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’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.

The grater is dishwasher safe, and we ran it though the dishwasher multiple times during testing. The box should be hand washed, but if it’s only used for storage it shouldn’t need a lot of cleaning. 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. One of their many possibilities is to grate various ingredients so that they can be incorporated into dishes, served as garnishes or added as toppings. The typical arrangement of a kitchen grater’s fine blades ensures that, for example, cheese can be shredded or a whole cucumber can be finely sliced – all achieved with very simple, effortless hand movements thanks to our graters. Whether you need to slice, grate or even sprinkle cheese, you can do it with our versatile kitchen graters.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. We tested 22 different graters in our Lab and evaluated them on ease of use, performance, cleaning, and value. Our first test involved examining each grater out of the box, noting its versatility, size, weight, and whether or not it was comfortable to hold, among other features. For box- and rasp-style graters, we tested their grating abilities with hard cheese (parmesan), soft cheese (mozzarella), and citrus (an orange). We took into account how much effort it took to grate each food type, how effective the grater was at shredding, and the quality, size, and texture of the grated food. For rotary-style graters, we performed the same tests with just the cheeses. The soft cheese, on the other hand, didn’t fare as well. We were able to produce some shreds but doing so required more pressure. Plus, the soft cheese did start to break off while grating. Still, our tester said they’d recommend this greater for its “smart design, solid performance, and high-quality build.” 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.

Blade types include coarse (largest), medium (between coarse and fine), fine, and a slicer. “A simple general rule of thumb is a coarse blade grater is best for any ingredient, like cheese or a vegetable, that’s going to be cooked—think hash browns, zucchini fritters, mozzarella or cheddar cheese that should melt while cooking,” says Flores. Pecorino: We shredded 1 ounce of Pecorino using the fine holes on each box grater, and using each rasp grater or zester. Again, we looked for undesirable crumbling, shearing, and messiness, as well as uniform shred size and shape. Soft cheese was not as easy to grate, as it required a lot more pressure to obtain shreds. Granted, this rotary grater was not designed for soft cheeses, so this wasn’t surprising. This rotary grater comes with two blades and convenient storage tubes that you can attach to your grater while grating. Keep in mind that this grater style does require extra elbow grease to operate, as you can’t rest it on a countertop while grating. People who meal prep will really appreciate this convenient box grater from KitchenAid. The grater comes with a compartment that you can attach to the grater while shredding, so you can transport it directly to the fridge without having to pull out an additional food storage container. The little compartment can hold between a half a cup and two cups, giving you enough cheese to sprinkle over a salad, or cover a small pizza.In testing, this managed to grate parmesan, but it wasn’t as easy as some others. However, it did a fine job with our softer Colby cheese. Slicing carrots wasn’t particularly effective, but it did a fine job slicing zucchini. We wouldn’t use this for zesting citrus unless we had no other options. 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.

We also asked our testers to note if there were any features or additional accessories that made the grating experience better. After we completed these tests, we cleaned each grater and rated them on how easy they were to clean, including evaluating how difficult it was to get food out of the holes in the blades. We used all this information to come up with the best graters. 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. Sturdy: A good grater should sit firmly on a counter, cutting board, or plate to ensure safe grating. A stable base on box graters or a non-slip edge for paddle and flat graters makes that easier. Graters should also be solidly built, with metal sides that don’t bend under pressure from hard vegetables. Spices start losing their potency and aroma the moment they're ground, meaning ground nutmeg and cinnamon from the grocery store don't have the same wow factor that freshly ground spices do. Take your homemade eggnog and pumpkin spice latte to the next level by zesting these spices at home. Enter the Norpro grater. This small but sturdy grater features a non-slip rubber guard to keep it from slipping. Box graters are usually the de facto choice for many home cooks thanks to their versatility and stability. We found this box grater to be exactly those things, and due to its performance, believe that it will last a long while. This can be credited to its sturdy material and impressive sharpness. Our tester told us that the blades on this grater are so sharp that they would recommend people get cut-resistant gloves to prevent injuring their fingers (our tester did). This is good news though, because graters, like knives, dull overtime.Who it isn’t for: People who want a grater that comes with a storage base and compartment for shredded food. This zester's rubber foot gives it some traction when you brace it against the counter to add a little more muscle to your zesting. This worked well for both our hard and soft cheeses, and we liked that we could choose large or small shreds as well as ribbon cuts. This also did a good job zesting. This has two options for slicing, for either straight or wavy cuts. Both worked well for zucchini but not as well for carrots.