Opinions on cheese graters?

I wish there were a decent carrot grater. Graters, to me, should grate more than just cheese.

To elaborate, I hate grating my fingers when grating carrots. I don't like mandolin-type graters either. I saw KitchenAid had a rotary grater and I thought it would be, well, great. It took too much effort to push the carrot onto the grater part. The carrots kept rolling to the front and pushing out of the little compartment. As it began to just take up valuable space in my kitchen, I got rid of it. All I had wanted was a grater to do a carrot or two at a time without having to haul out the food processor and use electricity and make noise.

graters

nhl,
If you concider a box grater, which many of us use regularly, concider durability both of cutting surface and of the box itself. I have had a few that don't hold up when you apply a pressure to the handle over a period of time. Also concider clean up- perhaps a frame with pop-out cutting surfaces?? Dishwasher proof? I usually use my grater for cheese, potatoes and chocolate- sometimes hard to clean. Let us know what you come up with, we'd be interested to see!

Can't hold it in the air. Same problem as rotary grater, not enough pressure to get the carrots grated.

I have a micrograter with interchangable cutting surfaces. It's like a microplane but with shorter and wider cutting surface. It came with a fine and a coarse insert. It works OK but if you press too hard the cutting surface can pop out since it is only held in by the natural spring effect in the steel. Definately not for carrots!

I have 2 box graters - one is a large 4" square thing with the usual cutting surfaces. It's fairly easy to clean because even I can get my large hands inside to scrub it. It's good for large quanities of cheese. Then I have the standard box grater - smaller and slightly tapered along its length. That one my daughter has to clean because I can't get my hand inside. Also, when I use the small pointy side to grate parmesan it is really hard to get the bits of cheese out of the crevases.

How I hold it depends on what I am grating. If I am doing lots of Jack cheese for quesadas for example, I use the big box grater flat on the bench. If I am dusting a finished dish with parm cheese I hold the grater by the bottom oposite side.

To FreeRider's point about grated knuckles, maybe a grater with a mandolin style holder for the carrot or whatever. Easy clean is essential.

Jock

I like my microplane grater that is shaped like an oblong paddle-it works great for cheese.
The only suggestion I have is that the handle should not let in water-I have to stand it handle end up to drain dry because water collects in the handle and then runs out the next time I use it.
While this is not a huge thing, it is an annoyance!

I am a Rotary Cheese Grater fan because I just hate holding a huge block of cheese OR getting my fingers chopped. Some of the rotarys out there are a bit bulky and/or not so ergonomic. Over time they can also get harder and harder to use so this is another thing you might want to keep in mind.

 

Keep me updated on your progress.