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Whether you are smothering a steak or adding a dash to pasta sauce, garlic is a kitchen staple. Unfortunately, preparing it can be a sticky and smelly task, which is where a garlic press comes in. A garlic press prepares garlic to a grated-like consistency and keeps your hands cleaner than chopping does.
Garlic's smell and taste become stronger when it's cut because of a compound called allicin that forms when the cells are crushed. The smaller the garlic pieces, the more allicin is formed and the heavier the garlic flavor. Garlic presses combine crushing and mincing motions to produce garlic paste that is fragrant and flavorful. A high-quality garlic press can also save time, especially if you have several cloves to press.
You won't find a garlic press in most professional kitchens — chefs often use the flat side of a chef knife to crush cloves and then the same knife to finely chop their garlic. However, for home cooks who may not be as comfortable with their knife sets, a garlic press achieves the same paste-like consistency.
The most difficult part of using a garlic press is cleaning the leftover pieces of garlic skin from the basket, but factors like full rotation of the press or mobility of the basket can make it easier. We tested eight garlic presses to identify the ones that make prepping garlic easy and fast.
Here are the best garlic presses in 2023
Best garlic press overall: Orblue Stainless Steel Garlic Press - see at Amazon
The full rotation and stainless steel construction of the Orblue Garlic Press makes it the easiest to load, press, and clean.
Best garlic press for unpeeled cloves: Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press - see at Amazon
Whether used with unpeeled cloves or peeled cloves, the Kuhn Rikon Garlic Press consistently produced the same amount of crushed garlic and required minimal pressure.
Best garlic press for easy cleaning: Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press - see at Amazon
The Zyliss Garlic Press comes with a cleaning tool that was the most effective of any that we tested and stores neatly inside the press so you don't lose it.