Microplane Gourmet Fine Grater

Product Information

Yes. “Graters are essentially lots of little knives,” says Slagle. “Imagine your knives if you never sharpened them—that’s the grater you’ve had for five years.” Unlike knives though, there is no way for you to sharpen the blades on a grater. So unfortunately, this is a product that you will have to replace as the years go by. If you like versatility, you'll love our popular Square Grater. This kitchen grater is a real all-rounder and can help you finely cut practically all your favorite ingredients. Our Tower grater with Z-Cut two-way grating technology has four grating surfaces that let you grate everything from fruits, vegetables or nuts to chocolate and cheese. As a practical extra, the Square Grater comes with a matching collection tray so you can remove your freshly grated ingredients with no mess. Getting a grater that is comfortable in your hand is important because grating is a slightly labor-intensive kitchen task that, depending on how much you need to grate, can take a long time. Box graters have such a sturdy base that oftentimes you don’t need to put much pressure on the handle for it to stay in place.

The sharp blades are made of stainless steel, the handle is non-slip silicone, and the wide surface area offers plenty of space to make fast work of cheese or chocolate. Di Oro comes with a lifetime warranty and is dishwasher safe for easy cleanup. This comes with a cover for storage, but it has holes that leave some of the sharp blades exposed.Some Microplanes have ergonomically designed handles making them easy to hold in hands that are tired or arthritic. Before buying, hold it in your hand and pretend you're grating or zesting to see just how comfortable it is for you.

Easy to clean: It should be easy to wipe down graters to push out any remaining food bits, as well as to clean any baskets or attachments. Although we looked for dishwasher-safe graters, our experts recommended hand washing to prolong a grater’s sharpness. A Microplane grater is an essential tool in the chef’s knife roll, and any chef will tell you they go through a lot of these over the years—a lot.As a chef, Renu Dhar has used her fair share of these tools for baking and cooking. In fact, some of the ones she's used in the past and liked are on this list.Flat graters offer convenience that other graters can’t match. By lying the grater flat, you don’t have to apply as much pressure as you would to hold an upright grater in place. Our tester certainly found this to be true while testing, as they were able to actually place it over their plate while grating. “It was incredibly easy to grate the hard cheese because the rubber feet provided great support/friction,” they said. They also attributed this grater’s ease of use to its length, as it was also able to zest the orange quite well. They did say, though, that there was a difference in the zest between small holes and the larger ones present on rasp graters, so keep that in mind before you buy. In testing, this did an excellent job with parmesan cheese, and it truly did glide easily. We also liked its performance in making small and large shreds of softer Colby cheese. Using the slicing blade that works like a mandoline, it created thin slices of both carrots and zucchini. However, it only did a fair job when zesting lemon peel. It would be fine for occasional use, but a dedicated zester might be preferred if a lot of zesting is on the menu. The grater also has a rounded, slightly padded handle, so it was comfortable to hold onto during our tests. In testing, we gave this a chance to grate parmesan cheese, but that’s not what the star-shaped grating surface is made for. This did a good job chewing through super-hard whole nutmeg, and the small storage space at the top could be handy for storing nutmeg in between uses. While this could be used in an emergency to grate other foods, it’s best to think of this as the nutmeg grater, and let it do what it’s best at. People might be averse to this type of grater because it looks like it requires more effort to use than your average box grater. However, our tester found this to not be the case, calling this rasp-style grater very easy to use. They told us that the handle is sturdy enough to hold with just one handle, and that they didn’t have to apply an excess amount of pressure for it to successfully shred and zest the food.

For the least amount of effort, flat graters work well because you can lay them horizontally on a counter and they should stay in place so you only need to grate with one hand—the Rösle Stainless Steel Medium Grater is a good example of a well-made flat grater. If you’d prefer to have one grater and one grater only, we encourage you to try zesting on whatever grater you choose—if it has a fine blade option, that is. We found during our testing that some did produce acceptable zests, like the Microplane 4-Sided Stainless Steel Professional Box Grater.

Reaching into a drawer can sometimes lead to unexpected cuts when there's a zester or grater in there. Some of these tools have covers that go over them to protect your hands—and potentially your little ones' hands. Decide if this is an important feature for you when selecting one. This grater performed well in our tests, producing even shreds of both hard and soft cheese. The big surface area of the sides and the wider, flared opening at the bottom came especially in handy while grating larger volumes. Since it is lightweight, despite its size, we noted that it might not last as long with heavier use (more than the average home cook). Cleaning was easy—both in the dishwasher and while washing by hand—and the rubber bottom is removable to ensure that no smaller pieces of food are caught underneath. All in all, this grater is a great value for the price. Comfortable to use: ergonomic soft-grip handle; non-slip foot; easily maneuverable; no need to apply pressure Nutmeg: We grated one nutmeg berry on the fine holes of each box grater and each rasp or zester to see how easily teeth cut through the hard flesh of the berry.

The one that’s best for you depends on how often you grate food as well as what types. Box graters are a solid choice for anyone, but we found during our testing that some zest better than others. We also discovered that box graters are the easiest for shredding soft cheeses, so if you frequently shred soft cheese but also want to zest citrus, we recommend getting a box-style grater and a rasp grater with fine blades. Based in Arkansas in the US, Microplane have over 40 years’ experience of photo-etching technology and were the first company to use the process for making culinary tools – which led to them making what they believe to be the sharpest grater blades in the world for effortless, precise grating to maximise aroma and flavour without ripping, tearing or shredding. Made from start to finish from the highest quality stainless steel in their own dedicated factories, Microplane graters have non-slip bases, protective covers for safe storage, and ergonomic soft-grip handles to give you a really secure hold. Each one carries a lifetime guarantee.Comfortable: A grater’s handle should feel comfortable to grip and not be too unwieldy to hold onto for an extended period of time. Ideally, a handle also shouldn’t be slippery when wet.