Microplane 34006 4-Sided Box Grater
by Microplane
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Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: MicroplaneBrand: Microplane
Model: 34006
Product features:
- Includes the 3 most popular blades (fine, medium ribbon, and extra course) as well as a fourth slicer blade
- Soft ergonomic handle, and non-slip rubber feet add stability
- Fine blade is removable for easy access and cleaning
- Dishwasher safe, and easy to clean
- Safety cover included
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Microplane 34006 4-Sided Box Grater
Customer Review: Take into consideration before buying...
Summary: 3 Stars
I had previously purchased the Microplane Professional Fine Spice Grater from Amazon with the Grater Attachment and have been pleased with its use, though its utility is limited to a certain range. For me this includes garlic, nutmeg, and parmigiano-reggiano cheese for which it works very well.
My previous grater was a plastic device that never worked well and recently fell apart and thus I wanted to find a quality grater and I was assured by the highly reviewed Microplane 34006 4-Sided Box Grater that this would be the solution.
It was known in advance that the box grater has a 'fine' side, which then makes my spice grater redundant and so I had planned to only use the box grater and then pass on or sell the spice grater which is a quality tool.
So I ordered the box grater from Amazon and upon opening the shipment it was clear that this box grater was also a quality product. I avoided a knock-off grater that had the laser-etched blades yet was without the protective covering of the Microplane. It was this safety aspect in addition to the well thought out use of the grater - rubber feet, the removable panel for cleaning, the large grip to hold when grating - that reassured me this was the right decision. It was only upon actually trying to use the product that I immediately became dismayed at its functioning. And to me this is odd because there is no evidence of this in the comments here about how the product does not function the way it is presented to.
My main use for the grater is for the large and small or coarse and fine graters, which consist of two of the four sides of the box grater. The large grater works well. And given the fact that it also has a removable plastic protector it is probably perfect in its functioning in this regard.
The fine spice grater has a flaw. The fineness of the grate is so light and wispy that it clings to the inside of the grater, unlike the hand-tool versions or models of this same fine grate. What this means is that if you keep the panel on the device (not removing it for use) then what you grate stays stuck on the inside of the grater, and you will need to use a spatula to remove the ginger or garlic that is somewhat wet and stuck to the inside which is similarly what happens on the hand-held models. The difference is that the latter allow easy access to remove the spices stuck to the shaving screen as it were, whereas to do this effectively with the box grater requires removing the panel and holding it as a sharp rectangular plane without handle - increasing the danger rather than diminishing it, of being cut in the process due to awkward use of the tool. In this way, the 'fine grater' of the Microplane Box Grater is a lesser version than the hand-tool version and it is also magnitudes less safe.
For box graters maybe this is par for course and a spatula would be needed to remove any fine grate from the inside. Yet when dealing with very small amounts (some garlic cloves) everything sticks to the inside and thus it is only practical to require taking the panel off to use it, and then it is not particularly good in this respect, nor particularly safe - especially when compared to the hand-tool versions of the same 'fine grate' version.
What this amounts to is that I have a better fine spice grater with the Microplane Professional Fine Spice Grater, and because the Box Grater does not work well in this regard, it requires me to keep the hand-tool even though it is a redundancy - the hand-tool is far superior as a fine grater.
Strike One.
So the next discovery involved trying to use the 'medium ribbon' blade, which is the third grater blade. I did not have particular success with what I was attempting to cut (carrots) simply to test its back and forth grating action, as this particular blade cuts in each direction, and thus a carrot can be moved back and forth as it grates down to nothingness. And it worked though is likely more suited to some other more optimal vegetable. In this way its use was mysterious and maybe it would be handy for a given recipe or preparation though it appears as an extra, versus a vital main blade. In my view the best three blades would be fine, medium, and extra-coarse, though maybe the distinction is hard to make and thus the ribbon.
