The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: deborah on December 24, 2015, 09:51:47 PM
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I have been gradually decluttering, and I am looking at my kitchen utensil drawer in despair. I have several graters and none of them are satisfactory.
Graters tend to keep just as much of the stuff as they allow through - especially when you are after tiny pieces in the end, like with lemon zest.
Graters are absolutely the pits to clean.
I often lose skin and parts of fingernails to graters.
Does anyone have or know of a satisfactory grater, or have some other method they use instead?
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I am curious as to this answer as well. Right now I am using a cheap box grater with the same issues you are having.
We were given a mandolin with a (large-hole) grater plate, but I haven't tried it yet. It would at least save fingertips, if nothing else, as there is a holder for the food to be grated. I am also interested in those little ceramic plate graters (typically used in SE Asian cuisine) for garlic and ginger (and maybe zesting?), which seem to have less waste. Also, I know cut-proof gloves come up when I search graters on Amazon, but that seems like it would still be messy.
But maybe someone has a better way...
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The ceramic plates are annoying IMO. I have a separate zester to a grater. I have a good box grater but I bought it years ago and can't remember where I got it, sorry. Some of my friends really like the Tupperware version.
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By a box grater - do you mean something like this http://www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au/Microplane-Cube-Grater-Red?sc=17&category=23769 ?
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Your link didn't work for me. Something like this:
http://www.betterequipped.co.uk/box-grater-stainless-steel-basic-model-7430p-2806
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I am not sure what the solution is. I keep my box grater around for doing lemon zest etc. Most other grating is done by my food processor (cheese, vegetables etc) or my ceramic grater (ginger). So no good ideas!
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For zesting (or for ginger or hard cheese like Parmesan), a microplane (http://www.amazon.com/Microplane-40020-Classic-Zester-Grater/dp/B00004S7V8) is fantastic. Clean in the opposite direction.
I have used a pair of cut resistant gloves (http://www.amazon.com/b?node=393303011) that are great for protecting fingers.
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I didn't like my stand-up 4 side grater but a friend got me one that is a metal grater as the lid that goes over a plastic box. It works well for me but I use it essentially just for cheese. No idea what it is called or if it would work for zesting.
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Microplane for really fine texture - like for zest, Parmesan, nutmeg.
But I think you can also put a piece of plastic wrap over the box grater to help collect the zest - I've seen this suggested on TV, but haven't tried it. Looks like it could work.
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We have both a microplane and a box grater and use them for different things. The box is for most cheeses and things like carrots and the microplane is for zesting citrus and grating parmesan.
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We have both a microplane and a box grater and use them for different things. The box is for most cheeses and things like carrots and the microplane is for zesting citrus and grating parmesan.
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Ditto. I have had a pyramid grater similar to this: http://static.amazon.com/BergHOFF-Studio-4-Sided-Pyramid-Grater/dp/B000W9J3PC?ie=UTF8&dpID=41QMsEoiF3L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_ but mine is 3-sided with a regular, coarse shred side, and then a fine side that I never use. My dad bought it for me in college after be became oddly obsessed with it when he saw it in a local kitchenware shop. It is pretty good as long as you have a dishwasher and a tall cupboard to store it in (really hard to clean cheese out of the upper inside part by hand). If I had to replace it I'd get a good old fashioned box grater that's shorter and easier to clean, but this one's lasted 15 years and looks like it will last another 30.
I use the Microplane for lemon zest and hard cheeses like parmesean that I just need in small quantities.
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I like the OXO Good Grips (http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Two-Fold-Grater/dp/B004VLYQHM) folding grater. You can take it apart for cleaning and fold it up for storage.
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Graters tend to keep just as much of the stuff as they allow through - especially when you are after tiny pieces in the end, like with lemon zest.
Graters are absolutely the pits to clean.
Cleaning solution is an old toothbrush.
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Ditto the microplane suggestion. Use it often for things that would make me crazy to use a box grater for. But a box grater is necessary in my kitchen for carrots, cheese, etc. The right kitchen tools make a huge difference in my willingness to cook!
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I have a grater blade for my food processor.
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I use a microplane (from a thrift shop) for zesting citrus peels and grating ginger. I use a rotary grater - the kind that looks like a garlic press with a hand crank - for cheese and I love it, even though you have to cut large pieces into chunks to run it through.
Carrots and cabbage (and whole blocks of cheese if needed) and bars of soap for laundry detergent go through the shredder blade on my food processor.
Things I own and NEVER use: the box grater and the mandoline. I hate them. I hate using them, I hate cleaning them.
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I like a box grater. Frugal Girl did a post a while back where she mentioned which ones are recommended by Cooks Illustrated: http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2015/07/box-grater-food-processor/
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Nth-ing the microplane. It's a revelation, the first time you use it for zesting citrus. For grating more coarsely, I'm still suffering through the box grater and haunting my thrift store for a flat coarse microplane.
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Box graters are easy to clean if you rinse them with water as soon as you've finished grating. I love ours. I wouldn't live without it.
And now that I think of it, while we have a microplane (which is great for fresh ginger), I actually use a zester for citrus. It's a bit like this:
http://cdn.cutleryandmore.com/products/medium/2866.jpg
I find it works pretty well.
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We also just have a box grater. Nothing fancy, but not a dirt cheap one that will rust out quickly.
I agree with Astatine, rinsing straight away is so very helpful.
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This makes me think of Mitch Hedberg's joke "They don't advertise cheese grater's under their more negative name... Sponge Ruiner"
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This makes me think of Mitch Hedberg's joke "They don't advertise cheese grater's under their more negative name... Sponge Ruiner"
Ha Ha!
I've just looked at my graters. I have one of the flat types with a handle. It doesn't work properly, as it has ridges on both sides, so you can't grate anything that's wider than it, and when I tried to grate a carrot with it, it only grates slowly and one way, rather than both ways like I've seen in advertisements. I also have a plastic one that they used to sell with Bamix. I originally had two, one for rosti, but the rosti one started shreding itself the last time I used it, so it got hoiked. The plastic one is double sided, and has some extremely small holes for the grated stuff to pass through in the middle, so a lot gets left behind.
I don't like the box graters because they are difficult to store, and scratch when you are searching for something else in the drawer. I also found that I usually needed more grated than the box allowed, and had to search for something else to put the grated stuff into.
So, I think I need to get a proper handled flat grater that grates both ways. Thanks for all the feedback!