Product reviewed: Cook’s Innovations Grater Plate Set
A few years ago, I broke my cute fish-shaped ginger grater by stuffing it into a too-full drawer. So I was very excited to try the Cook’s Innovations Grate Plate Set. There is nothing better for grating fresh ginger into a pulp! Using a small handheld grater is not the same because you are left with small pieces. The set includes a silicone tube to remove the peels from garlic and a brush that makes it easy to remove any pulp from between the little nubs on the plate.
The colors and olive design of the plate are very attractive. You may want to keep it out on the counter as a decorative touch. It is large enough to place in the dishwasher and not worry about it falling through the top rack.
The garlic peel remover looks similar to a piece of manicotti. To use it, roll a clove inside the tube using less pressure than it would require with the blade of a chef’s knife. This tool would be great to use with children or for a cooking demonstration. My 12-year-old daughter preferred using it more than a knife. People with manual dexterity challenges also may enjoy using it. One drawback of the peel remover is that it doesn’t function as well for more than one clove of garlic at once.
The grater plate works very well for ginger, which is my go-to flavoring for stir-fry dishes. The tool also is good for grating garlic, which can be used for tahini sauce, hummus and salad dressing. Grated garlic cooks very quickly and should be closely watched. After grating garlic, I was left with the piece I was holding, about one-third to half of a clove, which is more wasteful than chopping it with a knife or using a food processor. The partial garlic cloves could be tossed into a pot when making stock or baked to use as a spread for bread.
Chocolate was the easiest food to grate. It would make an excellent garnish for a dessert.
Since the grater plate is recommended for nuts, I tried grating almonds. It does work but takes a lot of pressure. Grated almonds are the consistency of almond flour, but this method isn’t a practical way to make almond flour. My preference is to chop nuts by hand.
I didn’t find the grater plate satisfactory for grating onions. The resulting pulp doesn’t seem beneficial for cooking, and the onion layers separate when grated. The manufacturer recommends dampening the plate with water or oil for moist foods including vegetables and citrus peels. Even after this step, I found the ceramic nubs were not sharp enough to grate a lemon peel.
The instructions state that the pulp brush should be washed by running under water, yet it retains the odor of the food it touched. Soaking in hot soapy water was more effective.
