Customer Reviews

Trudeau Garlic Press, Black

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

We use a ton of garlic in our house and I am always looking for an easier way to chop/mince my garlic. I recently got the Trudeau press and love it. It has a nice weight in the hand ( I hate when the press feels too light) and does a good job with the mincing. Also, I was able to get more than one clove in it...another plus. It's fairly easy to clean (handle flips around to press out the sticking pieces) AND it goes into the dishwasher.

I bought this garlic press based on the Cook's Illustrated recommendation. Sure enough, it worked beautifully for a couple of months. Then the pin holding the two pieces together started coming out. That was doable, I was always able to put it back together. Until the thing simply broke - I mean that a piece of metal broke in two. I don't expect heirloom quality for $11.99 but I do expect a product to last longer than seven months of moderate use.

I haven't used a garlic press in years, because they didn't work well and were very hard to clean. After seeing the product review in Cook's Illustrated I decided to give it a try. My days of finely mincing garlic by hand are over! This garlic press holds a lot of garlic, pushes it through without it "gooshing" up the sides and is very easy to clean. I recommend it highly!

Can easily handle 2 unpeeled cloves at a time. A single backward flip cleans all of the fiber and peel from the press. I've tried 5 garlic presses in the past few years. This one cleans the best.

I purchased the Trudeau garlic press from amazon after seeing that Cook's Illustrated magazine rated it a Best Buy. It arrived tonight from amazon and, to my suprise, it was defective. The plastic piece that cleans the press was moving from side to side and pulling away from the metal to which it was attached. I packed it up, requested a refund from amazon, and promptly ordered the Kuhn Rikon, which was the most highly rated garlic press by Cook's Illustrated. I had chosen the Trudeau because it was less expensive, but it isn't worth the savings if it breaks on the first use. I love to cook with garlic but find cleaning a garlic press (I lost the separate blue cleaner piece on my Zyliss) a hassle -- so perhaps the Kuhn's $30+ price tag is worth it -- at least I hope so! I re-read the reviews on the Trudeau and found that another person noted the same problem. Buyer beware!
2/2/08 Update: I received my Kuhn Rikon Garlic Press in two days of ordering from the lowest-priced provider on amazon (even though I didn't pay for expedited shipping) and have used it several times since. I am VERY pleased with it. I expect this will last me a lifetime -- it's sturdy, is easy to use, and has a clever design that makes it a cinch to clean (with no parts to break or lose).

I cook a great deal from America's Test Kitchen, which recommends use of a garlic press vs mincing by hand.

ATK recommended two presses, the Rikon Kuhn at some $35 (which I own), and this one, as their best buy (which I purchased for my girl). Though the Rikon is nicer overall, it gets just a bit more garlic out of each press vs the Trudeau. The Rikon is sleeker and a bit more ergonomic, which does provide you a warmer and a fuzzier feeling, but does not significantly contribute to your garlic production. The Trudeau is heavy, solid, and presses garlic just fine.

The Rikon opens up in an unusual way that allows you to easily clean out the stringier garlic that is leftover in the press. In contrast, the Trudeau offers an integrated plastic piece with male prongs which poke out the garlic left in the wholes when the handles are rotated 180 degrees. Although the plastic piece shown no signs of falling off, the male prongs don't fit into the female wholes perfectly, requiring a bit of force to clean the press, and then pry them apart. I'm concerned that, over time, the plastic might loosen with repeated attempts to separate the tight fitting male prongs. Even if it does, you will still be able to clean out any remaining garlic by reaching in with your fingers etc...

I purchased the Rikon based on the ATK recommendation, before I realized that they also backed this press as their best buy. In retrospect, though I am completely happy with the Rikon, I would not have spent $35 on the Rikon had I known of this as a suitable replacement.

After our OXO garlic press broke after several years of use, I purchased this one as a replacement based on its mostly glowing reviews. I'm almost wondering if I got a dud or something because my experience has been so different from other reviewers. It has three major problems and no redeeming qualities.

First, it's next to impossible to actually squeeze. I mean, you really need macho man strength to add garlic to your food with this press. Maybe it's designed so you can burn calories before consuming your food.

Second, it says it's dishwasher safe. That is a bald-faced lie. One wash in the dishwasher, and water gets trapped inside the rubber handles and gradually dribbles out all over the place. We had this same problem with the OXO we had, but I was hoping it wouldn't happen with this one. I know some people hand wash to avoid this issue, but I am opposed to the extra work of handwashing - I want to be able to put it in the dishwasher and go. After the water got in the handles of ours, we decided to yank off the rubber handles to dry out the insides. This works for drying them, but you can't conveniently leave the handles off - the insides are spiked with evil thorny steel things.

Third, same as with our OXO, you're supposed to be able to "self clean" it by turning one side around and poking the garlic out with those little pokey things. Except the one we got doesn't actually go all the way around. You can't actually make those pointy things even get near removing the garlic without breaking the hinge, so you have to pick out the skins with your fingers. I guess in some regard it is still self cleaning - I clean it myself.

The OXO we had was mediocre - it's main issue was that water got trapped in the handles. However, the Trudeau garlic press, or at least the one we received, is completely useless.

Having spent many many years with run of the mill presses, I had no idea this type existed. Thanks to Cook's Mag I got turned on to the Trudeau. It is night and day different from the others, the construction is very heavy, solid. It has a handy cleaner attached for one step operation, the garlic is completely extruded, skin & all the rest stay behind. You'll never need another.

The plastic cleaning tines got stuck to the holes in the press and then pulled apart - I thought I just got a bad one, but the next two replacement items I got did the same thing!

The best garlic press for the price. Heavy duty. I gave it 4 stars because it's stainless steel plated. If it was full stainless steel I will give it a 6 stars. Buy it you will be happy.