Related Reviews
What Is the Best Cheese Grater for Hard and Soft Cheese? Read Our Cheese Grater Reviews!
Choosing the best product and brand is a matter of individual preference and should be determined by your careful consideration of what features you need. As you look through our featured products, find the one that matches your requirements the best and go with it. We are sure you will find the best grater for you!
Related: 5 Unique Kitchen Gadgets You Didn’t Realize You Needed!
Our Top Choice
Spring Chef provides premium, high-quality products for chefs and bakers. Its Professional Box Grater, with sharp stainless steel, delivers cleanly sliced and grated food. Don't need this extra large manual cheese grater? That's okay because this 4 sided box grater
comes in a smaller size too.
Spring Chef Professional Extra Large Box Grater and Shredder - Stainless Steel Manual Cheese Grater with 4 Sides, Good for Grating Cheese, Vegetables and More, 2 Sizes Available
Features
Spring Chef provides some of the best kitchen tools that make culinary dreams a reality. With its equipment you virtually have all you need for success in the kitchen.
The Professional Box Grater, Stainless Steel with 4 Sides is best for parmesan cheese, vegetables, and ginger, and enables you to perfectly shred and slice cheese and vegetables, thereby helping you enjoy the art of meal making. Its removable rubber bottom prevents food from escaping out of the bottom of the grater so you'll have a less messy kitchen.
Here are some of the other great features of this remarkable kitchenware:
- It's dishwasher safe
- Has a contoured shape that makes grating cheese and soft foods easy
- Allows for greater holding capacity
- Combines coarse grating, medium grating, fine grating, a zester and even a slicer
- Has sharp stainless steel blades that get the job done quickly, resulting in cleanly sliced and grated food
- Comes with a removable rubber bottom which keeps you safer, preventing slipping and sliding on your counter, cutting board or plate
Beyond all these features, this Professional Box Grater is backed by a lifetime warranty.
Best Value
Consumers trust the Zyliss brand for products that make food preparation enjoyable. In the Zyliss Classic Cheese Grater, it has outdone itself by creating a grater that handles hard cheeses, chocolates and nuts effortlessly. Zyliss has a wide variety of cheese graters including rasps, box graters as well as a
mandolin style 4 in 1 Slicer and Grater.
Zyliss NSF Restaurant Certified Rotary Manual Cheese Grater – Ergonomic Design, Removable Drum for Cleaning, Available in Two Styles
Features
Zyliss, with its ‘Design to Delight’ principle, creates kitchenware that meets the ever growing and expanding needs of consumers worldwide.
The Zyliss Classic Cheese Grater grates more cheese in less time and is a lot more comfortable to use than many graters. The Zyliss Grater’s grating drum is easy to remove, thus making cleaning a lot easier.
If you are looking for more reasons to go for this grater, here they are:
- It is restaurant- and NSF-certified
- The fine drum enables grating hard cheeses, chocolate, nuts and more
- The handle switches sides for easy use by left or right handed users
- Comes with a 5-year Zyliss Guarantee
Furthermore, the Zyliss Cheese Grater is dishwasher safe.
Presto makes innovative kitchenware, and its Professional SaladShooter® electric slicer/shredder stands out. You can use its funnel guider to direct your bread crumbs for casserole toppings right where you want them. If you are on a tighter budget and don’t need as much power, check out the less expensive
Original Presto Salad Shooter.
Presto Salad Shooter Electric Grater, Slicer and Shredder for Cheese and Vegetables – Doesn’t Do Fine Grating, But Perfect for Shredding Cheese
Features
Presto produces appliances designed and built to provide many years of satisfactory performance under normal household use and pledges a one-year limited warranty for all its products.
The Professional SaladShooter® electric slicer/shredder is a great idea for salads and so much more. It slices and sheds just the way you want it, and its interchangeable cones makes thin and thick slices possible, including ripple cuts and shreds.
Here is a listing of what you can accomplish with the Presto Professional SaladShooter electric slicer/shredder:
- Comes with a funnel guide to guide your bread crumbs for casserole toppings right where you want them
- With the thick slice cone for shredding fresh lettuce, you can make terrific tacos, taco salads, and pita sandwiches
- Use the funnel guide to beautify a cream topped pie, a fluffy icing cake, or even a cupcake with shredded baking chocolate
- Apart from the base which can be easily wiped clean, everything else is dishwasher safe
This Presto shredder can also be used to make delicious, creamy coleslaw by shredding fresh cabbage and carrots. Like the idea of having a multi-tasking kitchen appliance? Take a look at SaladShooter’s optional shredding attachments.
