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Until 1990, the world shredded its cheese using graters that are, essentially, metal boxes with holes punched out that tear your cheese into ragged pieces. They’re hard to clean (chewing apart your sponges in the process), and easily mangle your knuckles and fingernails. Enter the Microplane.
This long, slender rasp made from sharp industrial printer parts was invented as a woodworking tool. Lorraine Lee, the wife of a Canadian hardware store owner and a home baker, first used the tool in 1994 to zest oranges. The Lees began to market the Microplane as a baking tool in their catalog, and soon the company began catering to cooks with its products. Chefs everywhere quickly saw that the Microplane could also be used to finely grate cheese. It transforms a hard hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano into feathery flakes.
The secret to the Microplane’s success is its unique grating holes. Through a process called photoetching, metal is chemically dissolved to create holes with tiny, razorlike teeth. They finely slice, rather than tear and shred, your cheese (or your zest). And they’re safe to lightly hold and run your hands across and sponge off.
It transforms a hard hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano into feathery flakes.
Now a Specialty Series has quietly joined the classic Microplane that will allow you to grate cheeses and other foods in new ways. As with the first rasp models, these are the best in the biz.
(By the way, one thing I’ve noticed in home and pro kitchens around the world is that most people hold a Microplane in the wrong hand and upside-down. They hold the cheese in their dominant hand and grate it against the Microplane, letting the grated cheese fall into the pasta—and most likely around the edges of the plate and onto the table. The Microplane was designed to be held in your dominant hand, with the blade down, and has a channel or slight concave to collect your grated food. This way, you’re grating on the underside of the Microplane, allowing you to dump your grated cheese directly onto your pasta—rather than the table.)
Better Box Grater
By Microplane, $24.95
The Better Box Grater is Microplane’s tool for finely and coarsely grating (think cheddar cheese for tacos). It looks just like the dreaded knuckle shredder of kitchen nightmares past, but it’s much more refined. T-sided, with large, 5.25-by-4.25-inch blade faces on each side—extra-coarse and fine—it has a chunky plastic handle on top and four rubber feet on the bottom. The Slider Attachment knuckle guard lets you slide your cheese chunk up and down easily against the blade without hurting your fingers or knuckles.
Rotary Grater
By Microplane, $24.95
Put your cheese chunk against the little cylinder, crank the handle, and out comes the cheese in thin strips. This grater is perfect for dinner parties: Guests can grate their desired amount of cheese without getting their hands dirty. No need to wrap a hunk of Pecorino Romano in a cloth napkin (the way they do it in restaurants).
Microplane’s spin on the rotary grater comes with two drum blades—fine and coarse—a plastic housing that holds the drum blades and the food, and two removable crank handles. Unfortunately, the ends of the crank handles are flat and fixed, rather than rotating. They can get a little uncomfortable on the fingertips. It might look like other rotary graters on the market, but everything comes back to those great Microplane grating blades.
Cooks Illustrated did an equipment test of box graters in 2007 and they were admittedly shocked to find that the Microplane Better Box Grater was not the best of the eight they reviewed (although the teeth were razor sharp, the plastic guard made shredding difficult).
Their top choice was the OXO Good Grips box grater was "an all-around good tool. Sharp blades, slim body, and a clear, marked...+READ
Cooks Illustrated did an equipment test of box graters in 2007 and they were admittedly shocked to find that the Microplane Better Box Grater was not the best of the eight they reviewed (although the teeth were razor sharp, the plastic guard made shredding difficult).
Their top choice was the OXO Good Grips box grater was "an all-around good tool. Sharp blades, slim body, and a clear, marked container for easy storage and cleanup."
I bought one and am satisfied, though the measuring container that snaps onto the bottom, which seems like a great idea, is less useful when you realize it doesn't catch the grated cheese that falls *outside* the box!
The Cuisipro 6 sized grater came in 2nd place (the 6 sides were "unnecessary"). Coming in last were the Progressive ProGrip Large Tower Grater and the Best Box Grater which was "Unsteady to a dangerous degree". Yeesh.
Mr Taster-COLLAPSE
Microplanes do tend to be quite sharp, they have a new glove out i found: http://www.kitchenaria.com/mills-and-graters/grinders-and-graters/cut-resistant-gloves/kitchenware_1205.html Also notice they have a new v slicer mandoline available so even more excuses to remove knuckle skin!
A neat thing about the classic microplane rasp without a handle are the grommeted holes at either end that allow it to be affixed to a hacksaw handle. Back when it was born as a woodworking tool, this allowed woodworkers great power and control when removing stock, and I've used this trick when grating massive amounts of hard cheeses.
As safe as the microplane can be, it does produce Nasty Cuts. I remember this from Microplaning 6 pounds of Reggiano...
I have not been satisfied with my box grater. I bought it for the larger teeth, and the wider grating area that I thought would make grating faster and more efficient.
However the box grater is clunky large; the clear plastic slider is always getting jammed, and doesn't securely hold in that much material; and since there is only one cover I'm always worried about things in the drawer banging...+READ
I have not been satisfied with my box grater. I bought it for the larger teeth, and the wider grating area that I thought would make grating faster and more efficient.
However the box grater is clunky large; the clear plastic slider is always getting jammed, and doesn't securely hold in that much material; and since there is only one cover I'm always worried about things in the drawer banging into the uncovered side and dulling it. On the other hand my short and wide handheld Microplanes are divine. The shape is perfect, and each comes with a cover--so I can just toss it into the drawer. The original rasp style I had trouble, due to the length, of rasping my knuckles or fingertips, that the shorter, wider style solved.-COLLAPSE
Sorry, but the Microplane box grater is mediocre at best. The best I've used is the Cuisipro, but it's not dishwasher safe.
I have the Microplane Better Box Grater. For some reason that clear plastic slider isn't working for meit gets in the way, and slows me down. So, took it off, and still have my knuckles. Even without the slider, it is a fabulous grater.
UPDATE: the new Microplane rotary graters DO have handle ends that rotate - so now our delicate fingertips won't be overly strained. I love it even more.
crlyhead - cheese, chocolate, zest, nuts, nutmeg - the list goes on. I even used a Microplane rasp to grate frozen raspberry streusel at El Bulli - I spread it out on parchment paper, baked it crunchy, then used it as a Zen-gravel-garden-like garnish for a dessert. And I too have PTS flashbacks to life before Microplanes.
We have 'em, love 'em, and now swear by 'em. The non-geometic variety grater (just the straight stuff) will set you back about $15, but its worth every penny to have finely ribboned cheese and chocolate without the bloody stumps.
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