I'm looking at you, OXO: Your garlic press crapped-out on my dinner.

It was pasta time.

To me, that basically meant garlic time with added food in which to soak up garlic. Step one in this almost weekly pasta-sauce staple is peeling lots of garlic, warming up some olive oil and sauteing that wonderful stuff into a fragrant, heavenly base. Tonight was no different than any other -- I have not somehow gained Clark Kentian forearms -- and yet the second squeeze of garlic cloves through my OXO "Good Grips" Garlic Press rendered it completely useless. It snapped in half.


OXO's product description explains that this press has "sturdy, die-cast zinc construction and a large capacity garlic chamber" which certainly give it the illusion of heft and strength, but what they don't mention is that the hinge -- the most important part in the mechanics of the thing -- is made out of plastic glazed over with metallic paint to look like metal. [UPDATE: In my haste I assumed something that would break so easily must be plastic. Upon closer inspection, however, the hinge is just their really shitty "die-cast zinc" that splits in two under pressure.]


And check out that price: $14.99? Puh-lease. If I'm going to fork over more than a Hamilton [or four] for a garlic press, next time I'll go with one I've heard good things about: the Rösle Garlic Press. I'm not sure if I'm ready to spring $37.95, but she sure is one fine looking piece of metal.