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Good Product: OXO's Good Grips Zester

2007_09_27-Zester.jpgWe love this zester. A friend gave it to us and we were somewhat dubious at first about this one-use tool - we had a grater that seemed more practical. And yet we reach for this over and over again.

It is actually quicker and easier to zest a lemon or orange with this, rather than pulling out the whole box grater. You have more control over where the zest falls than with a Microplane, and the curved top makes sweet curls and flakes of zest. The secondary tool makes longer, thicker strips of zest or peel.

Plus the short, chubby handle fits very comfortably in the hand. We're in the midst of moving and oddly this was one of the first things we dug up from our mess of kitchen boxes. OXO Good Grips Lemon Zester, $7.99 at Amazon.

Comments (9)

Yup, world's greatest zester. It makes nice thin strips that are very easy to mince quickly if you want a finer zest.

posted by cmcinnyc on 2007-09-27 13:37:41
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man, i must be doopid, because i have this and can't figure it out...so i bought a microplane instead.

maybe it's because i'm lefthanded and just can't do the two seconds worth of mental consideration on how/where to hold this thing in relation to the how/where of the lemon?

anything's possible...i can be dense.

posted by kdkaboom on 2007-09-27 13:47:12
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Like rubbing a fork against the lemon. There's not a lot of technique involved.

posted by cmcinnyc on 2007-09-27 14:57:10
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I agree with #2, I had this zester first, and it just took too damn long to zest an entire lemon and get every little bit of zest off, so I always go to my microplane.

Perhaps I should revisit, or maybe if I needed those long curls to fancy it up.

posted by Rog on 2007-09-27 16:31:03
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I love the concept of this zester, and we've owned one for years and it does make the most gorgeous curls of zest. I will never go back to the crumbly little piles of citrus skin the grater makes.

Only thing is, I have super small hands and it's actually too awkward for me to handle so my hubby does the zesting round here.

posted by Bx on 2007-09-27 18:07:15
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I have one. It zests beautifully! I can see it might be problematic for lefties, though.

posted by bohemiangirlpdx on 2007-09-27 21:54:33
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I have both of the tools mentioned, the zester and microplane. I vote for the microplane. I have not used the zester for years now and we make salad dressings with citrus zest almost every night, always using the microplane. I love that tool, and I bought one for my mom in Europe too - she loves it too.

posted by Anusha73 on 2007-09-28 11:52:16
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I usually use a microplane, and only use my zester when I want "pretty" zest, for a garnish or something where it should be whole. Otherwise, it is a pain.

posted by brittanykate on 2007-09-28 16:45:01
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I bought a similar one for the cute lime green handle it had---I use it instead of the microplane for any sort of poaching liquid etc. and also as above for anything pretty, like cake topping.

posted by sally599 on 2007-10-01 15:24:39
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