Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I use a microplane grater for garlic, it is super easy and fast. I hate garlic presses, none of the ones I've tried worked very well and were a pain to clean.

Me too. And it really hurt!

I am all for pressing garlic, why do people not like it? Sometimes there is garlic juice that comes out of the clove and into the food while pressing. Awesome!

fork a garlic press

It worked on mine! but came out as mostly juice with a few tiny bits of ginger. The rest stayed behind in the press, so it wasn't a very good method.

But you know what the garlic press is best for? Those tiny pieces of garlic in the center of the clove. I hate peeling those! and you have to use a bunch of them to equal the amount of garlic the recipe calls for, so I just pop them into the press two or three at a time.

Mincing is awesome, I love the noise it makes and how it makes me feel like a SUPERCHEF

Some cooks are snobby about the press, but honestly, if you are cooking from scratch everyday and you work, why not make life easier? I have a really nice press that I bought about 15 years ago that is still going strong. I put it in the dishwasher in the utensil rack and it is clean. Hand washing is also easy. If you have a shiitake press, I suggest trying a different one before you give up on it.

Reviving this old topic because the PPK just can't get enough garlic. Actually, it's because I was in a cooking store on the weekend, one of those frou-frou ones where I think that most of the customers like the idea of cooking more than they actually like cooking, and I saw a garlic press that cost $60. I looked at it carefully and could not see how it could possibly cost that much - who would buy that?

I have been using a garlic mincer from Lee Valley (http://tinyurl.com/cjlap7f) for the past year and I like it a lot. The instructions say to use a butter knife to remove the garlic but I use a little silicon pastry brush I got at the dollar store. It is very easy to clean. I can put about 3-4 cloves in there at a time.

I have that thing too, love it! It doesn't mince perfectly but still better than I can do with a knife in that amount of time. I found out about it on the PPK in some other thread.

I almost always use a press. But, you need to have a good one that will press ALL of the garlic. Then I just soak it in a cup or water and it cleans easily. I really hated pressing garlic until I got a decent press.

The only time I don't is if a recipe calls for chopped garlic, sliced garlic, or if I am roasting something and want little chips of garlic (especially when roasting veggies. yum)

I have a Pampered Chef press. It's awesome and very easy to use. No peeling required either. And it comes with a cleaning tool.

I just got this awesome joseph joseph garlic rocker a couple months ago:

It works like a charm! I always preferred to mince before but this thing rules. The garlic comes out really easily so it is super easy to clean.

i have a garlic press and i never use it because i dont like it.
i always peel the garlic before pressing it but it still leaves like a big smushed skin of garlic in the press when im done and i feel like it's wasting garlic.
it also requires more strength to use than i appear to have.

i dont like cleaning it either.

so i just mince even though that is kind of a pain too since i like A LOT of garlic in my food.

That joseph contraption looks forking RAD!

My garlic press kinda half-works, but that's good enough for me. I press, then mince what's left of the cloves; it's still faster for me than mincing from scratch.

maybe you just have a shitty press? (no offence) I hated using my old one, then I got a new one, spent about $20 on it, and there is NO garlic left behind! it minces every last bit. And it is easier to clean. And easy to use.

Garlic presses and microplanes are 2 things I no longer cheap out on. I find the higher priced/higher quality ones make a huge difference.

But if you don't have a good one, a morter and pestle work well on garlic and ginger too, especially for curries and stuff.

if there's not supposed to be like a skin of garlic left behind then i probably do have a shitty one. i dont remember how much i paid for it but probably not more than $10

This one only leaves the peel itself behind if you don't peel it first. It says you can use it for ginger too -- I haven't tried it because I just grate my ginger.
https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/p ... ords=press

And if you prefer to peel it first but don't want it under your nails: http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/pr ... &catId=123

(No, I'm not a consultant, I just use and love them.)

I used to always press garlic, but figured if I had to peel it first (which I think you do, or you lose a lot of garlic), then I might as well just mince it myself...

BUT:

Then in cooking school I learned to chop the garlic up fairly fine, sprinkle with salt, and then rub it round and round, back and forth with the side of a knife - it totally brings out all the liquid, the flavour, and the wonderfulness, whilst making it smooth and basically pressed.

And I only ever cook garlic for a minute or so on a low heat, pop it in last before the we ingredients! Burnt garlic is horrible and seems to steal the flavour from other things.

I never press garlic as it is a pain to clean the garlic press thingee! I usually just mince it myself.

ok. when people say they peel garlic, are you talking about the papery stuff, or the wet peel that's left over after pressing? (cause i peel the paper off, and still have a bit of membrane left in my press, and i have a pretty good one, i think. it's a zyliss that i've had for decades.)

are there actually garlic presses that will process the membrane as well?

pressing it is waaaaay less messy than chopping it on a board. ok, maybe if you were already chopping other stuff up, but if that's the only thing you need to chop, there are more things to clean. as long as you rinse the press as soon as you're done, it's really not that bad. dig the membrane out and then hold the flat bit right up against the faucet and let water shoot backwards through it. easy peasy.

mine was expensive and *says* it will process the outery papery skin, but it doesn't. And I just figure if I have to smash and peel first, it's faster to chop!

I like the looks of this one. I need a new press, I only mince if I need more than three cloves, then I'll use my double-bladed mezzaluna. My press was a cheap one and it's gotten rusty where the 'basket' part sits in the handle. The handle also has plastic covers that gunk gets in and is hard to clean.

Ooooh, I want one. I'mma have me a little talk with Santa.

I use the press now and then, but usually I just bash and mince.

Am I the only one who actually enjoys digging out the garlic bits from the garlic press with a pointy knife when I need to clean it? I have a very cheap one after the Pampered Chef one started flaking, and I lost the cleaning part.

I also have a Good Grips garlic press which was a total waste of money. You could press till you're blue in the face, and nothing will come out.

My press is not strong enough to really press garlic without the handle detaching. I got it very cheap somewhere and while it does its job, it also needs careful handling to avoid damages.
I peel the papery skin and then am usually left with the membrane inside the press. I usually use the press only for certain things, but I mostly chop the garlic really small.

this is my issue. i peel the papery outside off the garlic then press it and it has like a wet membrane type of something left in the press.
ive never thought of trying to peel more than just the paper part off and since that is such a pain to begin with im not sure i would bother with extra peeling if that is even a thing.