Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/03/28/my-favorite-garlic-crusher.html
…
6 Likes
But garlic hands keep the vampires away!
12 Likes
Those rocker ones are nice, but nothing beats a hydraulic press in the kitchen for crushing garlic.
23 Likes
“wash”?
I use the side of a knife to crush garlic, too. It’s one of those tasks that really isn’t improved by a gadget, IMO.
11 Likes
I prefer the one with the custom garlic shotgun rounds. Or the one where they pour hot garlic into a fish tank.
6 Likes
True. Since I started to use a garlic press I have been bitten by zero (0) vampires.
26 Likes
I’ve found nothing beats a medium-fine microplane grater. Everything else doesn’t quite shred it properly (except for a blender, which is just a pain to wash up).
6 Likes
So, I have one of these. About the worst thing I can say about it is that garlic likes to get stuck in the openings (and therefore needs to be rinsed away).
That being said, a good microplane rasp grater is my go-to now for garlic. I peel, grab the wood end and grate them. Takes seconds.
Weapon of choice:
8 Likes
I change garlic mashing methods depending on my mood and / or the number of cloves:
- 1 clove – microplane. Any more than that, the finger-tip skin + leftover garlic decision ratio becomes wasteful.
- 1 clove for salad dressing – mash with a fork and some salt.
- 2-3 cloves – smash with knife and mince.
- 4-5 cloves – use my regular old school garlic press.
- 6-100 cloves – food processor.
13 Likes
But why use a multitasker like a good old-fashioned knife when you can have a crapgadget for every job?
4 Likes
that’s probably fair. I haven’t needed to do that many cloves outside culinary school, but definitely if I needed to do many cloves, and it wasn’t important to puree them, then the post’s tool would be pretty effective, actually.
Oh, so, so many close calls. I started learning to leave the wood end on just for that reason.
2 Likes
Pah! Sharp knife, and watch your fingers.
1 Like
I’m glad. Last time I used a garlic press, I crushed something that wasn’t garlic 
3 Likes
It’s very useful in case the vampires attack.
3 Likes
Mark Frauenfelder’s house must be filled with the most amazing collection of nearly useless gadgets ever.
15 Likes
I vote for a video tour of his gadget collection someday 
This particular gadget is far from useless though, certainly easier to clean than a traditional press.
9 Likes
Perhaps not useless, but unnecessary. The garlic press itself is not needed when there is a knife. A knife can crush garlic, it can also mince and slice.
I agree that a knife is easier if I’m just doing a small amount of garlic. In the rare situation that I’m doing a lot of garlic it’s easier for me to just use the garlic press that I already own than to work for the money to order a replacement and find someone to give the old one to.
1 Like
It’s far easier to use a press. You can put garlic in a press without peeling it, a task I abhor. I quickly cut off the bottom of the cloves and then throw as many as will fit in my press. It’s so efficient, I’ll never use another method.
