (it lasts forever). Its a satisfying weight in the hand and super easy to clean. A wonderful piece of engineering. It is WMF, after all! Not sure if its available in the USA, though.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

microplane is harsh tasting

I use 

1) front of a chinese cleaver - why dull your edge for this task?

and for bigger amounts 

2) mortar and pestle


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

morning glory said:


> I use a microplane as well but I think there is a difference between microplaned garlic and crushed garlic. Not sure what, but I'm sure there is! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif On recommendation I bought a WMF Profi Plus. Its horrifyingly expensive but its the last garlic press you will ever need to buy (it lasts forever). Its a satisfying weight in the hand and super easy to clean. A wonderful piece of engineering. It is WMF, after all! Not sure if its available in the USA, though.


With crushed you're blending the different layers which excites the flavour. Crushing the different layers together causes a chemical reaction that won't occur when you simply cut the clove. With crushing garlic there's a real difference in the chemistry as opposed to cutting it.


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## millionsknives (Apr 25, 2014)

It's basic potions. You should have learned this from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Sopophorous_bean


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## morning glory (May 28, 2015)

kokopuffs said:


> With crushed you're blending the different layers which excites the flavour. Crushing the different layers together causes a chemical reaction that won't occur when you simply cut the clove. With crushing garlic there's a real difference in the chemistry as opposed to cutting it.


When using a microplane, is that the same as cutting it then? I would have thought that is 'grating'. So - is grating also different from crushing? I imagine it is, in the sense that when you crush the garlic you are forcing the juice out and through it. Hmmm...


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## webguynz (Aug 1, 2017)

schmoozer said:


> What do you like and use, and why?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Schmoozer


I either crush it with the back of a knife or use something like this http://amzn.to/2vgPsnN It has a peeler with it but you dont need to use it as the crusher thing can crush garlic with the skin on.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Oh nearly fifty years ago my mother picked up the neatest garlic press, no idea who made it and I have yet to find another like it since. The holes were small enough that it actually produced a fine past. Absolutely no faster way to make a paste than with such a press. I started to make one when I had access to a machine shop but for various reasons it never got finished, pieces lost, etc. Too bad as this one was high precision of course, no oozing out past the plunger to be expected.

I will complete one of these days, maybe.

As far as the usual [crappy made] offerings go I am with most folks here, smash and mince with your blade instead, and for paste I just scrape the clove with the edge of a fork (good for small quantities of mostly fine paste anyways).

As far as paste goes it should be mentioned that paste and sliced garlic are significantly different the profiles they present. Sliced is sweeter and less funky in flavor, I only use paste to finish broiled meats, though I suppose sausage could go either way. Oh yeh and thinks like garlic mayo.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Roesle. Stupid expensive but works great easy to clean. I had a Williams-Sonoma gift certificate and id seen these before otherwise, I wouldn't have got it. But it is a good one.

For 1-3 cloves I usually do the knife. Five and up, certainly the specialized tool for it.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Holes way to big on the Rosle to make nice paste, and the "rectangular" cylinder/piston arrangement just isn't going to be tight enough for my standards (nose up and out there).

Heck, for a retail price-point of $35 I bet you could introduce a China-made unit done right. But from past experiences I have decided my efforts should really go to creating the next Pet Rock type of product.

3-4 cloves before mechanizing? Naw i feel, smash and mince [and alternatively smash some more] with knife till you have enough need that you can use the food processor, then the usual smash/bonka-bonka methods of removing outer skin and toss into the jaws.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I got one like this for change back on a $5. I hit it with a rinse, shake it in the soapy water and hit it with another rinse; < 10-seconds. NO ... absolutely nobody is gonna do it with their knife mincing it faster to the same consistency. Nope.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

A plastic insert plunger, nice looking innovation to say the least. The holes in this one also look reasonably small in the picture. Maybe I can go back to concentrating on more lucrative-potential projects now. You may have done it again Iceman.

Who's the supplier, can you get us a link?


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Mine may not exactly be the one pictured. It's just like it though. I got mine, give or take 30-odd years ago, at the grocery store down the street. Sometimes the simple grocery store down the street is a good place to go. Not just by My house, but all over general homeland. We're not talking rocket surgery here. I bought the cheapest simplest one on the rack. ... THAT WAS MY POINT. LOL. Buy the cheapest and simplest one you can. I was also making a bit of a wisecrack that even the really fast Asian guys are not gonna mince 40 cloves of garlic faster than me to the same consistency.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

iceman said:


> I was also making a bit of a wisecrack that even the really fast Asian guys are not gonna mince 40 cloves of garlic faster than me to the same consistency.


Well, given small holes and a good fitting plunger it's a good bet anyways. I'm still going to give more thought to the pet rock, and even my knife-sharpener, before considering the China_made garlic press again.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

I found the one my mom had, I'll post it when I get it.


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