OXO creates products that are beneficial to end users and also built on a sensible business model. The Complete Grate & Slice Set comes with a food holder which protects hands and fits neatly in container for storage. If you’re looking for a multi-purpose grater and slicer that’s all one piece, take a look at the
OXO Good Grips Box Grater.
OXO Good Grips Complete Grate & Slice Set – Mandolin Style Cheese Grater, 4 Surfaces for Coarse Grating, Medium Grating, Straight Slicing and Julienne Slicing
Features
OXO designs products that are easily usable by many people based on its Universal Design philosophy and offers over 1,000 home products.
Its Complete Grate & Slice Set is a wide array of solid tools for grating and slicing. It can be used on various surfaces like bowls, plates, or even lid tops which you can use as a container for collecting and measuring what you are grating.
For more features of the Oxo Complete Grate & Slice Set, see below:
- Container has clear and convenient measurement markings
- The handles on container provide a secure, comfortable grip while grating or slicing
- The container and surfaces are steadied by non-slip feet while in use
- It is dishwasher safe
- Its Coarse Grater is perfect for semi-soft cheeses, butter, apples, cabbages, potatoes, onions and more
- Slicer delivers perfect slices of cucumber, zucchini, cheese and more
- The Medium Grater is perfect for fluffy shavings of hard cheeses, chocolate, carrots, zucchini, etc.
For a convenient, all-in-one grating and slicing tasks, you need OXO’s Complete Grate & Slice Set.
Microplane graters have distinguished themselves with the ultra-sharp cutting edges created by Microplane’s signature chemical process. This grater comes with a protective cover that can be reused. If you’re looking for a kitchen tool that will grate both soft and hard cheeses, take a look at the
Microplane Gourmet Series 3-Piece Grater Set.
Microplane Premium Series Zester and Manual Cheese Grater – Rasp Style for Grating Hard Cheeses, Onions, Garlic and More, Zests Citrus Rinds, 10 Colors
Features
A story which began in 1994 led to the company Microplane, now entrenched in a culture of excellence in the production of graters for home cooks and professional chefs.
The Microplane Premium Series Zester/Grater comes with a premium soft-touch handle and non-scratch end, grating even the hardest of nuts as well as other cheeses into fine, lacy wisps. It’s ideal for topping your preferred spaghetti and meatballs.
See some of the other features of this grater:
- Soft grip handle in a variety of vibrant colors, for aesthetics
- Non-scratch end tabs
- Protective covers that are reusable are included
- It is dishwasher safe
- Made of surgical grade stainless steel blade for durability
This grater effortlessly cuts through hard and soft foods without tearing or shredding.
Best Cheese Grater and Shredder Guide — Rotary Graters vs Manual Graters vs Electric Automatic Cheese Graters
Even though a grater is a common-found utensil in the kitchen and probably just makes you think of melted cheese on your fajitas, it can be used for way more than just that.
Not only can you liven up your food with a topping of freshly-grated cheese, but you can grate other foods as well. We all know that salads are healthy and a great addition to any meal, but sometimes they can be a bit boring and familiar. How about a side salad with a garnish of shredded beetroot to add a fresh, earthy tang to a classic dish?
Or you can add a secret ingredient to the well-known chocolate cake and mix in grated hazelnut for a subtle, nutty flavor.
Whatever you are cooking, it's important that you get the right kind of grater for the job (and the type of cheese or food). In the market, you will find automatic and manual cheese graters designed to make working on cheese easy and fun.
Video: 6 Easy Cheesy Snack Recipes Collection
Simple Recipes with Cheese. | Courtesy of Hebbars Kitchen
Price
You can easily pop into any shop and buy a cheap cheese grater for next to nothing, and, although in some ways it might be better than nothing, it certainly won’t pass the test of time when you use it regularly in your cooking. But if you’re on a budget, don’t panic. You can get a well-made grater for around $15. For this price, you can even choose between a classic grater that you grate vertically towards a surface, or you could go for a manual rotary design which means all you have to do is turn the handle and see your chosen food land on your plate perfectly grated. At this price, graters are typically made with strong, durable plastic. These are not very sharp and are a good tool for youngsters who are learning to cook.
At the top end of the scale, you can find more advanced graters for around $70. Higher-quality graters are usually made from stainless steel and use electricity so you don’t have to put in the hard work. At this price you will also be able to find interchangeable surfaces, so you can get the texture you require.
Features
Some might think that buying a grater is as easy as picking one up off a shelf and purchasing it. Others might search for hours to find the one that gives them exactly what they are looking for; but neither of these scenarios is ideal for finding the right grater. To help you make the best decision, we’ve made up a list of important features.
