UKH

Boring/random topic alert…

We use a lot of garlic and keep thinking we find a good garlic press/crusher. Then before long it breaks. 

The ones which you can just put a whole clove in without having to peel are the best, and ones which are easy to clean. There are plenty of these, but few which seem to last very long.

Any good ones to look out for having broken one again this weekend…?

In reply to James Malloch:

Yeah I've bent or broken a few in past years too - but the one I have now seems pretty indestructible. No idea of the brand or where it came from (which shows it must be quite old!) but the key thing is that it's made of thick solid cast metal rather than folded steel

In reply to James Malloch:

Like in soloing vs trad climbing - you can gain great spiritual growth by trimming back your reliance on pointless single-use kitchen items/appliances.

When I do a large amount of garlic I just tw@t it all over with a meat hammer and peel the cloves by hand. It takes seconds.

In reply to James Malloch:

Ours is by Joseph Joseph and seems very robust.

You can put a full unpeeled clove in and does the job ok.

Comes apart for easy cleaning

About £14 from amazon

In reply to James Malloch:

We've got an Ikea one.

Just googled it. It's called Koncis.

I'm happy with it. I put garlic in just about everything.

In reply to James Malloch:

My parents have been a bit obsessed with the Taylors Eye Witness one, so they bought one for me. It's good, sturdy, and lasted well so far (a few years I think). A quick google shows it scores highly on some weird review amalgamation site:

https://uk.bestreviews.guide/rated-garlic-press

In reply to Removed User:

I haven't got a meat hammer

In reply to OrangeBob:

Rolling pin also works...

In reply to OrangeBob:

Garlic press not required. Large knife, trim the ends off and lay blade flat over. Hit hard with your hand works a treat and no special devices needed at all 

Free yourself from pointless devices.

In reply to Removed User:

As does the flat of knife and a hefty thump. 

In reply to James Malloch:

I cheat and buy jars of Nishaan's Minced Garlic!

In reply to OrangeBob:

I think soloing garlic crushing would mean just squashing it in your hand 

In reply to James Malloch:

This video covers all you need to know - simple, quick and no additional utensils required 9just a good knife).  youtube.com/watch?v=GLSutj0rf3w&

In reply to Forest Dump:

I'm with Anthony Bourdain - if you can't be bothered to prep garlic you don't fcuking deserve to use it.

In reply to Removed User:

Life's too short to..

A) f*ck about when i dont need to

B) put too much faith in the opinions of a dead foodie

In reply to mutt:

Such as rolling pins?

In reply to Forest Dump:

Best go with "smash with flat of knife, remove skin and smush" then.

Ah. That opinion was from when he was alive.

In reply to Harry Jarvis:

And if you want to keep the cloves intact, just grabbing the two ends and twisting the clove slightly back and forth detaches the skin instantly.

In reply to Removed User:

...

Or put the flat side of a knife over a clove and give it a quick whack with the heel of your hand.

In reply to FactorXXX:

I guess you don't make pastry!

In reply to James Malloch:

I have a tupperware one I bought about 20 years ago. Not sure if they still make them so solid...

In reply to sjminfife:

Just googled the Joseph Joseph one and it looks the same as Tupperware's

In reply to Removed User:

I managed for a fair few years rolling out pastry with an olive oil bottle just fine.

Got given a rolling pin that was being chucked otherwise in the end though.

In reply to Removed User:

His rant about garlic presses was the first thing that jumped into my head. I used to live in a big shared house with a very strong kitchen culture and we had his commandments on the wall. I’ve never seen anything wrong with crushers myself but since reading Kitchen Confidential when it came out I’ve only ever used a big knife, and I use tons of garlic.

In reply to Route Adjuster:

Are you suggesting the 'laborious' method shown (that's how the man in the video described it) or buying it in a jar (his preferred method)?

In reply to James Malloch:

Another consideration should be a microplane grater. Takes about 10 seconds per clove rather than the 5 for a crusher but produces a more even result (other than lots of juice and pulverised flesh) and can be used on loads of other stuff - ginger (even frozen), nutmeg, parmesan, whatever - as well as garlic.

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:

And delivers more yield as you also grate parts of your fingers in there too. No bother, they taste like garlic from handling it anyway. Win win.

