Rant: That $40 microplane I ignored for years is honestly life changing

Been using the same dull veggie peeler to zest lemons for like 8 years. Always thought microplanes were overhyped. Then a line cook brought his own to work last Tuesday. Told me to try it on a batch of gremolata. Night and day. The zest just falls off. No pith. No shredded fingers. Picked one up at Restaurant Depot for $12. Threw my old peeler in the trash. Has anyone else had a tool they swore was junk until they actually tried it?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora_scott771mo ago

Threw my old peeler in the trash" - same thing I did.

paige861mo ago

yo @cora_scott77 did you also almost cry when you realized how much easier it is? cause my buddy miguel was the same way. he used to grate nutmeg on a regular box grater for his eggnog, took like 10 minutes per nut. his cousin brought over a microplane and showed him, and he literally stood there for 30 seconds and got perfect nutmeg dust. he texted me a pic of his old grater in the trash with a crying laughing emoji.

the_piper22d ago

Oh man, Miguel's story is perfect. I had the exact same moment when I swapped my old zester for a rasp grater. I was making lemon curd (for a friend's birthday, actually) and used to spend like 15 minutes scraping zest off with a box grater, getting all that bitter white pith too. Then my neighbor saw me struggling and handed me a basic microplane. I did a full lemon in 45 seconds flat, no pith, and just stared at it. My old zester went straight into the trash that same night. The difference is ridiculous, especially for things like hard cheese or fresh ginger.