Here are a few things to keep in mind whilst shopping for graters:
- Various Grating Surfaces - For example: slicing/ shredding/ shavings
- Grating Technique - Vertical/ horizontal/ manual rotary/ electric
- Types of Food - Hard food i.e nuts, hard cheese, chocolate/ softer food i.e vegetables, hard fruits, semi-soft cheese
- Material - Plastic, stainless steel
- Size Some are handheld so they can only grate a thin surface; others you can fit a block of cheese in all at once.
- Powered By - Traditional grating action, manually-powered handle, electric grater
Still not sure what to go for? Let’s take a closer look.
Construction and Design
The construction of your grater will depend on the type of food you wish to grate, the material it’s made from and also its size. All of these need to be considered in order to get your ideal cheese grater.
Types of Food
When you purchase a grater, you will want to think about the types of food you wish to prepare. You can use a grater to prepare anything from nuts to cheese to lime zest, but you will want to make sure you purchase a grater that has surfaces appropriate for all of these foods. However, if you are looking for an elegant grater to serve parmesan on your guest’s pasta, then a simple option that grates hard cheese into fluffy shavings is all you need.
Material
The majority of graters are made out of plastic, stainless steel, or a combination of the two. Really this just comes down to personal preference or budget. Stainless steel has the edge with harder foods as it is sharper and more durable, but if you are simply using it for the basics, plastic will do the job well.
Size
Consider the storage space you have available before going all out and buying the larger electric grater which you have to shove and squeeze into an already full cupboard. The box graters have measurements on the side, so it’s easy to follow a recipe and grate the right amount. Whereas other designs require you to measure the right amount of food before you put it in the compartment to be grated.
Video: The Best Tricks for Shredding Cheese
Simple Tricks to Grate Cheese. | Courtesy of America's Test Kitchen
Performance and Ease of Use
You should consider the grating surface, grating technique and power of your grater before making a decision. All these things can affect how easy your grater is to use as well as how it performs so let’s see what you should be looking for.
Various Grating Surfaces
The main grating surfaces available are the standard shredding surface, the shaving surface, and thin slicing. Some only come with one surface and are made for a particular purpose. Whereas others either have different sides for different textures or interchangeable blades.
Grating Technique and Power
Grating by hand can be done horizontally or vertically and just depends on what’s most comfortable for you. Other options have a handle you turn manually to set the grating into action; the handle can be swapped round so it’s suitable for both right-handed and left-handed people. Nowadays, there’s an electric version of everything, and graters are no different. If you really can’t bear to grate one more time then get an electric grater to do it all for you!
Electric Graters
Electric graters can be more work initially as they do require some setup. Most electric graters come with instruction manuals that tell you exactly how to set it up and how to maintain it. We suggest that you get one with a warranty just in case there is a manufacturing issue.
Manual Graters
Regular cheese graters do not require any setup. As for cleanup, you will definitely want to remove any extra debris immediately after using the grater. This will help prevent things from solidifying inside the holes of your device. The best way to do that is to use a clean toothbrush or a washcloth. After that, you can just place it in the dishwasher. Most graters are dishwasher-safe, but this is obviously something you will want to look into before you purchase the item.
Get the Best Cheese Grater of 2020!
Now that you have gone through our reviews, making a choice should be pretty easy for you. So, go ahead and grab the one for you. We hope whatever delicious food you’re making tastes grate…sorry, we couldn’t resist the pun!
Our Top Choice
Spring Chef Professional XL Box Grater
Best Value
Zyliss NSF Certified Classic Cheese Grater
Presto Professional SaladShooter® Shredder
OXO Good Grips Grate and Slice Set
Microplane Premium Classic Zester & Grater
Cheese Grater FAQs
Who invented the cheese grater?
When it comes to the question of who invented the cheese grater, we are talking about Francois Boullier and Jeffrey Taylor. The first was Francois Boullier’s 1540 invention, which featured a simple pewter material. In the 1920s, Jeffrey Taylor made holes in a metallic shower drain, creating a new kind of cheese grater. Check out our review on cheese graters to learn more.
How to use a cheese grater?
When you want to use a cheese grater, lay it on a countertop or tabletop and grate the cheese moving from side to side. If you hold it vertically and grate in the upward/downward direction, the implement will keep moving around. So, it is easier to use it when lying on a flat surface.
How to clean a cheese grater?
To clean a cheese grater wipe it with a cloth soaked in some white vinegar. The best way to wipe a cheese grater is in the opposite grating direction to avoid tattering the cloth. Once you are through, rinse it in clean water to remove the smell of soap or vinegar. Leave it to dry!
