garlic press

[Alex Eisenhut]

Is it me or is it a useless kitchen gadget? I found mine at the back of a storage box. I used it again. Half the clove squeezes up around the piston and pops out unminced.

Are they just wasteful? I think I know why I put that one in storage. I think it's going to recycling next.

[kite31]

Ours does not let too much up the side. You can always push that down to squeeze again, or cut the clove a little smaller. It seems to produce a flavourful mash, and is a bit of a pain to clean.

I never use it. I wield a cook's knife to flatten and dice. My wife prefers the press, but then she prefers a smaller (less suitable) knife as well.

[Psi]

The really old ones from the 80's/90's are fine and don't do that squish out the sides thing, my parents still have one.
It's all the cheap ones you get now that have this issue and it annoys me too.
Sadly no brand has any motivation to make a proper one again with tight tolerances because consumers don't care enough to pay more for it.

It's a similar thing with can openers. They used to last 10 or 20 years and now last 1-3 before the bearings are loose.

I would love a brand to come along and sell quality kitchen tools again.

[BrianHG]

I once saw a cooking video where a chef slammed his clever knife sideways over a few cloves of garlic, what remained underneath was perfectly minced garlic paste.  It took less than a second, 0 loss of garlic, 100% conversion.

Found the video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c6im4X8LX7I

[kite31]

That is in the knife again. The deep blade of the cleaver allows the squash-and-sideways motion he demonstrates. A classical western cook's knife is not that deep, so the western method he demonstrates is appropriate. A small knife is pretty useless except for slicing. Japanese knives, it depends which one you are using.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Hre's the thing, the usual borderline-stale dried-out sprouted and undersized cloves you get in the supermarket are, well, dry.

Try the cleaver trick with in-season cloves the size of big grapes, there's garlic juice everywhere... That's why I dug out that press.

I also use jarlic but I find it lacks flavor. It's handy though. I think the stuff in tubes is a lot better but haven't seen it in a while.

[BrianHG]

jarlic

Yup, I have my occasional 'lazy' month as well, then go back to the real fresh stuff and think, what was I thinking?

[Halcyon]

I use mine all the time. It gives you a different texture of garlic compared to knife cut. Mine's an OXO branded one and it works well. Little to no "side leakage".

[BrianHG]

I use mine all the time. It gives you a different texture of garlic compared to knife cut. Mine's an OXO branded one and it works well. Little to no "side leakage".

Yup, the more you crush garlic to a pulp, the stronger it gets.

Either that, or my vegan-friend who grows his own garlic, his stuff is so potent, it could easily kill you.

[the Chris]

We are using this one for five years now, still looks like new, works like new as well, but doesn't seem to be available anymore:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B0817PR1R1

There is hardly any loss and as already said, you can push through the residue again as well.
And believe me, it gets used very regularly.

[tooki]

Is it me or is it a useless kitchen gadget? I found mine at the back of a storage box. I used it again. Half the clove squeezes up around the piston and pops out unminced.

Are they just wasteful? I think I know why I put that one in storage. I think it's going to recycling next.

Like with so many tools, people buy cheap ones and then from that incorrectly extrapolate that all designs of that tool must be bad. Bad tools are useless. Good ones are not.

You have a bad garlic press. A good one won’t have those problems.

With that said, it’s not a tool I bother with. I use a microplane grater (a regular grater is NOT the same thing) if I want it fine, or a mortar and pestle if I want it coarser, or a knife and cutting board if I want it minced, or a small mandoline slicer if I want thin slices.

[Cyclotron]

We are using this one for five years now, still looks like new, works like new as well, but doesn't seem to be available anymore:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B0817PR1R1

There is hardly any loss and as already said, you can push through the residue again as well.
And believe me, it gets used very regularly.

I have one like this and it works a treat. All of them will have some fibers left but presses like this one flip open for each clean up and since the stuff remains attached you aren't hunting for parts in the drawer.
I admit that I have been a bad cook of late. I bought a big bottle of minced garlic from Costco and for my typical run of the mill recipes I use it.  Where it matters to me, I still press fresh.

[floobydust]

I was about to complain about my Ikea VÄRDEFULL garlic press.
The piston wall gap is too big and sloppy- a lot of the mash just oozes around it.
Then the holes clog with garlic film. It's pure comedy every time I use it because it's clogged by every clove, even well peeled.

"Due to a production error, identified after an internal investigation, indicating a risk of small metal pieces detaching during use and subsequently being ingested with food, IKEA is recalling the IKEA 365+ VÄRDEFULL Garlic press, black, from date stamp 2411 (YYWW) until 2522 (YYWW). Affected products can be identified by a marking of the IKEA logo on the upper handle of the product..."
"... affected product has been sold in Canada under the article number 305.781.89 and under article numbers 201.521.58 & 601.636.02 in other countries."

I have no date code marking on mine. It's made in china must include zinc casting shavings or something, maybe cadmium and some chromium as well 


I'd never buy a flat press (piston squish through holes) design again (clogs) but this is the vast majority of designs out there.
I see a new design, the piston has pegs that presumably clear the holes. Like the Swiss Zyliss Susi.
Probably will try one like that next. But these presses are expensive if you don't want plastic.

