Garlic press
A garlic press, also known as a garlic crusher, is a kitchen utensil to crush garlic cloves efficiently by forcing them through a grid of small holes, usually with some type of piston. Many garlic presses also have a device with a matching grid of blunt pins to clean out the holes.
The first patent for a garlic press is credited to Karl Zysset (1907–1988) founder of the Swiss kitchen utensil company Zyliss, though the design is functionally identical to earlier presses that were in widespread use.<ref>Mueller Science: 500 Schweizer Primeurs, Schweizer Erfindungen und Schweizer Entdeckungen ; retrieved 14 August 2012.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Garlic presses present a convenient alternative to mincing garlic with a knife, especially because a clove of garlic can be passed through a sturdy press without even removing its peel. The peel remains in the press while the garlic is extruded out. Some sources<ref>For example, the Epicurious Food Dictionary Template:Webarchive</ref> also claim that pressing with the peel on makes cleaning the press easier.
Garlic crushed by a press is generally believedTemplate:Citation needed to have a different flavor from minced garlic, more of garlic's strong flavor compounds are liberated. A few sources prefer the flavor of pressed garlic. Raw-foods chef Renée Underkoffler says "a good garlic press makes dealing with garlic a clean pleasure. Pressed garlic has a lighter, more delicate flavor than minced garlic because it excludes the bitter center stem."<ref>Template:Cite book p. 179.</ref> The magazine Cook's Illustrated says "a good garlic press can break down cloves more finely and evenly than an average cook using a knife, which means better distribution of garlic flavor throughout any given dish."<ref name="cooks">Wu, Sandra. "Notes from Readers", Cook's Illustrated, Sept. & Oct. 2006 p. 3.</ref>
On the other hand, some chefs say garlic crushed in a press has an inferior flavor compared to other forms of garlic. For instance, chef Anthony Bourdain called garlic presses "abominations" and advised "don't put it through a press. I don't know what that junk is that squeezes out of the end of those things, but it ain't garlic."<ref>Template:Cite book p. 81.</ref> The cookery writer Elizabeth David wrote an essay titled "Garlic Presses are Utterly Useless".<ref>Template:Cite book p. 51.</ref> Alton Brown (known for his dislike of single-purpose kitchen tools) has referred to garlic presses as "useless" and without a reason to exist.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Cook's Illustrated lists some additional uses for a garlic press, such as mashing other small items (including olives, capers, anchovies, ginger and canned chipotles) or pressing out small quantities of onion or shallot juice.<ref name="cooks"/>
CollectionEdit
The largest collection of unique garlic presses is thought to be owned by Tord Elfwendahl, Stockholm, who has since 1979 collected an excess of 1200 unique garlic presses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
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