Customer Reviews

Microplane 46720 Premium Green Zester/Grater

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have bought and compared 3 series of microplane products. They are 1. professional 2. premium 3. classic.
Here is what I found.

They are all using the same blade-made in USA but assembled in Mexico.

The designs differ. Professional is more auqare like many graters we have used from before. It is not super eye catching. The premium and classic series has that long lean body that everyone recognizes easily to be super special to microplane.

Furthermore,Premium and classic series come with plastic handles and several reviewers complain they broke if you are too forceful. The professional series are made of all stainless steel all over.

Also, the premium and the classic series differ in two things. First, at the end where it stands on the counter top, the premium comes with two tiny plastic foot, you cannot see front the pic, but they are there while the classic does not. It protects the surface of either your countertop or your mixer bowl. If you use the classic series, you might scratch the surface it comes in contact with and the classic might be easier to slip too. Second, the plastic handle is sturdier in the premium series than the classics. Other than these two, they are basically the same design.


At the end, my sturdiness ranking is 1. professional 2. premium 2. classic.
my attractiveness of its outlook ranking is 1. premium 2. classic 3. professional.
But the attractiveness is more subject to individual taste than sturdiness ranking.

My final decision is to keep the professional series made of all stainless steel for my friend who care less about the look and for me, I will stay with the premium series and its color handles. I will make sure to be super careful and not use too much force. One more note, I ordered the yellow but the yellow is not a bright yellow , it is more of a dull saturated yellow. So if you like bright lemon yellow, this is not the color for you.

I find this to be a better tool for zesting than the traditional zester. I use less effort zesting with this Microplane to remove only the rind and not get to that white pith that is very bitter. And most of the zest collects underneath the tool or falls from below. A few minor raps and the most of the collected zest fall away. When I use the traditional zesting tool, I get quite a bit of the zest and essential oil on my hands.

This Microplane is fairly easy to wash and clean. But, after washing, hold the handle and shake out the water that collects in the handle. Then place the Microplane with the handle up after washing so the water dries out from the handle.

I see that there is a newer version of this tool with a shorter and wider rasp area. The tool also includes a small and large strip zester.

PROS: Removes the zest with less effort and better control (without removing the bitter pith). Easily collects the zest without it collecting on your hands.

CONS: The rasp and handle area is not totally sealed or removable to either prevent food to collect under the handle or to allow thorough cleaning.

Had this model of Microplane for 5+ years - until the plastic broke & that was it. Upgraded to the professional series to avoid another breakage (always at the wrong time) - love these zesters!!! Also got the coarse grater & dumped my old box grater forever. Spend the extra couple of bucks & get a professional series - you will love it forever.

First off, and most importantly, the zester/grater is unbelievably good with hard cheeses, such as reggiano parmesan. The grater shreds the cheese to a fine consistency unmanageable by other tools. Zest created by the grater is perfect, and of an even texture. The grater is very comfortable to hold, and the grip works well, even for left handers. It is, however, important to note that the grater can be difficult to clean (especially of zest) and that it is extremely sharp, with no safety features except for the one between your ears.

It does what it says, it zests things. I bought it mainly for garlic use. The grating isn't so sharp you'll cut yourself if you accidentally rub on it but the bottom side is not the same. It is a bit difficult if you're zesting soft items - you use you finger to rub the item off. I cut my finger pretty bad rubbing it off. The bottom is shaped like a "U" and the side cut me like a bad paper-cut. I also noticed - this may be just mine - but the handle isn't sealed so if you're drying it or washing in the dishwasher, make sure you put it metal tip down or the handle will be filled with water.