[Cyclotron]

I was about to complain about my Ikea VÄRDEFULL garlic press.
The piston wall gap is too big and sloppy- a lot of the mash just oozes around it.
Then the holes clog with garlic film. It's pure comedy every time I use it because it's clogged by every clove, even well peeled.

"Due to a production error, identified after an internal investigation, indicating a risk of small metal pieces detaching during use and subsequently being ingested with food, IKEA is recalling the IKEA 365+ VÄRDEFULL Garlic press, black, from date stamp 2411 (YYWW) until 2522 (YYWW). Affected products can be identified by a marking of the IKEA logo on the upper handle of the product..."
"... affected product has been sold in Canada under the article number 305.781.89 and under article numbers 201.521.58 & 601.636.02 in other countries."

I have no date code marking on mine. It's made in china must include zinc casting shavings or something, maybe cadmium and some chromium as well 


I'd never buy a flat press (piston squish through holes) design again (clogs) but this is the vast majority of designs out there.
I see a new design, the piston has pegs that presumably clear the holes. Like the Swiss Zyliss Susi.
Probably will try one like that next. But these presses are expensive if you don't want plastic.

Oh, I think I have one of those presses from IKEA.  I'll have to go rummage through the drawer.

[tooki]

I'd never buy a flat press (piston squish through holes) design again (clogs) but this is the vast majority of designs out there.
I see a new design, the piston has pegs that presumably clear the holes. Like the Swiss Zyliss Susi.
Probably will try one like that next. But these presses are expensive if you don't want plastic.

Though I don’t own it, I think I’ve used the Zyliss one before and it’s good, since it’s robustly made. (If it wasn’t the Zyliss, then it was one very, very similar to it.)

[Psi]

I got one of these things and found it faster/better than trying to use a knife, mezzaluna or garlic press.
You have to press reasonably hard if doing 3+ cloves at once. I don't find that an issue, but some might.
If you have good water pressure is easy to clean by just blasting it with water to clean out all the holes.
The holes are larger than the small holes in a garlic press that always get clogged.

The main issue with a two-part press style tool is the 'squeeze out the side' issue and the 'clean up' issue.
This doesnt have the first issue and the 2nd is easer.

Speed is also pretty good, you can scrape the inside with a knife to collect the garlic and then pull back against the side to dump the garlic off the knife to the chopping board. You can also slam it down at the end to dump out some of the garlic trapped in they holes.

[floobydust]

Have not tried - but that just looks like an inverted press 
The mesh is moving/compressing instead of a stationary mesh with the leaky piston compressing.
I would not want the garlic juice going on the cutting board.

Unfortunately almost all garlic here are from china and look highly tortured.
Really dry yet some black mold on the outside wrapping, and they are making roots.

Got some purple garlic (not from china) and it was super tasty. Better to use more of the smaller cloves, instead of fewer bigger cloves, for taste I found out. So I buy small bulbs.

[Psi]

Have not tried - but that just looks like an inverted press 
The mesh is moving/compressing instead of a stationary mesh with the leaky piston compressing.
I would not want the garlic juice going on the cutting board.

Unfortunately almost all garlic here are from china and look highly tortured.
Really dry yet some black mold on the outside wrapping, and they are making roots.

Got some purple garlic (not from china) and it was super tasty. Better to use more of the smaller cloves, instead of fewer bigger cloves, for taste I found out. So I buy small bulbs.

Yes, you are right about the juice getting on the cutting board. So that is one disadvantage,

And yes to the 2nd point too, china garlic is a bit odd. Much less potent and worse flavour.
I only buy the NZ grown garlic bulbs, they cost much more but are just better.

[armandine2]

...I have had a good purchase run of garlic bulbs lately, the other year they were very poor - no issues with my press.

Never pitted anything though 

[Psi]

Another reason to not by china garlic and by local garlic instead (other than flavour).

[BrianHG]

Fast way to peel large amounts of garlic.  Though, you need that blade 'prep' machine.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Lgi9Qp5Q-Fs

[twospoons]

The only one I've ever used that was any good was the Zyliss Susi 3.  Everything else either left too much garlic in the press, or it squished up the sides, or the handle broke.

[Mr.B]

I threw my messy garlic press away 20 years ago. I found they were a bit of a pain to clean.
Depends on the final result I want as to what I use:
Slices: Knife
Coarsely chopped: Knife
Finely chopped: Knife
Minced: Microplane
I always Microplane either directly into the bowl/pan or onto some cling-film to avoid juice on the board.

[sleemanj]

I have one with a wiper blade and ejector lever that my aunt gave me a few years back, it's a beast, I think it's a "Garject".

Put cloves in, squeeze, open, and press the button to eject the skins.  Solidy constructed.

As for cleaning, a quick rinse and run the scrubbing brush across the grating, 5 seconds.

[Psi]

I have one with a wiper blade and ejector lever that my aunt gave me a few years back, it's a beast, I think it's a "Garject".

Put cloves in, squeeze, open, and press the button to eject the skins.  Solidy constructed.

As for cleaning, a quick rinse and run the scrubbing brush across the grating, 5 seconds.

This one ?