Garlic presses have long been a polarising kitchen gadget, but they may still have a place. Recipe writer Christina Soteriou of Ottolenghi Inc and author of Big Veg Energy says: “A garlic press is not necessarily a no-no, and there can definitely be a time and a place for it.” She adds: “It’s definitely quicker [than chopping], but I’d use it only when said garlic is going into a sauce, stew or braise.” In such dishes, the lumps that concern home cooks will cook down and dissolve almost entirely.
Chefs’ mixed views on the press
Critics have long dismissed the gadget. Elizabeth David, in her essay Garlic Presses Are Utterly Useless, called them “both ridiculous and pathetic”. Anthony Bourdain wrote in Kitchen Confidential: “I don’t know what that junk is that squeezes out the ends of those things, but it ain’t garlic.”
Jenny Chandler, author of The Capsule Kitchen, has no “abhorrence and disgust at the idea of anybody using a garlic press, it just seems to add extra work to your cooking”. She explains the hassle: first, you have to find it in a drawer, then “half the garlic just squeezes up around the sides of the press, so I’ve got to do it twice to get all the garlic out”. For multiple cloves, she says: “In the time it takes me to locate my press and load it with, say, four cloves, I could have just crushed them with a bit of salt on a board under a heavy blade.” Cleaning the press is also “an absolute pain”.
Alternatives and tips
Soteriou usually minces garlic with flaky sea salt “for the absolute best garlic flavour”, otherwise she “almost always” uses a Microplane grater or pestle and mortar. She explains: “The flavour is more consistent and mellow. Without getting too science-y, a pestle gently breaks down the garlic cells and releases a rounder, more even flavour, whereas a garlic press gives a slightly more bitter and uneven flavour because of how the cells are sharply broken down.” A Microplane falls between the two, though doing it by hand can be sticky.
For garlicky fingertips, Chandler recalls: “When I worked on a boat many years ago, the owner gave me a bar of stainless-steel soap, which turned out to be miraculous at getting rid of garlic smells.” The sulphur compounds bind to metal and wash away, and the same works against a stainless-steel sink.
Soteriou suggests a simple rule: “A garlic press for anything that’s going to be slow-cooked, and a Microplane, pestle and mortar, or minced for anything where it will be raw or cooked very quickly.” Chandler advises: “Never, ever buy ready-crushed garlic. That’s another business altogether and it tastes awful.”
