Now that Apple has entered the competitive race to build the world’s best cheese grater, we figured it was time to answer the burning/toasting question on everyone’s lips: which cheese grater is best?
Apple Mac Pro, $5,999
We were a little surprised to find that Apple has priced its cheese grater at $5,999 – and note it isn’t available to buy until this autumn – but we can’t argue with the power inside.
While some might think that 28 cores and up to 1.5TB of memory are overkill, we appreciate that maturer types of cheddar need extra horsepower to separate into miniature slices. Also note that the heat output could turn this into a handy combo grill.
We look forward to giving the Apple Mac Pro a full taste test later in the year.
Microplane Gourmet Series Coarse Grater £20
We’re fans of the Microplane series of graters in our household, writes Tim Danton, owning both a coarse and fine grater. Where they excel is their portability and versatility.
Want to grate cheese right over a pizza? No problem: just do it straight over the base, having lavishly coated it with tomato sauce obviously. And it works just as well with chocolate.
Sainsbury’s Home Box Grater Medium £3.50
Ah, old faithful. Whether it’s soft cheddar or the hardest of aged Parmesans, this cheap-and-cheerful grater will last for years (four in my case, writes Max Figgett). Like most box graters, it has four different hole sizes, with the smallest being particularly useful for zesting lemons, limes and, on one memorable Friday evening, my fingers…
…but that was entirely down to my doziness. When properly used, the Sainsbury’s grater is very safe and, if you’re not lucky enough to have a dishwasher, a breeze to clean. It’s a brilliant, cost-effective option for smothering your pasta or pizza in fats – just like nature intended.
The Mac Mini: Four-Sided Mini Stainless Steel £1.09
The bigger they come, the harder they are to wash up, writes Barry Collins. A great choice for singletons who just want a smattering of Cathedral City on their spuds, this is the culinary equivalent of the Mac Mini. The Mac’n’Cheese Mini, if you will.
Despite its dinky dimensions, it still offers you the four different hole sizes, although the smallest size doesn’t so much grate your cheese as reduce it to sub-atomic particles. Soul-destroyingly, I believe the exact model shown here – with the heart shape in the handle – has been discontinued. But there’s a less twee alternative on sale from eBay for less than a chunk of Edam.
Triangular and middle class: Sainsbury’s Home Non-Slip Hand Grater £4.50
For me, a cheese grater needs to be able to grate at different sizes, whilst not being one of those ungainly box versions that you used to find in every kitchen, writes David Artiss. (Sorry, Max.)
For a while, we had a series of flat graters, each with a different-sized grating hole, but it was a pain trying to find the one you needed. Now, we have a simple, triangular shaped grater with a different size hole on each side.
Want to buy it? I wasn’t sure where my wife bought it from – I assumed Lakeland, John Lewis or somewhere equally middle-class. Close. It was Sainsbury’s.
Contrarian view: the zester £6.70
For me the greatest grater isn’t technically a grater. It’s greater. Is this getting grating yet? Instead I always opt for a zester, writes Robert Harris, perfect for showering my spaghetti Bolognese in Parmesan dust. Lovely.
I wager that this single-sided device trumps the traditional, box-shaped dairy shredder. Seriously, I’ve yet to meet one person who can tell me what all four of those sides are actually for, other than slicing my knuckles off.
Simplicity is king when it comes to product design, which is why the no-nonsense zester gets my vote.
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