A little over a week ago I wrote about cleaning, mincing, and freezing lots of garlic at one time to save precious time on busy weeknights when cooking dinner. Doing this work is my best garlic hack. In the comments, Kris asked what brand garlic press I used.
It's a Zyliss Susi from the 90s. (So on Etsy or ebay, it's called vintage.) It's heavy duty, cast aluminum, and has been a power house for us for over 30 years. Before this one, I had a flimsy stainless garlic press that got bent out of shape. When my sister asked me what I could use for my birthday one year, I said a new garlic press. She sent me this one.
Ones just like mine can be seen here, this one on Etsy or here, this one on ebay. You can see the resale price varies quite a bit.
If something happened to the one I have, I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with a second-hand (Etsy or ebay) garlic press just like the one I have, spending up to $20.
As a cool add-on, in the package with the garlic press it came with this red cleaning tool. You press it into the backside of the press and push any stuck bits out. It makes cleaning the press super easy.
The drawback to this model is it's aluminum and oxidizes. Hand washing this isn't so much of a problem. But running it through the dishwasher will cause serious oxidation over time, causing pitting and corrosion, due to the alkalinity of dishwasher detergent combined with high temperatures. So we wash it by hand.
The hinge is strong, it always closes easily on the garlic clove, and most of the garlci is pressed through on one squeeze. After that first squeeze, I use a table knife to scrape any unpressed bits back into the base of the press and squeeze again. When I press a bunch of cloves at once, I just keep loading them one or two peeled cloves at a time into the chamber/basket and press away without cleaning out the press until the very end.
If you have any further questions, please ask.
That is a very similar model to the Pampered Chef one that sells for about the same online. I love it! It doesn't oxidize.
ReplyDeleteHi friend,
DeleteOh, that's great that it doesn't oxidize! That's the only drawback to the one I have.
Thank you for such detailed information. I love a tool that just does its job and goes and goes. I only hand wash all of my utensils. They seem to last longer that way. I looked up this brand. It's Swiss. You know what the say about Swiss engineering, precision and attention to detail.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, friend. As I said above, I've had this garlic press for about 35 years. It's one of those that just keeps working.
DeleteI have the pampered chef one I bought at a PC party in the 90s. I love it and it also has the tool to clean the holes.
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteYou know, I've never been to a Pampered Chef party. They sound like fun. I'm glad yours also has the little tool for cleaning.
I like the cleaning tool you have with this one. I don't have one of those.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI wonder if those cleaning tools could be bought off Amazon? It really is handy for cleaning out the little holes, faster than a toothpick.
Thank you for answering my question! The one I have would be more accurately called a garlic masher. I have found it easier to mince the garlic rather than bother with my tool. It's good to know what others use that they like.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteGarlic masher -- ha ha. Yeah, it's not a big deal to me to chop garlic, especially if I already have the cutting board and knife out doing other veggies. But when mincing a lot of garlic at once to freeze, I do choose to use the garlic press. It just makes the work go a lot faster.