If you’ve shopped for graters you have probably noticed there are too many different types. Graters have become over-specialized leading to a bewildering number of choices. It’s difficult to know what kind of graters you need for your kitchen. In this article, you will learn about different types of graters to make it easier for you to choose the type of graters you need for your kitchen.
Graters come in several basic styles such as flat, cylindrical, and box. There are also rotary graters. These were originally French graters called mouli graters [MOO-lee], which I will not discuss here. Flat and box styles are the most popular. There are also specialty graters that some cooks may need.
You will need at least two, and perhaps more, depending on what you like to cook. Graters are usually made of stainless steel with raised and sharpened perforations of different sizes, coarse, medium, and fine. They may also have sharp raised bumps that are more like very rough sandpaper meant more for things like nutmeg. The number of options will depend on the style of grater. Sometimes, graters with only large holes are called shredders.
Uses For Graters
Most of the time you’ll be using a grater to grate hard cheeses but graters are really meant to turn all sorts of hard foods into thin strips or small particles including hard spices like nutmeg but also vegetables like carrots, or for zesting citrus fruits.
- Grate or shred cheese cheddar, Monterey jack, gruyere, and parmesan.
- Zest citrus fruits like lemons, oranges, limes, and grapefruits.
- Grate whole spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and star anise.
- Grate vegetables and fruits like carrots, potatoes, zucchini, parsnip, turnip root, apples, and more.
- Grate or shave chocolate for desserts.
See also: Best Way to Clean a Cheese Grater
Flat Graters
Flat graters come with one or perhaps two different-sized holes. They may also come with a slicing blade. They are handy for small amounts of cheese or vegetables. When a flat grater has more than one size hole, each size takes up half the grater so that the usable area is limited. For this reason, a few single-size flat graters with different size holes, from coarse to medium and fine may be more useful than a flat grater meant for double duty. The Amazon Basics Flat Grater shown below, is a classic example with a coarse cheese grater, a slicer, and zester.
You can also buy flat graters with only one size hole. Some cooks may prefer to have 2 or 3 flat graters of different coarseness rather than a flat grater with several choices. An example of a single-size flat grater is the Oxo Good Grips Coarse Grater, pictured below. The great thing about this grater is it is bidirectional. It will shred no matter which direction you run your cheese, vegetable, or hard fruit.
Flat graters are also available as sets, such as the Oxo Good Grips Complete Grate & Slice Set. This comes with a coarse and medium size grater, a mandoline-style slicer, and a julienne slicer for long strips of cucumber, zucchini, etc.
- Includes four surfaces for coarse grating, medium grating, straight slicing and julienne slicing
- Non-slip feet stop container from sliding, handle provides a comfortable grip, tined food holder protects fingers from blades
- Transparent lid doubles as a container for quick food collection and measurement
- 2-cup-capacity lid features a flat top for convenient storage
- Color-coded graters and slicers can also be used directly over bowls or plates
- Stainless steel, top-rack dishwasher safe
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Box Grater
Box graters are perhaps the most popular style of graters for the home kitchen because they provide the most options in one package. They are rectangular-shaped metal boxes with a handle at the top and a large opening at the bottom. Each side of the ‘box’ has a different option. Whatever you are shredding or grating ends up inside the box. The box grater in the picture below is the SringChef Stainless Steel Box Grater in large. It features coarse shred, medium shred, fine shredder/zester, and a slicer blade.
Although many prefer the box grater I personally do not like them because they are more difficult to clean when cheese gets stuck on the inside of the box and in the corners. For this reason, I would recommend flat graters.
Mircroplane Classic Zester and Grater
The Microplane fits my requirement for being a multi-purpose too because it not only replaces your citrus zester, and makes it much easier, but also makes grating hard cheeses like Parmesan a breeze. I use mine constantly and I imagine you will too! This type of grater is sometimes called a rasp grater because it was adapted from the woodworking rasp.
The Classic Microplane model 40020, is all you need for zesting citrus fruits and grating hard cheese, but other models are available for different sorts of jobs. The ribbon grater works for chocolate, carrots, and softer cheeses. The extra-coarse grater works for potatoes, apples, and soft cheeses. They also make a spice grater for nutmeg and cinnamon. Although you might not want all of them, they all do a great job and make the job easier.
See a more thorough overview of the Microplane zesters and graters.
