Garlic Twist Tops this Product Review/Comparison
How to Chop or Mince Garlic Without the Mess and Garlic Fingers
Apr 26, 2009
Garlic adds pungent zest to many dishes and comes with heart-healthy benefits, too. Can another gadget help overcome garlic’s challenges? Probably not with the bad breath. Chew some raw parsley for that.
Garlic Chopping Challenges
Chopping or even mincing garlic can be done with a sharp knife and a little knife skill, but the odor of the garlic lingers on the fingers all day. Some suggest wiping your fingers on stainless steel neutralizes the odor. In fact the kitchen shop would love to sell you yet another gadget, a lump of stainless steel in the shape of a bar of soap.
Whatever method you use to chop garlic, the juice and oils from garlic are very sticky and demand immediate cleanup. That’s fairly easy with a knife and cutting board. Gadgets, though, can be harder to clean if bits can get caught in crevices or the tiny holes of a garlic press.
The ability to yield the right consistency is important to some recipes. Some want a coarse chop, others a fine mince. The garlic press loses both this count and cleanability. Buying a higher-end press with a built-in cleaner can save you a lot fuss and toothpicks.
About Kitchen Gadgets
Before asking which gadget to buy, the first question should be if. It pays to take a critical eye even at inexpensive gadgets unless one has empty drawers and cupboards and the counter space would look better with some more clutter.
Ask where this gadget would be stored. Ask how often it would be used. Ask what the alternatives are.
NexTrend’s Garlic Twist
The Garlic Twist has a number of attractive features and benefits:
- Ease of Use
- Ease of Clean-Up
- No “Garlic Fingers”
- Adjustable Size of Grate
- Sturdy, Simple Design: No Moving Parts
- Made in USA
The ingenious design consists of two rugged polycarbonate cups containing matching sets of cross-cutting teeth. You can even use the Garlic Twist to smash the garlic clove for peeling (although the flat of a knife blade works just as well). You simply pop the pieces of garlic in one side. Put the sides together and twist.
Garlic Twist Tips
- The trick to getting the chopped garlic out is to rotate the sides back and forth until you can see the garlic is gathered into triangle-shaped piles on either side of the teeth. Their video demonstrates this tip.
- Don’t overload the Garlic Twist or it will be hard to turn and hard to achieve the triangular piles away from the teeth.
- Breaking or cutting large cloves makes twisting easier.
- Rinse out the Garlic Twist right after you’ve emptied it. It’s very easy to rinse out and clean in warm soapy water if you don’t leave the residue to get sticky.
Possible Drawbacks
While user reviews on Amazon were overwhelmingly positive, a couple said they found it hard to twist because they had small hands and weak or arthritic wrists. That’s where breaking large cloves in two helps a lot.
Alternative Products / Methods
Using a scale of 0-5, this reviewer rated the Garlic Twist against other products/methods on the following criteria:
- Ease of Use
- Adjustability
- Ease of Clean-Up
- Durability
- Finger Sniff Test
- Cost
The Garlic Twist was at the top of each criterion except price. Garlic Twist might make a great gift for the foodies in your life.
Here are the rating scores:
4.5 points - Garlic Twist by NexTrend @ $14
3.6 points - Garlic Zoom* by Chef’n @ $10
2.8 points - Zyliss Garlic Press (large capacity) @ $16
3.5 points - Grating/Mincing with a Knife @ $0 (assuming you have a knife)
* The Garlic Zoom (see video) is dead cute, but it uses stainless steel blades with require caution in removal and cleaning. In addition the cavity has a number of tight areas that could be harder to clean. Some reviewers remarked that it was hard to start the rubber wheels turning. The fact that it has moving parts can be a long-term durability problem.
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