Whatever the case, it was only upon trying to clean up the grater afterwards that it was realized that the pieces of carrot stuck in the ribbon blade would not easily wash out, be scrubbed out, or sprayed out. Instead, the small pieces of gratings that do not drop from the device get lodged or wedged in between those double-sided razor sharp loops that make up that side of the grater. Water has no effect at dislodging the organic material. A sponge will be torn to shreds trying scrub it away. And a spray of water focused upon the ribbon grate will only remove fragmented bits but not the ribbon slices stuck in the grater blade itself. This is becoming difficult and also getting dangerous. That is because you just cannot put your finger there and try to glide the stuff out of its predicament. Instead, it gets down to having to find another utensil, a toothpick or wooden kabob skewer, to safely clean the many pieces of residue stuck in the grater, both on the inside and outside of the box grater. I wonder why nobody else has mentioned this in their review? Maybe its not a common issue, yet it seems inevitable given the design. And while the removable panel does help somewhat with access, the overall problem remains of having to pick away at these pieces as required to clean the device after its use. It thus becomes a big hassle to use the ribbon blade, which then makes me forever want to avoid using this blade as result.
Strike Two. Two blades, the fine and the ribbon blade are useless to me.
Then real disappoint strikes. I was very hopeful about the slicer blade, which could make short work of slicing various veggies for salads, say. I tried both carrots and cucumbers. The slicer blade does not actually work. Instead of slicing through a carrot, for instance, the blade slices through about 2/3rds of the carrot and then the rest tears or breaks off, which is needed to get it through the slicer and onto the next section of carrot. In other words, you begin to slice and it slices only part-way through the vegetable and then repeatedly gets stuck somewhere in or just beyond the middle. The nature inclination would be to put your hand closer to the blade to get the necessary leverage yet with the razor sharp blades it make me entirely apprehensive - a sliced carrot is not worth a lost finger and that becomes the bargain needed to make this thing work slightly better. That is, to move your hand closer down toward the blade, yet even very close the base of this fourth side, when you push the carrot past the slicer, it will still get stuck. What is needed is a 'wall' or structure like the mandoline has and uses to push the food past the slicer. In this box grater that device is your hand. It not only does not work as it is advertised to (looking at all that perfectly sliced produce) it also is dangerous to attempt to get it to work - and even then it still cannot complete the task effectively. At most it will tear away to completion. This could be the result of the depth of the blade - the cut is rather large - and thus the leverage probably needs to be more, to make a smooth cut, and barring this support it can only then snap the food to finish the slice. This is not a useful feature and is particularly dangerous to use.
Strike three.
Three blades not of use, and this last one does not work as advertised.
Thus, of the 4-sided box grater only the extra-coarse grate is of use, and in addition I need to hold onto the fine-spice grater hand tool version to work effectively in the kitchen.
It dawned on me that against my own hopes it would be best to return the product for a refund due to its inability to work as advertised. I really do not want to do this because I still like the grater a lot - it is just very uneconomical to have two concurrent and redundant grater systems - it takes up space and also exhibits an underlying dysfunctionality of design. So I wanted to write to Microplane and ask them what they would do in such an instance - what does a person do if they have (and love) the hand-tool version yet hope for the added functionality of a Microplane box grater, yet there is the issue of redundancy as the Box Grater underperforms as a total replacement.
One way to solve this is to ship the box grater back and then order the Microplane professional extra-coarse grater and just use these hand tool versions instead of a box grater. Excepting that Amazon (itself) does not stock this item, and thus it does not qualify for free shipping or the 4-for-3 promotion as do many other Microplane products - and this is how I get by with limited resources, free shipping and 4-for-3 bargains. So it is not possible to order this extra coarse grater from Amazon, and thus a fine-spice/extra coarse grater set is not possible in terms of exchange and the general shopping experience offered and afforded by the Amazon system.
My view is that Microplane meets its limit and the beneficial aspects of its approach become limitations at the point of the box grater. The razor sharpness becomes a liability and another approach is needed to gain the benefits without ignoring the total utilization of the device.
At the very least the box grater should be redesigned with 'rails' on the side for a plastic pushing device to use with the slicing blade. This would make it functional like a mandoline while also protecting the user from the open and large razor blade.
