The reason professional chefs don’t like garlic presses is the same reason you should buy fresh garlic, not the big jars of pre-cut garlic in the grocery store; smashed garlic gets bitter and icky tasting if it sits for a while.
If you mince garlic with a blade, you essentially are cutting it to little chunks and not releasing much, if any, of the oils & juices. If you’re a chef in a professional kitchen, you do this hours before you actually use the garlic. If you press it (or even smash it, if you’re really particular), you release the oils & juices, and they will go bad as it sits and waits for you to use it. That’s why professionals prefer chopping it with a knife.
If you’re a home cook, chances are you’re pressing the garlic a few minutes before you use it. If that’s the case, pressing works fine. But if you do plan on letting it sit for a while, by all means, chop it, don’t press it.
Me? I like the press. I just make sure to press it right into whatever I’m cooking.
That makes sense, but doesn’t explain why Bourdain was specifically against garlic presses for the home cook, and described what they produced as “not garlic”. (As an aside, he was spot-on with what professional chef’s use that are absolutely not necessary for home cooks to achieve similar results.)
I’m with ya on it, though, I love my garlic press and will continue to use it despite what any pretentious chef tells me, because I know what the results are.
And I need to second whoever said “pastry scraper” I completely forget about that, but mine lives next to my right hand almost constantly when I am in the kitchen- I use it all the time for so many things!
And even though it isn’t really a gadget as in “as seen on TV” I could, but would hate to, live without my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer and all its attachments. It was expensive (to me) so I put off getting one for a long time, but now I hate to think about working in the kitchen without it. But I am an at-home wife and mother, cooking 2 or 3 full meals per day (most days) for a family of 6 (sometimes more) so your mileage will definitely vary.
Oh no, I didn’t even think of that. I put the cloves into the press as part of my “mise” work, then press right into the cooking food, cut any excess off with a little knife. It’s easier that way, no need to handle the slightly sticky garlic bits.
Everyone is totally missing why garlic presses are so highly rated! It’s because they’re FUN! Squeezing something with all your might until it sploots out through little holes? It’s a cross between popping…well, you know…and extruding Play-Doh! Awesome!
I pooh-poohed my sister’s Toss & Chop scissors. Then she bought me a pair. Now I can’t live without them.
My vacuum sealer has saved me a fortune in cheese. (I also use it to split up bulk buys of meat, but when you factor in the price of bags the savings are probably debatable.)
Another vote for the Magic Bullet (although I need to replace the cross-blade attachment - the rubber on the bottom of the casing has worn down and now it just spins around without the blades spinning).
I don’t currently own one, but my mom had an awesome hand-held hard cheese grater. It makes grating parmesan and other hard cheeses a breeze:
I bought a Susi garlic press many years ago upon the very strong recommendation of the Frugal Gourmet and I have never regretted it. It’s strong, well-built, extrudes all the garlic from the clove, and comes with a handy red plastic device to clean out all the holes at one time, although I usually just scoop out the skin with a fingertip.
Food dehydrator. I bought one off an infomercial and I love it. Although I didn’t use it last year, I normally dry out apple slices and my hop harvest in it. Erm, not at the same time though.
I use my dehydrator once a week or so. I’ve made Jerky in a hundred flavors, apples, peaches, zucchini chips, banana chips, strawberries, pears, and a bunch of different herbs. This spring, I’m planing a good-sized herb garden, and part of that reason is because I know I can save almost everything using the dehydrator.
Huh. I have a garlic press, but don’t use it any more - I always found it a pain to use and clean (it’s likely that mine’s not a very good one). Instead, I use a little lidded container to mince up my garlic. It’s got little ridges in both the lid and the bottom - pop in your garlic, put on the lid, then rotate the two pieces around to mince it up. Works a treat! Can’t remember the name though. Here, I’ll amazon it: it’s thisone. (I don’t remember mine costing that much, but maybe it did.)
I think I vaguely recall some chef or other saying that using a press pushes out so much of the liquid in the garlic, and can lead to it tasting bitter (or some such). (Maybe they mentioned this in Cook’s Illustrated or something.) However, ISTR that it’s only noticeable if you have a pretty highly developed palate - I’d certainly never notice the difference, I don’t think.
Though he’s got a few blind spots on that, if you pay attention. If I ever meet him in person, I plan to take him to task and ask him what else he uses his coffee grinder (the big burr grinder, not the little blade grinder he uses for spices, etc.), his 2-tablespoon measuring spoon, and his espresso machine for.
Should have added the mortar and pestle. It’s amazing how you can get actual flavor from dried spices with one of these! LOL!
About once a week I dump a bunch of herbs and pepper into it, then powder them and sprinkle them over a plate of olive oil. Dip french or italian bread and Oooooh, Ahhh!
I never use dried herbs without crushing them now.
But that’s like saying an oven can only bake or a knife can only cut.
The “anti-unitasker” philosophy isn’t really about only having multipurpose tools, it’s about not using unitaskers when there’s a multipurpose tool that does the job as well or better.
I’ll grant you on the two-tbsp measure, though. Then again, I have one I got for free with a coffee bean holder.
Then again, I have one I got for free with a coffee bean holder.