The Perfect Garlic Press

Disclaimer: I don't use a garlic press.  I'm a side-of-the-chef's-knife crusher person, but my wife (who is hands-down the superior chef) likes to use a press for various reasons.

I'm looking for a stainless steel press with good leverage, good overall design and build quality, and an integrated cleaner-thing on the back.  I've talked through the possibilities with her of straying from these metrics, but this is where we are.

The closest might be this Gourmet Easy one, because of simplicity, materials, and design.  But it lacks an integrated cleaner mechanism.


The Kuhn Rikon Epicurean (and all its rip-offs) looks decent, except it doesn't have an integrated cleaner.


The Rösle is overengineered, and not in a good way - the roller mechanism is completely unnecessary.  And it doesn't have a cleaner.


The OXO (which my mom uses) has a pretty functional cleaner mechanism, but it is a zinc alloy and the chrome plating flakes off, which makes it a non-option for us.  Also the soft plastic handles are cringe.  All the 100 others I've looked at are either not stainless, or don't have an attached cleaner.


Yes, I think the twisty things and the graters and the dishes are interesting-looking, but the Mrs. wants a press.

Honestly, I think if I could take the design of the Gourmet Easy and add tiny stainless studs on the back that could poke through the holes when you flip the lever around, that would be potentially perfect.  But as far as I can tell, such a thing does not exist.  I'm hoping y'all can prove me wrong.

Do you have a press you really like?  Particularly one that is all stainless, with an attached cleaning mechanism?

We have a Pampered Chef press that works well. https://www.pamperedchef.ca/shop/Kitchen+Tools/Food+Prep/Garlic+Press/2576
 Its not stainless but it is sturdy.

Tim Siemens wrote:We have a Pampered Chef press that works well. https://www.pamperedchef.ca/shop/Kitchen+Tools/Food+Prep/Garlic+Press/2576
 Its not stainless but it is sturdy.

Looks fine, but doesn't meet my criteria.  I will add it to the pile of "close but not a bullseye."

Thanks for pointing it out, anyway, Tim.

I use a micro-planer specifically because my hands are too small to get decent pressure on any garlic press I've tried to use.  

If you find one that works with tiny hands, please let us know!

Jay Angler wrote:I use a micro-planer specifically because my hands are too small to get decent pressure on any garlic press I've tried to use.  

I like microplaners, too, Jay.  They clearly won't meet my wife's criteria, but for my own curiosity: what do you do with the nubby bit of garlic left that you can't shave without giving yourself an overly aggressive manicure?  

If you find one that works with tiny hands, please let us know!

I certainly will.

This one is a slightly different take, and might work for small hands.  It sits on your counter and lets you press down with your body weight.

Beast Canteen Garlic Press:

I would love a perfect garlic press and will watch this thread with interest.  Garlic has so many different flavours and different ways of prepping them bring out the different notes.  Pressed garlic is by far one of my favourites.

I dream of the day when someone invents a ratcheting garlic press for small-handed arthritic people like me.  

until then, I have to put one handle on the counter and, getting the angle just right so it shoots onto the cutting bord, press down with my whole weight on the other handle and pray it doesn't shoot across the room again.  

Beau M. Davidson wrote:what do you do with the nubby bit of garlic left that you can't shave without giving yourself an overly aggressive manicure?  

Gift to the compost Gods. That said, with my small hands, I can get pretty close using my Lee Valley Microplane.

And wrote:

This one is a slightly different take, and might work for small hands.  It sits on your counter and lets you press down with your body weight.   Beast Canteen Garlic Press:

Yes! That sort of thing often works for me. To use loppers, I put one arm against my body, and use both hands on the other arm and when a friend saw me doing that, she immediately started copying me. Body mechanics is something I'm super aware of.

r ranson wrote:

I have to put one handle on the counter and, getting the angle just right so it shoots onto the cutting board, press down with my whole weight on the other handle and pray it doesn't shoot across the room again.

Have you tried one of those rubbery circles they sell for bottle opening, under the handle on the counter to improve the friction?  

If I was doing that a lot, I think I'd try cutting a groove in one of my cutting boards to stabilize the lower handle... you've got me thinking R! The microplaner works, but if I need to do a lot of it, the press would be much faster. I don't own a press because I couldn't get my friend's to work. I could likely borrow one to experiment with.

