Microplane Graters

[Louisa Chu]

I have the 35002 - Fine Grater with Black Handle - but for some reason I don't like it. I'm thinking of getting the original 40001 or maybe the 37000 Series - but not all the screens - with the wire handle. I don't like the black/Santaprene handles - but should I? What do you think? What do you like?

And THIS scared the hell out of me.

Thanks for your help.

[millivanilli]

ITA on the foot grater, yikes!

I have several, courtesy of DH, the gadget guru. He initially - upon my request - brought home one that is like the original one with the round black handle (40000 series, I believe it is). Later he bought several others, wider ones like the 38000. My favorite and thus most used is still the skinny one. I like it because you move the grater over the food and not vice versa, and it is thin enough for even the tiniest limes. I admit that the handle looks very cheap, but it is comfortable to hold.

[nightscotsman]

I prefer the model without the handle for the feeling of control, but if I'm doing more than a couple limes - like in a commercial kitchen where I might do 10 or more - the handle of the 35002 is much nicer on my hands. And I can still move the grater over the fruit rather than the traditional way with the grater on the table.

[Suzanne F]

I love the ones with handles (35000 series): I find them less prone to slipping than the original handleless 45001 (which I've been using for about 6 to 8 years now), and I still have good control. They clean up just fine, so I see no need to get the ones that pop into and out of the frames -- which worry me because I don't know what might happen if extra pressure is applied. (Probably nothing bad, but still . . . .)

I just received a nutmeg grater, which I couldn't find on the site; maybe it's new. It's a compact plastic box with a removable grater screen over a collection box, and a storage part. Bar none, it is the BEST spice grater I've ever had.

That "personal care" version is just plain silly, IMO. That's why god invented pumice.

[Wendy DeBord]

I bought one with a handle but it's driving me nuts. I keep planeing my thumb on .......I prefer the ones with-out handles the narrower area keeps my fingers and knuckles safer.

[NeroW]

I have the 37000 series with the black handle. I have only ever used one screen

[Louisa Chu]

Thanks all for your input. SuzanneF - I could have sworn that I saw that nutmeg grater on their site too. Maybe I just WISHED that another model would be somehow easier to use for big projects - I used to weekly do about 30 oranges, 30 lemons, and 30 limes. Nero - any problems popping that screen in or out? And anyone else use any of the other graters/screens?

Thanks again.

[NeroW]

Nero - any problems popping that screen in or out?

No. It's really easy, even with wet hands.

[Shel_B]

I was at the Microplane site yesterday, looking for a grater, and noticed that the description of a couple of items said "Blade made in USA." That suggests, to me at least, that the rest of the parts, and possibly the assembly, are made elsewhere. Does anyone have any more info on the subject?

[liuzhou]

The blades are made in the USA.The assembly is done in Mexico.

[lesliec]

I looked at mine last night. The two newer ones are printed/stamped with 'Blade made in the USA' as Liuzhou says, but no indication of where assembly is done. Maybe there is on the original packaging, but that's long gone.

The older Microplane simply says 'Made in the USA'.

[Bill Klapp]

Somewhere in Arizona, I believe. That info is on the ones sold in Europe...

[Shel_B]

I looked at mine last night. The two newer ones are printed/stamped with 'Blade made in the USA' as Liuzhou says, but no indication of where assembly is done. Maybe there is on the original packaging, but that's long gone.

With Liuzhou's info as a pointer, I did some further research, and it seems that the assembly is done in Mexico while the blades are made in the USA. Thanks for helping to satisfy my curiosity.

[Shel_B]

The grater ( http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312Sz19u%2BtL._SY450_.jpg) seems almost to be a ubiquitous item in the kitchens of every friend I know who cooks.  Even Toots, who cares very little for cooking, has and uses one.

 

So, my questions are, if you don't use one, why, and what do you use in its stead?

[paulraphael]

I do but mostly for zesting citrus. I like my crappy dimestore grater more for things like aged cheese and nutmeg.

[weinoo]

There is nothing that can be used "in its stead." since it grates in a specific way.  If I want something grated very fine and fluffy, I use one of my 3 microplanes. If not, I use a box grater, which my grandmother used to make potato latkes. When grating nutmeg, I use a nutmeg grater. When grating ginger, I use a ginger grater.

 

Also, what lindag said.

[CatPoet]

Not every one can afford to pay  32 dollar for a grater, does it make them less of a good cook?

 

For me 32 dollar  for me is  a lot of money, for example it would buy me     350 gram  fresh salmon,  3 kilo potatoes, 500 gram good tomatoes,  2 x 2 kilo bags of flour  , 1½ liter milk ,  1½ lactose free milk,  500 grams of butter.

 

If I want anything fluffy and  fine I have a  old almond grater that is ace.

[Martin Fisher]

I don't have one and I've never had one.

 

So how did the general population manage before the Microplane®?

[lordratner]

I have three. Each one cost $7 at TJ Maxx. I have the one you pictured, another that makes ribbons (about 1/2' wide), and one with larger teeth for more coarse grating/planing.

I have never used a regular grater that does as good of a job.

I imagine we managed the same way people cooked proteins before sous vide.

Edited July 19, 2014 by lordratner (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have never owned a microplane.

[annabelle]

Me either.  Box grater, zester, yes I have those.

[rotuts]

annabelle : youd love a microplane box grater, you would !

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Speaking of box graters, I should have added that I use a katsuobushi kezuriki:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Katsuobushi_kezuriki.jpg

[andiesenji]

I have several microplane graters and "regular" old-fashioned graters of various types.  For some tasks the old type work better for me than the MPs.

The box graters that have both fine and coarse sides are handy and I find the "ripple" cutting sides better for grating onions and certain types of semi-dry cheeses. 

 

The MP graters are okay for zesting a small amount of citrus but are time consuming when one needs more than a tablespoons of zest.

 

 I often zest a lot - several fruits, either orange, lemon or grapefruit or Mexican limes  to make citrus syrup.

 

I use a vegetable peeler to "skin" the fruits, allow it to dry a bit for a couple of hours or if in a hurry stick it in the dehydrator for 30 minutes or so.

Then I use a spice grinder to reduce the thin pieces of peel to fluffy zest, producing half a cup to a cup at a time depending on which machine I use.

[mgaretz]

I have two microplane hand graters (one normal, one from Pampered Chef that optionally stands up) and the box grater.  I never use the box grater and rarely use the others - about the only time I use them is for zesting a whole citrus or grating ginger.  I didn't know there was a special one for that.

Edited July 19, 2014 by mgaretz (log)