Microplane Gourmet Fine Grater

Product Information

Although the Cuisipro is among the most expensive options on this list, it also boasts the best design. First of all, it’s what’s called an etched grater (as opposed to a stamped one). Though etched are pricier, they result in sharper, more precise tools. Plus, the Cuisipro graters exclusively have what’s called Surface Glide Technology, which reduces friction and increases the surface area of each blade, meaning each stroke results in more grated cheese, veggies, or whatever else you happen to be working with. 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. Our Multi-grater offers you the same level of versatility in a different arrangement: It, too, has four grating functions that you can use in the form of interchangeable grater inserts. Simply grate food into the food attachment and grate, slice or cut cleanly and safely. The Multi-grater is especially suitable for you if you want to prepare many different cuts and ingredients for a varied diet. Do you want clean cuts and lump-free grated ingredients like cheese, carrot, or even spices like ginger or nutmeg? For such comprehensive culinary art, the versatile Multi-grater is just what you need!

For rasp graters, you have to balance the grater on your countertop to keep it upright, making it less stable than a box grater. For rotary graters, you have to hold it up entirely with one hand and turn the crank with the other, which can become tiresome. This ultra-sharp, fine Microplane Grater makes light work of zesting citrus fruit or finely grating cheese, chocolate, nutmeg, spices, garlic, horseradish, ginger and more. The really fine cut also produces a much more intensely fresh flavour for salads, to garnish a dessert, or to add to casseroles and bakes. 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. This Microplane grater also features a dedicated area for slicing, should you want to slice up some cucumber for a salad or potatoes for potato gratin, and a bi-directional blade that produces ribbon-style shreds. Our tester also tried this grater out on smoked mozzarella and found it to work quite well. Plus, throughout the entirety of our testing, they never felt fatigued or uncomfortable using this grater, which is due in part to its steady base and ergonomic handle. Overall, our tester said they would recommend this grater, saying “it's user-friendly, high-quality, easy to clean, and versatile.” All four sides of this box grater performed phenomenally during our testing. Our testers were able to produce uniform shreds of hard and soft cheese on both the coarse and fine grater blades with little to no effort. Our tester said there were similarly great zesting results while using the fine blade, so much so that they told us they’d be fine using the grater as an alternative to owning a separate zesting tool. They attributed these results to the quality of the grater’s material as well as the size of the grating holes, which our tester said were larger than holes they had seen in other box graters. 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. Overall, we recommend the Microplane 4-Sided Stainless Steel Professional Box Grater. This box grater produced even shreds for hard cheese, soft cheese, and citrus, the latter of which was hard to achieve with other grater types we tested. It was also comfortable to use and the blades were sharp enough that our tester didn’t need to apply much pressure to get the grating jobs done.

The next grater on our list wins the award for the catchiest name. The KitchenAid KN300OSOBA Box Grater might not roll off the tongue, but it knows how to grate! It’s a pretty basic design, with three stainless-steel grating surfaces and one slicing blade. This gives you the option to grate, shred, or slice your food, but unfortunately doesn’t contain a zesting surface. You’ll have to buy a separate tool for that.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. Box graters are efficient when they are sharp, but after years of regular use, the edges tend to wear down. If you find you're struggling to shred cheese or hard veggies, it's probably time for a new one. 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.

Slagle says the biggest mistake she sees people make with their graters is not replacing them when they start to wear. “If you’re struggling when you grate on it, or the ingredients are grating in mushy mounds instead of individual pieces, then it’s time to retire it,” she says. The most common type of grater is a box grater, which are loved for their versatility because they come with four grating options (though some brands offer more). The next most common grater is the rasp grater, which some people also refer to as a Microplane (Microplane is actually a company that makes rasp graters). Rasp graters with fine blades excel at zesting citrus, so much so that keen home cooks often have these types of rasp graters in addition to a box grater. There are other rasp graters that also have larger grating holes that produce more medium or coarse shreds. Comfortable to use: ergonomic soft-grip handle; non-slip foot; easily maneuverable; no need to apply pressure The one that’s best for you depends on how often you grate food as well as what types. Box graters are a solid choice for anyone, but we found during our testing that some zest better than others. We also discovered that box graters are the easiest for shredding soft cheeses, so if you frequently shred soft cheese but also want to zest citrus, we recommend getting a box-style grater and a rasp grater with fine blades. 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.Looking to make some nachos or mac and cheese? What about some grilled cheese sandwiches? Whatever cozy, warming recipes you’re looking to whip up, cheese can almost certainly improve them. And, while you can buy pre-shredded cheese, of course, it’s generally fresher and tastier if you grate your own. Based in Arkansas in the US, Microplane have over 40 years’ experience of photo-etching technology and were the first company to use the process for making culinary tools – which led to them making what they believe to be the sharpest grater blades in the world for effortless, precise grating to maximise aroma and flavour without ripping, tearing or shredding. Made from start to finish from the highest quality stainless steel in their own dedicated factories, Microplane graters have non-slip bases, protective covers for safe storage, and ergonomic soft-grip handles to give you a really secure hold. Each one carries a lifetime guarantee. If you like versatility, you'll love our popular Square Grater. This kitchen grater is a real all-rounder and can help you finely cut practically all your favorite ingredients. Our Tower grater with Z-Cut two-way grating technology has four grating surfaces that let you grate everything from fruits, vegetables or nuts to chocolate and cheese. As a practical extra, the Square Grater comes with a matching collection tray so you can remove your freshly grated ingredients with no mess.

Learn More About How We Test Products What to Look for in a Microplane Grater and Zester Versatility 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.

Box graters usually come with all three of those options, and usually a slicer too, making them a great investment. However, if you do a lot of fine grating, getting a separate rasp grater may be a worthwhile investment. During our testing, we found that rasp graters often did a better job at zesting than box graters. People might be averse to this type of grater because it looks like it requires more effort to use than your average box grater. However, our tester found this to not be the case, calling this rasp-style grater very easy to use. They told us that the handle is sturdy enough to hold with just one handle, and that they didn’t have to apply an excess amount of pressure for it to successfully shred and zest the food. 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. Next on our list is another food grater from Oxo. They make a huge range of really high-quality culinary tools and the Oxo Good Grips Box Grater is one of their best products. It pretty much looks just like a normal box grater, but it has one added feature that makes it extra useful. On the bottom of the grater, there’s an attachable container to catch whatever you’re grating. This tool will come in handy, especially for health nuts that like to measure their food because it has measurements on both sides. Plus, it has a small lid on top so you can also use the container to store food if you grate too much by accident. Ultra clean slice: super sharp photo-etched stainless steel blade; no ripping, tearing or shredding means flavours are preserved and intensified