I know it doesn't meet your criteria, but I quite like the look of this one:

source

It isn't self cleaning, but being so flat, looks easy to clean under running water. The crushed garlic is supposed to be held in the bowl and simply scooped out. No moving parts, and you can put your full weight on it to crush the garlic, so better for those with limited grip.
It's reviewed on this video (which also include some of those mentioned above) at 4 min 55 onwards:

Mine is heavy cast aluminum; it is an older, Good Grips (OXO) one.  It is perfect except that it is aluminum: I try not to scrape too aggressively with a knife, because I don't want aluminum in my food.  But the chamber is extra large and because it is cast, smooth, and shaped to the hand, it has a really smooth hand feel and is very strong.  Has integral cleaner.  I do love it. (and I am a retired chef; the chef's knife method is more effective, to me, when I have to do a great amount of garlic.  But at home the smaller amount seems a breeze with the right press. Maybe if they are not making these new anymore, you could find a used one on eBay...

I have the WMF Profi Plus Garlic press. I love it! It's stainless steel and virtually indestructible. It requires very little strength to press, which is why I bought it. It doesn't have a cleaner, but I clean it by soaking it in water which expands the little bits of garlic left in the holes and then they're easy to brush out.
https://www.amazon.com/WMF-Profi-Plus-Garlic-Press/dp/B00008XVSQ/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=wmf%2Bgarlic%2Bpress&s=home-garden&sr=1-2&th=1

We have this one from Lee Valley - Canadian company I like.  It's pricey - $50.  Self cleaning actually works.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/kitchen/kitchen-tools/presses-and-mashers/mashers/111357-garject-garlic-press?item=HK331

Welcome to Permies L. Gudgel and Michael Lawson!

Who would of thought, this is the popular cutting edge discussion spot on the topic of Garlic Presses found only here at Permies!

I have no dog in this race, I'm team side of knife as well. Maybe if I could find a stainless steel one built to also be used as a hammer in a time of need but alas no luck...

Timothy Norton wrote: Maybe if I could find a stainless steel one built to also be used as a hammer in a time of need but alas no luck...

I've been told that every tool has a hammer end...

We have 2 garlic presses ( one which reverses with tines that push the garlic from the holes, sort of a self-cleaning ) and 2 graters ( plate type ) plus a rind grater and the standard mini-vegetable grater. But we use knives to cut and chop the garlic every time we use garlic.
The only tip I can offer here is how to get rid of the garlic smell from your hands. Grab a stainless steel table knife and wash your hands with soap and water while holding the knife between your hands, works every time.

Lots of good options out there if I didn't find aluminum to be unacceptable.  I have seen the garject doohickey, and it's beyond me why they wouldn't make it in stainless at that price.  Additionally, I suspect the plastic mechanisms will wear out.  

L Gudgel, the one you suggest is perhaps the most promising I have seen.  Thank you!

L Gudgel wrote:I have the WMF Profi Plus Garlic press. I love it! It's stainless steel and virtually indestructible. It requires very little strength to press, which is why I bought it. It doesn't have a cleaner, but I clean it by soaking it in water which expands the little bits of garlic left in the holes and then they're easy to brush out.
https://www.amazon.com/WMF-Profi-Plus-Garlic-Press/dp/B00008XVSQ/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=wmf%2Bgarlic%2Bpress&s=home-garden&sr=1-2&th=1

Recently decided to cull both the garlic press and the garlic peeler as unnecessary. Put the peeler in the "dupe" drawer as when I'm processing a lot of garlic it will still be useful, but that's only 1-2 times a year.

This was an interesting read though!

Tim Siemens wrote:We have a Pampered Chef press that works well. https://www.pamperedchef.ca/shop/Kitchen+Tools/Food+Prep/Garlic+Press/2576
 Its not stainless but it is sturdy.

I know your criteria are different, but just putting it out here for posterity-- I was given one of these (I'm also a smash-with-the-knife kind of girl) at least 20 years ago, and it is the Motorola phone of garlic presses. I may have actually used it as a hammer, not even kidding. It is indestructible, and if you're a monster like me and insist on putting the garlic through the press unpeeled (after all, if I have to clean the sonofagun, why peel the garlic too??) this one can do that for you.

Me three on the pampered chef model tbough I have no other experience to compare it to. The leverage is great and the tool works well. I use the flat edge on the end of the little "brush" to scrape off the extruded garlic, then it's easier to scoop out whatever mash wouldn't squeeze through, from the inside.

I'm moody and sometimes want to mince the garlic, but other times in a hurry I grab that press, drop the peeled cloves one or two at a time (which I peel first with the knife crushing technique) and 20 seconds later I rinse the thing and throw it back in the tool drawer.

So quick question, do people normally crush the cloves unpeeled? I always peel them regardless. Then the mash that won't go through the holes goes in the food too.

