I’ve had my mom’s garlic press since I moved out several decades ago. It is one kitchen helper I bring to Berlin in the summer. That, my peeler (also taken from mom), and my Global.
Never understood the snobbery, either.
3 Likes
I treated myself to a new one that Smitten Kitchen recommends:
Zyliss Susi 3, $17 on Amazon, works great, easy to clean. Gave my old one to my neighbor.
1 Like
I don’t mind my old one at all. It works perfectly.
Nothing wrong with instant onion soup. I love the sour cream onion dip, and the one made with fresh caramelized onions isn’t as addictive.
1 Like
I will use up canned tomatoes to make a quick sauce, but I don’t make large amounts of sauce.
I really like the Carbone sauces lately, which are now costing $12.99 Cdn (CAD) a jar (same as Rao’s, $12.99 CAD converting to around $9.41 USD this week), but that’s just $5 CAD more than a grande pumpkin spice latte or frappuccino so I’m going with the Carbone.
2 Likes
I didn’t intend for anyone to replace a perfectly good one, only mentioned here that my new one is a big improvement, love using a garlic press.
2 Likes
I didn’t take it that way. I love my sleek, non-bulky, easy to clean, ancient press. Plus it’s a family heirloom - a sweet reminder of my mom, who passed in May.
5 Likes
I’ve just started seeing those around here but haven’t tried yet. But if they’re priced like Rao’s, I probably won’t. I’m too cheap, I think. I have only tried Rao’s the once or twice I saw them offered BOGO. Even Mids pricing kind of makes me wince. But the kids like it.
2 Likes
I lived 3 blocks from the Toronto Eataly from Nov 2019 when it opened, until June 2023, and I started splurging on the posh jarred sauces at some point in 2020 when my main social activity was grocery shopping.
I hadn’t really liked jarred tomato sauce for about 30 years. My tastes started to change over the last 4 years.
In terms of cheaper sauces I like, I like the Cirio, Aurora and De Cecco sauces imported from Italy, which come in smaller jars, and suit my cooking style more.
I just purchased a Greek- style Kyknos brand sauce from Greece, which is also cheaper.
My favourite Canadian sauces are the Stefano Faita sauces which are $9.29 CAD, and the Farm Boy house label.
2 Likes
I finally bought a garlic press on my last Ikea run.
Washed it, put it in the drawer and havent touched it since.
Apparently a good purchase🤣
1 Like
Well, mine was free and I use it all the time 
4 Likes
Same here. 
when i need minced garlic, i generally use my microplane. but when the cloves are too small to grate, i use my ikea press, which i love because it’s so easy to clean.
2 Likes
Mine snapped about 15 years ago. A few months ago I picked up a couple from thrift for $2-3 and shined up (they were about as dark looking as Natascha’s above).
I did a test run of about a dozen cloves on this one shown below, branded Fortuna A.Ahner and “Made In Italy Under License” (stock pics, my phone and computer are no longer bluetooth simpatico), but haven’t used it again since. I don’t mind if all my garlic (other than when slices are called for) are mushed up, and I find the microplane almost as fast to use, and usually easier to clean.
This one does have the brush-shaped thingie to poke out remnants from the holes, but still I ended up picking at it with something to get it all cleared.
Based on the patents (hard to see in these photos) this seems to be from the mid-1970s, so it’s pushing 50 years.
4 Likes
I agree completely with you about the jarred garlic. Does it seem kind of weidly metallic? Because it usually does to me. Or some other taste that I can’t quite describe, like when there’s a whole lot of MSG in something. I use MSG occasionally, and don’t have anything against it for the most part, but I can usually tell if it’s the “crystalline entity” vs a naturally derived umami flavor.
1 Like
If I’m using garlic I use my garlic press. Period. Except when I infuse oil with it, then I slice it and eat the cooked slices afterward as a cook’s treat.
To clean, I run a knife along the outside and hold it up to the faucet and turn it on full blast. It knocks almost all of the leftover bits out of there. I think it’s a lot less hassle than using a microplane.
1 Like
Interesting about MSG. While that phosphoric acid (or lactic, whatever) preservative shouts out to me in jarred garlic, I mostly cannot detect the difference between natural (celery, mushroom, parm etc.) MSG and as-added crystalline MSG like “Accent” brand shakes or others.
The only issue I’ve ever noticed with added MSG is that I did some testing of steaks with dry-brining of regular salt only, and salt plus added MSG dry brine, and thought that the texture of the steak generally suffered (somewhat mealy) dues to pre-brines (dry brines) including MSG.
But adding a bit of MSG to steaks that had been pre-brined (dry brining, salt only) with the MSG laid on only as of grilling time, added flavor but did not create the texture problems.
But my results were pretty damned inconsistent, too - some of the stuff pre- dry brined including MSG had texture that was just fine.
I should go back and more carefully run these tests (I had too many confounders, including trying to compare fresh-only pre-brined to those pre-brined and frozen. Haste Makes Waste).
2 Likes
I experience jarred garlic as “oxidized.” I don’t know if that’s correct or meaningful to others, but it just has all its negative attributes concentrated, and the positive ones overwhelmed.
5 Likes
