Pampered Chef Garlic Press Review

***I’ve decided to start reviewing some products that I really like and think others might like too, and the ones that I wish someone had warned me away from.  Please note that I am not any kind of affiliate for these products.  Any links provided are just for your convenience.  ***

I ended up with my Pampered Chef garlic press about two years ago and it quickly became one of my favorite kitchen tools.  We love, love, love garlic, so any tool that makes cooking with garlic easier is a definite win.  The garlic press is priced at $16.50 on the Pampered Chef website, which is usually more than I want to pay for a tool that only does one job, but with as much garlic as we consume it gets a lot of use. 

The garlic press is dishwasher safe, which is a huge plus.  Hubby and I aren’t fans of hand washing dishes when we’re going to be running the dishwasher anyway.  I never did figure out whether or not the tool (it looks like the My Little Pony brushes) that came with it to scoop the skin out is dishwasher safe, so I don’t use it.  It’s a pain to clean and I don’t want to put it in the dishwasher without knowing for sure that it’s okay to.  I usually have to chop vegetables as well when I’m using garlic, so I just use the flat side of the knife blade to scrape the garlic off of the press and the point to scoop out the skin.   It may not be ideal, but it works for me.

I know some people argue that a garlic press isn’t a kitchen tool you need, and they’re right – you can peel and chop your garlic.  But, I do think it makes cooking faster and easier for me.  I do a lot of dinners in the slow cooker, and it makes the morning slow cooker prep before work go a little faster, and I don’t have to worry about my hands smelling like garlic all day long.  So, even in a small kitchen, I feel like the garlic press earns its keep and its drawer space.