(I don't think it's normal, just what I do here at the Depths of Laziness Ranch)

Tereza Okava wrote:(I don't think it's normal, just what I do here at the Depths of Laziness Ranch)

Hoots with laughter. I just never thought about it as an option, but it makes sense that, if I'm going to use a press, I might as well use it for all it's worth.

I really like to beast one..pressing down makes good sense to me...does it crush most of the garlic ....I find some don't press tight enough and half the clove just sits there uncrushed....Beau M Davidson

Judy J Johnston wrote:beast ...pressing down ...does it crush  .... some don't press tight enough and half the clove just sits there uncrushed

I don't have firsthand experience with it, and I don't put a lot of stock in most online reviews. It looks like it fits snugly, so I would hope that it is akin with most tightly-fitting stainless ones, where there remains a thin smashed bit behind. I would be interested to hear from someone with firsthand experience.

I recently purchased this one.  Wasn't sure about it at first but with a little practice it works better than the squeeze type which always had waste.  Shave the end off the bulb and rock it across the width first to break the fiber. I get little or no waste and it's easy to clean.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QT267T7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Someone mentioned Lee Valley tools. I haven’t bought anything from there but as a Canadian I have repeatedly heard friends and family raving about some high quality, durable tool bought there ( it may sell online too but was a bricks and mortar operation first and still is.

I have gone through so many garlic presses over the years, often broken because I also pressed slices of ginger for my ginger tea (for illness).
Zyliss makes a good one but I don’t think it will meet several of the author’s criteria.
Maybe someone here should put all this together and design and sell an ‘ultimate garlic press’.

On a side note, several people have mentioned wanting to avoid aluminum. I’m guessing that this is due to the perceived link with Alzheimer’s disease that dominated about 30 years ago.
I was a biomedical researcher at the time (neurology and moliecular genetics) so I’d like to point out there was a tenuous correlation of aluminum in sticky plaques in brains of Alzheimer’s patients but absolutely no proof that the aluminum caused the condition; it was more probable that the sticky plaques accumulated the aluminum normal circulating in all of us (along with iron, copper, manganese, etc.) Thirty more years of targeted research and experts now do NOT believe aluminum exposure leads to Alzheimer’s. But feel free to avoid aluminum for any reason 🙂

So we ordered this Gourmet Easy one.



We got the option with the bigger holes, thinking maybe it would pulverize less while being easier to clean.

I do think it's cool that you can get the big hole one and the small hole one, and use the same upper lever.  

Haven't put it through the ropes yet, but dinking around with it felt pretty good.  Sturdy, easy to disassemble, the top part lets you kind of scoop out the cup portion through the open top.  

Will update after a few weeks of use.

Personally, I vote for the Kuhn Rikon, I've had one for 15 years, it works awesome!!!
More details of why and other uses below.

Beau M. Davidson wrote:

The Kuhn Rikon Epicurean (and all its rip-offs) looks decent, except it doesn't have an integrated cleaner.


?

I will note, I have broken (snapped in half) many garlic presses over the years, and I even broke fake henckel knife (at a friends house) crushing garlic with the smash method.  

That said, what I like about the Kuhn Rikon is that I haven't broken it yet and I don't expect to.  Super solid construction.

It is solid stainless steel construction, no rubber, easy to use, easy to clean with the flip out, and dishwasher safe, and made in switzerland.

You can press multiple full cloves (with paper on) at a time, which is a huge time saver when dealing with soft stem garlic tiny cloves.

It also smashes fresh ginger and and galangal like a champ, no hiccups.

Another note that hasn't been mentioned, it does really well on crushing fresh leaves for...  
I bring this up because it is really phenomenal to check the BRIX of various plants (crushed leaf juice)...  puts out the perfect amount of 'juice' to add to the refractometer.  
This is a really cool point to add to your hesitation of buying a good press.  Figuring out BRIX of your plants has so much interpretive value!  This is just a tool to help.

If you're going to buy a press.  I'd go for this one.  Maybe buy 2 just in case you want one for the garden.  big smiley face.   :)

Patrick.

Beau M. Davidson wrote:So we ordered this Gourmet Easy one.



We got the option with the bigger holes, thinking maybe it would pulverize less while being easier to clean.

I do think it's cool that you can get the big hole one and the small hole one, and use the same upper lever.  

Haven't put it through the ropes yet, but dinking around with it felt pretty good.  Sturdy, easy to disassemble, the top part lets you kind of scoop out the cup portion through the open top.  

Will update after a few weeks of use.

We've had this now for over a month, and it is quite satisfactory.  It is very easy to get the gank out of it because there are multiple points of access.  Built like a tank.  Nothing to break.

I expect this will be a "buy it for life" garlic press.  If you're looking for one, I highly recommend it, particularly the one with the larger holes.