In reply to James Malloch:

Classic UKC ! James innocently asks about a new garlic press ( just the kind of thing I might ask ) and gets more replies telling him he doesn’t need one than suggestions . Why not let him be the judge of wether or not he needs a garlic press ? As it happens  my trusty Zyliss just gave up after I reckon 14 years  and probably 1000 s of cloves . I couldn’t find the same one so just bought a fancy zyliss one this weekend . I have to say at the moment it’s a bit too clever for its own good and I wish I would have just got on line and found exactly the same one . I’ll post links but the one I had was very simple and just what you need , the one I have just got has two extra bit that seem to make it harder to use ! 

In reply to mike123:

The one I had : https://zyliss.co.uk/products/zyliss-susi-3-garlic-press

the one I have just got :

https://zyliss.co.uk/products/zyliss-easy-release-garlic-press

In reply to mike123: I ve just read the blurb for my new garlic press . Apparently it allows me to crush garlic without having to touch it . My life is now complete . 

In reply to mike123:

I heard about a dog armed with a garlic crusher attacking a cyclist who was using fireworks to knock the quickdraws down from someone else's sport project. On ice.

I'm a Covid denier and I claim my £5.

In reply to James Malloch:

I could probably make you one in my forge that would last a lifetime but the cost of the materials needed would be significantly more than you could buy one for and when you factor in my time to do it the cost would be £100 plus.

It would also need to join the projects list so it wouldn't happen until mid next year. 

In reply to OrangeBob:

On a treadmill, surely...?

In reply to James Malloch:

I’ve had a Jamie Oliver garlic crusher for years. It’s really heavy and hasn’t broken yet.

In reply to James Malloch:

We use one of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garlic-Crusher-Kitchen-Stainless-Ergonomics/dp/B09...

All garlic presses are not the easiest things to clean and this one is no different, but it is no worse than any other.

Dave

In reply to Removed User:

No, but I assume that yours taste of garlic?

In reply to James Malloch:

I've got one that's probably 40 years old or more with a lot of use.  Cast metal (stainless steel I think) I suspect the manufacturer is out of business by now tho

In reply to mutt:

Gérard Depardieu crushes it with his fist, I seem to recall from some film I watched long ago... 

In reply to James Malloch:

We have a lakeland plastic one which has been good to use and clean.

In reply to James Malloch:

I broke our last garlic press(Oxo (not-so) good grips) so went on a far-to-long garlic press research journey. Ended up with a Fissler one that I don’t think will break any time soon. You may not want to spend £30 on a thing to crush vegetables though. It is shiny though. Shiiinneeeyyy ;O)

In reply to Siward:

The Alex Honnold of cookery.

In reply to James Malloch:

My garlic crush never breaks. It's the heel of my hand and a knife. A tiny bit slower perhaps than using a press but, I hate cleaning the things afterwards.

edit: Oh, I see a lot of people beat me to it. Sorry

In reply to James Malloch:

After reading the thread I have this vision of climbers that spend hours training grip strength letting loose on garlic presses and breaking the hinge.

In reply to Forest Dump:

I used to buy toothpaste-type tubes of crushed garlic when I cooked, saves washing a spoon

In reply to James Malloch:

Follow me (dont follow me..)

I've got my spine

I've got my Garlic Crush.

(REM's greatest break through hit that never was...)

In reply to Toerag:

Real men crush garlic with their ego's

In reply to James Malloch:

Love the one my mum got me one from ikea years ago

Much better than the rubbish one I had frin tesco 

In reply to James Malloch:

We had the IKEA one for a few years which worked great, then replaced it with a super expensive gefu one which was rubbish. 

Last week I bought myself a Leifheit Knobi-King as I liked the idea there was nothing to go wrong. So far so good, and by far the easiest to clean I've ever had. 

In reply to Green Porridge:

Digressing a bit from the mechanics of crushing garlic. Does anyone else sometimes use garlic to staunch a cut?

Dave

In reply to James Malloch:

Collar me, don't collar me,

I've got my spine, I've got my garlic crush...

In reply to James Malloch:

We have this one and it fits your requirements very well. It is a very well used bit of kit in our house

https://www.kuhnrikon.co.uk/epicurean-garlic-press?utm_source=google_shoppi...

In reply to James Malloch:

Wow, at the time of writing this has had more replies than all but 3 of the last month of UKC official posts. Only beaten by:

1) A mountain first ascent - which involved some controversy. 

2) A competition to win adventures which had some controversy

3) An ascent of Hubble which descended into grade and knee-bar debates.

Perhaps a re-name of the forum is in order? UKMoaning, perhaps

That’s a joke before anyone gets too upset

However many thanks for all the replies. I’ll have a read through the recommendations and order something later. I don’t really fancy just using a knife as the default option (though I do still do it this way sometimes - just prefer the crusher option).

Happy cooking all!