Which Microplane grater/zester to buy?

If I had to pick just one kitchen gadget, it would be a toss up between my Microplane and my Large Scoop. I really love both of these and don’t think I could part with either. Microplanes through the years: a Grace hacksaw from 1990; a 1998 zester; a 1998 grater; a 1998 “Fine Grater;’’ a foot file from 2005, and two “Fine Graters’’ from 2010.

The classic Microplane Classic Series Zester/Grater continues to be our top choice for zesting and fine grating.

 “It used to be that you only needed to have a chef’s knife and a paring knife in your kitchen,” said Peter Degnan, director of merchandising for the San Francisco-based retailer Williams-Sonoma. “You don’t think you need a food processor, but once you have one, you wonder how you ever lived without it. The same goes for the Microplane tools.”

If you don't have any other graters, I think a Microplane is a great buy that will preclude you from having to buy, say, a box grater (unless you need bigger holes, like for soft cheese). We use our microplane all the time - zesting, grating parmesan, grating nutmeg, and grating ginger are the main uses.

I use ours for zesting limes and lemons, and for grating cheese, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, and ginger. In addition to grating lemon zest, it's great for adding a bit of hard cheese like Parmesan. One of my favorite things to do with it is to grate fresh nutmeg - it is so flavorful, and certainly has a place in savory dishes (traditional in creamy pasta, for instance, but I also add it to things like mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash soup). We throw it into the dishwasher and it always comes out clean.

The Many Uses of a Microplane:

• Grating Garlic - I hate mincing garlic. I’m capable of doing it, but it gets old doing it almost every night when I’m preparing dinner. Grating it on the microplane is super fast.
• Grating Hard Cheeses – The Microplane is PERFECT for freshly grating hard cheeses like Parmesan, Asiago, Romano, and more.
• Chocolate Shavings – Chocolate shavings are a great way to garnish desserts and it’s really simple to make shavings with the microplane. (Examples: see White Chocolate Pudding and Orange Chocolate Chunk Brownies)
• Citrus Zest – Zesting citrus with a microplane is a great way to get off the satisfying flavor from the peel of the fruit without the bitter pith. I love to add zest (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit) to dishes and baked goods for extra flavor.
• Fresh Coconut - If you want freshly shredded coconut, the microplane is your tool also!
• Fresh Ginger – Instead of chopping or mincing ginger, I peel the skin off and grate it into a nice fine pulp with my microplane.

The method is the same for all of these uses. Just rub whatever it is you want to grate along the top of the microplane, just as if you were grating cheese. So simple – hardly any work at all! Buy a microplane, you'll be happy every time you use it. Mine came with a plastic sleeve for safe keeping, it washes up quickly and easily. My microplane was a gift from my, then 12 year old, son. Best cooking gift ever.

I have the original, also used for zesting and cheese grating. I also have the medium ribbon grater which is nice to have when you want the 'ribbons' and the spice grater. It all depends on what you want to do with it. Certainly the original long one is a great place to start and will take care of most of your grating needs.

I have fine, medium and coarse Microplanes. The coarse is good for potatoes (Rosti) , the fine for pureed garlic, ginger, fine parmesan, 'invisible' zest. The medium does what the fine does but the pieces are visible in the dish.

I think the boarder one is better because it is more vesatile. However, it is entirely up to you. The narrow/long one is slightly cheaper and maybe slightly safer because the cutting area is smaller. Imagine holding and grating a small lime and you will understand what I mean.