Microplane Graters

Being a geek by nature, and an engineer by trade, I tend to be very critical of just about any sort of gadget, from computer-related items, to tools, to kitchen utensils. I like gadgets that are well thought out, are intuitive to use, and constructed with quality. In other words, I like stuff that just works. In Microplane graters, I have found such a product.

I had heard about Microplane several years ago from a co-worker who was familiar with the company history from his experience in woodworking, his love for good food, and his similar level of inherent geek-derived desire for stuff that just works. Ever since then, I have been wondering if the Microplane graters really work as well as hype suggests. Last week, I broke down and bought one after becoming frustrated with our current automatic food chopper, a poor excuse for a food processor, which we only currently use for grating cheese.

I bought the Professional Series Extra Course Grater from [Amazon]. I first used it to grate hard parmesan, romano, and mozzarella for a pizza, and I have to say I am now a believer. This thing just works. Like all the Professional Series Graters, it is constructed entirely of stainless steel, so there’s no plastic handle to crack in the dishwasher (although there is a small plastic bit on the end opposite the handle–time will tell how this piece holds up. If it does disintegrate over time, I don’t think it will hamper the grater in any way). It is a good size, not too large to be unwieldy, yet large enough to get long grating strokes. It didn’t flex or deform significantly while I was grating the hard cheeses.

The best part, however, was the function. This thing is sharp! It really is amazing how little effort it took to grate a hard block of parmesan. It also worked very well for the softer mozzarella. In fact, I found that it worked better on the mozzarella when I applied almost zero pressure and let the blades of the grater do all the work.

And then there’s the cleanup. There was virtually none. I just dumped it directly into the dishwasher. No more disassembling the food chopper, washing some of its components by hand, putting some into the dishwasher, and then later reassembling the whole contraption. The Microplane was a real time saver in this respect.

So far, I am extremely pleased with this Microplane grater, and I will probably buy more of them. They just work.

Tags: briancavalier | cooking | reviews