It struck me that this product should be made entirely out of stainless steel though I've forgotten what the reasoning was for this. In part it has to do with the thickness of black plastic compared to the hand tools in the professional version. Though it may also have had to do with gaining access with a handled sponge/washer to clean the interior and how the inside space would open up with a thinner material. i.e. It is not possible to access and clean the inside using a handled sponge (at least the Quickie model I am using) without taking off the removable panel. And this can make a small job such as grating a piece of garlic into a bigger chore.
Further, I think the 'box' grater may be suboptimal for the Microplane aproach and that the old-styled flat metal graters with handles at either end of a rectangular plane would be a much better format for a combination version (or versions) of the grater. Say, a fine and extra-coarse grater on a single slab, with a protective cover and rubber grips on either end, one for holding and the other for gripping the counter or plate. A mockup is above in the customer images of what this would entail. I will be sending this commentary and feedback to Microplane in hope of a response.
I have another week to mull the possibilities yet this has become a big disappointment. Especially since the reviews are mostly 5 stars and these issues could not possibly be single instances. While it may be a highly awarded product it does not match or meet the expectations given to it as a flawless product. And it is important to balance the reviews with a more accurate assessment, including limitations, so customers can make the best decision. If I would have known these things in advance I would have tried to focus on finding an extra-coarse grater through Amazon, sold by Amazon, instead of taking the box grater approach. So too, if Microplane sold a 2-piece set of fine-spice/extra-coarse grater that would be effective also. Yet now I have a fine spice hand grater and a box grater, and a dilemma. And will send an update of how it all works out.
Overall, I think this grater deserves 3 stars. It has many good qualities and can be useful for those without previous Microplane graters because then the issue of redundancy is not there. As well, in their own ways, all three grater blades work - and potentially work very well at their task. It is only that the cleanup on the ribbon blade can be extremely problematic. Perhaps someone figures out an effective solution or method for dealing with it and then all is right and it works and is effective in its use. That would be enough to tend towards a 4th star, if somehow it were easy to address (via instructions even) how to go about cleaning the box grater without it becoming a hassle. Yet, with the last slicer blade essentially 'not working' and instead tearing and snapping things, there is a literal failure of use and obvious malfunctioning in the design as it exists - in addition to issues of real danger in simply going about it as designed. It is this safety issue that relegates the box grater to 3 stars in my view. Be careful using it. Use it only when fully awake/conscious, else beware. And for this reason as well a redesigned version should address these issues and I would not recommend purchase in general, excepting to those who may have use for the 3 blades (fine, ribbon, extra coarse) on a regular basis. Otherwise, I would suggest opting for individual hand graters, if only for safety's sake, yet also because they may be more effective as well in certain instances, such as removing stuck gratings off the underside and their improved ease of cleanup.
UPDATE --
I wrote the previous review a week ago on Sunday and sent an email copy to the Microplane corporation along with the included graphics (see customer images, above-left).
Amazingly, early Monday morning only hours later I received a reply which basically resolved the ongoing dilemma: the company representative encouraged me to ship my box grater back for a return, which I did via Amazon, and Microplane in turn sent out a complimentary Professional Extra Coarse Grater and bonus Microplane Pizza Cutter. It was also indicated that my product feedback was being forwarded to the engineering and product development team.
The immediacy of the response is itself impressive, as is the generosity of sending a new grater, which while unnecessary is certainly helpful and appreciated. Yet what is most remarkable is that Microplane stands behind their products while also taking customer concerns into consideration. This is a good sign about the core functioning and purpose of the business - that their tools are made to be used. And I am very glad to have learned about the graters and will continue to share my enjoyment in their use by recommending them to others. Thanks Microplane.
Description of Microplane 34006 4-Sided Box Grater
The Microplane 4-Sided Box Grater includes the three most popular blades (fine, medium ribbon, and extra course) as well as a fourth slicer blade. Soft ergonomic handle, and non-slip rubber feet add stability. Dishwasher safe, and easy to clean. The fine blade is removable for easy access and cleaning. Safety cover included.Cook's Tools & Gadgets
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