The fourth side of a box grater has a "little-known use" that many home cooks are only now discovering, according to a Reddit thread that has sparked surprising responses.
Box graters are a kitchen staple, but while most people know which side they reach for, another part of the utensil continues to bewilder home cooks. The larger holes are ideal for shredding cheese, while the blades can slice vegetables with ease. The finer side is often reserved for harder cheeses, but the final surface is frequently left untouched, with many unsure what it's actually meant to do.
Why does it have four sides?
Featuring sharp, raised spikes, it can prove tricky to clean and may even leave you wondering if it's worthwhile using at all. Puzzled, one home cook turned to Reddit to enquire what the mysterious side is actually designed for, encouraging others to reveal their surprising responses.
The Reddit user confessed they had been cooking for decades without ever discovering a purpose for the frequently overlooked side. They said: "There's that fourth side. The one that makes it impossible to hand wash the thing without drawing blood. The side that's just covered with sharp pointy spikes that do... what, exactly?"
The user continued to question whether they were overlooking a handy kitchen technique or whether another implement simply performed the task more effectively.
What is the fourth side for?
The spiky side is intended to break ingredients down into an extremely fine texture, often resembling a paste rather than the distinct shreds created by the other sides. That said, it's not always the best choice for every task.
Lifehacker points out that the sharp teeth can capture lemon zest rather than releasing it cleanly, making the grated peel tricky to gather and the grater fiddly to clean. The side can instead prove handy for pulping tomatoes for sauces or breaking down hard cheeses. It might also come in useful when preparing ingredients such as garlic and ginger, depending on the consistency you're after.
'Basically anything you want more of a paste or powder'
Fellow Reddit users offered their own tips for getting more from the fourth side, with some sharing how they use it to prepare ingredients beyond cheese.
One user commented: "You can also grate tomatoes for juice there, if you don't have a food processor or something along those lines. Same for garlic if you don't have the proper utensil."
Another added: "Grating parmesan, ginger, horseradish, garlic... Basically anything you want more of a paste or powder as opposed to shreds."
A third said: "I was always told that it's used for hard cheeses like parmesan. But it's so hard to clean that I never use it."