Anyone want to buy my old zesteur? Because this tool obsolesces it completely. Comes with a very handy plastic sleeve or tube kind of storage device. Very sharp, it's zero effort to remove the zest, the thin yellow part, of a lemon, which is what I wanted it for. Try stuffing lemon zest under the skin of the next whole chicken you roast, and THE BEST lemonade you will ever taste is made from lemon juice, simple syrup (boil H2O and sugar mixed 1:1 for three minutes and cool) AND FRESH LEMON ZEST. Amazing flavor, but ONLY in the thin, thin top yellow layer! This is perhaps not an essential tool, but definitely something you'd like to have in the kitchen. A little lemon or lime zest as a garnish would be mighty nice on fish, for instance. A unique product. Excellent quality. Could not be happier with it.

I first learned of Microplane when I purchased a cutting glove Microplane 34007 Kitchen Cut-Protection Glove for use with my mandolin. At that time, I couldn't imagine why a zester/grater manufacturer sold cutting gloves. Now I know. The Microplane 46020 zester is razor sharp---and if you are grating small things, like garlic or nutmeg---unless you are very careful, you need a cutting glove. The zester works beautifully, fine grating garlic or ginger easily. It is particularly marvelous for zesting lemons and oranges---just a light stroke shreds the zest.

Many spices you'd laboriously mince can be easily grated with a Microplane zester/grater

LONG-AND-SKINNY OR SHORT-AND-WIDE
You can buy Microplane long skinny zesters like the 46020 or short wide graters like the Microplane 38004 Professional Fine Spice Grater, both of which produce the same results.

The long-and-skinny fits nicely across a cooking pot or bowl, and allows nice long strokes---ideal for grating small items such as nutmeg, garlic, or ginger. It is particularly good for zesting lemons or oranges, because it does not obscure the view of the fruit.

The short-and-wide fine grater will also work well for zesting, but will also grate large objects, such as cheese. Caveat: a grater fine enough to zest well will essentially "powder" cheese or chocolate. Even the "coarse" grater is rather fine---too fine for cole slaw. You'll probably an extra-course grater for shredding cheese or vegetables. Microplane 38000 Professional Coarse Grater There are also a series of graters which produce ribbons rather than shreds.

HOW TO ZEST
I find it best to hold the lemon or orange in my left hand, and pull the zester toward me, with the teeth facing down. That way I can see what I am zesting, and I can rotate the lemon/orange as necessary. It is important to see what you are zesting, because you only want to remove the "color" layer, without any bitter white pith. The zest collects on the top side (inside) of the zester, and stays there. You can brush it off with your fingers, but a pastry brush works best. By the way, I've never heard of anyone adding zest to orange juice or lemonade, but it enormously enhances the flavor. (The normal proceedure is to let the squeezed lemon skins soak in the lemonade---but if you forget and they soak too much you get a bitter flavor). The zest from one lemon is good for a whole pitcher of lemonade. Zest that lemon before you squeeze it.

AS A GIFT
If you are a cook, or there is a cook in your life, a Microplane zester or grater is the best $15 gift you can get or give.

Saw this Zester on Cook's Country. They rated this the top of all Zesters and they were right. Very efficient and quick. Now, back to the kitchen to finish dinner prep.

After hearing about the Microplane zester/graters for so long, I finally broke down and purchased one. I've been doing a lot of cooking requiring citrus zest and my old fashioned little zester was starting to wear on me.

What a pleasure! I would say that I could zest an orange in a minute, whereas it would have taken me 3-5 minutes with the old zester. In addition, the Microplane effortlessly glides over the fruit without ever taking up the pith. What a pleasure using a well made tool! I haven't had it long enough to know about handle issues, but frankly, I'm not concerned.

The peel collects under the handle which is quite convenient and then I just slide it out. The zest is in short small ribbons, unlike my old zester, which made long strips that were a pain to incorporate in other ingredients.

I would highly recommend this.

Nice that they created this "upgraded" version. Our original one did not have the plastic end on it. Not really an issue: my husband does not put it on the counter or cutting board anyway; but I usually had a plate or something to balance the end of grater depending on what I was zesting or grating. Like most other reviewers, love this one. Only reason had to buy our second one is that we just plain wore the other one out between Parm cheese, lemons, limes, nutmeg, etc etc.