Propresser Garlic Press Review #garlicpress

If you hate garlic presses on general principles, then just look away for a while.

I don't always use a garlic press, but sometimes it's exactly what I'm looking for. Sometimes I want mashed and pressed and squeezed garlic, sometimes I want whole cloves, and sometimes I want neat slices or a precise mince. They're not the same thing, any more than a whole boiled potato is the same thing as a mashed potato.

And, let's face it, sometimes a press is just convenient. Put the garlic in the basket, mash, and you're done.

Yes, I have knife skills and I know several techniques for chopping and mincing and smashing garlic. But, to be perfectly honest, knife-chopping one clove is ... silly ... particularly if I'm working on several different dishes at the same time. I can rinse cucumber residue off a cutting board and continue with something else, but if I've mashed a garlic clove, that board's going to need a good wash before I start prepping something that shouldn't be garlicky.

On the other hand, pressing a clove or two doesn't require a cutting board and it takes just a second to mash the clove right into the cooking pot. The bonus is that you don't necessarily need to peel the clove before you press. Then just toss the gadget in the sink, and when you're ready to clean it, rinse out the fibery stuff caught in the basket, and finish with a hand-wash, or toss it into the dishwasher.

Did you know that there are other uses for a garlic press besides just pressing garlic? I'm working on an article about it, but one thing you might not have thought of ... juicing key limes. It works. I've done it. You want to make sure your press is really clean because a garlic key lime pie might not be so good. But it works the same way as those bigger juicers for lemons, limes, and oranges.

So, if you're committed to owning a garlic press, you might as well get one that works well and that you'll like using. The Propresser from Orblue is super-sturdy, which is a good thing. I can't imagine what could break on this, or how you could possibly bend or mangle it in normal use. I even pressed ginger through it, and it worked. There was a lot of residue left in the press because ginger has a lot of fibers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I got the good pulp, got the juice, and left the dry stuff in the basket.

Speaking of which ... the basket flips away from the handle to make it easier to get at it from all angles to clean it. To be perfectly honest, I've never had problems cleaning a garlic press, though. A quick rinse to get rid of the residue, and then it goes into the dishwasher. If there's stuff that's stuck in the holes, I have a toothbrush that I use for that sort of thing.

Since this is made entirely from stainless steel, you shouldn't end up with it absorbing any odors, if that's a consideration.

There's more info about the product on Amazon if you want to read about guarantees and other details.

If you want to see a recipe where I pressed both garlic and ginger, check out this one on Cookistry.

Who's it for: Garlic lovers who also love gadgets.

Pros: This thing is super-sturdy. If you've got the muscles, you could press pretty much anything.

Cons: For as sturdy as this is, I wish the basket was a little larger. It's roomy, but I always want more.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.