Zyliss Susi 2 Garlic Press
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List Price: Our Price: $9.95 You Save: $7.04 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Zyliss Susi 2 Garlic Press
Customer Review: Best for the average consumer, but it has a few problems...
Summary: 3 Stars
I've recently reviewed the Kuhn Rikon, so I thought I should put my two cents in about this press as well, since it is the one I use.
This press does a very good job with the mince, but it has some deficiencies and design flaws.
The first two problems have to do with longevity --
The alloy is inferior, and over the years metal fatigue will catch up with it and the handle is likely to crack near the basket. They do use a stainless steel hinge pin(the only stainless part on the whole press), but that is not enough to make this a "lifetime" utensil. Also, the finish doesn't last, mine is already getting scuff-marks and scratches.
The second lifetime-shortener is the little cleaning tool. As a plastic item separate from the press itself, it is just a matter of time before it accidentally goes into the trash with some food waste, or gets ground in the garbage disposal. Also, being plastic, the little prongs on mine are already getting slightly warped and bent, making it tedious to get it lined up properly with all the holes at once. Once that goes, the press will be such a pain to clean that you'll prefer to get a new press.
Another flaw is the little nubs on the bottom of the plunger. This is a tempting thing for a garlic-press designer, but it is counter productive. At first blush, one imagines that these little protrusions will help push the last little bit of garlic through the holes. In practice however, they do just the opposite! Imagine, if you will, the moment when the plunger is about 1/8 inch from the bottom. The basket is full of smashed garlic, waiting to be expelled, but now something's blocking the holes! The little nubs impede the passing of the last of the garlic through the holes, and actually force it to go out around the plunger head, creating more waste. Having both the head and the basket very, very flat is the better design.
Zyliss does a good job at keeping the plunger and basket diameters very close, which is a key characteristic of a good press.
The Kuhn Rikon was better in the past, but they seem to have changed their manufacturing process(along with lowering the price), resulting in a product that is markedly inferior to what it was before.
I have many presses because I did a personal research project a couple of years ago, out of frustration. The Susi 2 is the one I use almost daily. So many look good, but just don't work right for one reason or another. Forget about Farberware or Oxo or any of the common brands. They waste garlic and/or produce an inferior pulp. This is the best press for the money at the time of this writing(January 2011).
Customer Review: THIS IS FAR BETTER THAN THE EXPENSIVE KUHN RIKON!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a Kuhn Rikon garlic press for $28 on here and it was awful. It was heavy, bulky, and hurt my hand. This a dream machine in comparison! This is light weight and fits in the hand well. I recommend this press to everyone!
Yes, the garlic is a bit hard to clean out, but if you wait until it dries, it is easier. HOWEVER, if you buy a Zyliss Garlic press, ALWAYS try to get one with a cleaner.
I had high hopes for the Kuhn Rikon, but fortunately, I bought a $16 Zyliss Susi 2 Garlic Press a few days prior to purchasing it at a local kitchen store, so I know the difference between a good garlic press and an overpriced malfunctioning contraption. I was going to return the the Zyliss to a local kitchen store where I bought it, because it didn't have a shiny finish and I thought it was a little hard to clean every tiny piece of garlic out of (later I discovered the cleaner it comes with makes it easy to clean). BUT, I am now keeping the Zyliss and it is a dream compared to the Kuhn Rikon hunk of junk. If you really want a good garlic press, buy the Zyliss, it's far smaller, very light, and I can't possibly see anyone liking the Kuhn Rikon after trying the Zyliss. You've been warned!
The Zyliss Susi 2 Garlic Press is not shown on Amazon with a cleaner. So, if you can find one at a local kitchen shop with the cleaner, I would get one. Otherwise, you can try the Zyliss Susi DeLuxe Garlic Press which comes with a cleaner or the Zyliss 12040 Jumbo Garlic Press with Cleaner on here. I haven't used them, but assume they're good. But, I can't recommend any garlic press without a cleaner, just too hard to clean without one. A toothbrush might be an alternative, you could try if you needed to, or waiting until the garlic dries. You have to be able to stick something into the press holes or it just doesn't clean well. With the cleaner, it cleans a a few seconds.
I also love the finish on this Zyliss. It is not shiny, so you get no fingerprints. All you have to do is rinse the garlic off, I never have to actually clean it with a sponge or anything, it just doesn't need it. Once you use a garlic press with this sort on finish, you will never want one of the shiny ones again! I'm using way more garlic than I've ever used in my life because of my Zyliss. I'm even using it to press fresh ginger so I can make ginger tea and drinks!
Customer Review: Excellent garlic press
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this garlic press to replace my broken older zyliss model. I was at first disappointed that my older model snapped at the hinges within 3 years of use. I loved the garlic press and wasn't sure if i should buy another once since it broke so fast, but wasn't sure if another garlic press would work as well.
So glad I decided to stick with new susi model. It works so much better than the old one. This new model has a great teeth feature on the plunger and it helps grip the garlic and push it through without much effort. It is also much smaller than the old jumbo model i had, I was afraid it wouldn't be able to handle the large garlic pieces. So today i threw in a very big garlic piece with that hard part of the garlic attached to it, i didn't think i'd be able to even close the press cause the garlic was sticking a quarter of the way out. But surprisingly the press went down so easily! I didn't even need to put much strength into it. The older model always required me to ask for assistance or required that i cut off the hard part of the garlic. I'd also always peel off the skins with the older model cause it helped push the garlic through easier, but this new model is easier with the skins.
The teeth on the plunger of the new model helps a lot too, it pulls the skin out once the garlic is pressed through. The older model didn't have this feature and i would have to use my fingers to pull the skin out.
What i also love about this model is that it doesn't come with the plastic cleaner!! I never used that plastic thing with the old model, it just became a piece of junk in my drawer, what a waste of plastic and space (now my old garlic press is broken and that plastic thing is still sitting in the drawer, i wonder what i could do with it). I agree with another reviewer, i don't understand this problem that many ppl have with cleaning the press. First off, the teeth pulls the skin out for you, it's a great feature. If anything else is stuck in the holes I just use a toothbrush to brush it out. I stab the holes with the brush. If I'm lazy about use the toothbrush, i'll just use my fingers to rub back and forth on the holes, it works way better than that plastic cleaner.
Anyways, highly recommend this garlic press! I just hope it doesn't break as fast as the old one. Oh, the hinges on this model look a lot sturdier than the old one, looks metallic whereas the old one was aluminum.
Customer Review: Broken and unusable
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased a Zyliss Susi 2 garlic press and passed on my older Zyliss (original Susi) to my daughter. The older Zyliss had a flat surface on the plunger that seemed to press out more of the garlic. The newer Susi (which has a different plunger surface) leaves more garlic in the bowl. Mine did not come with a cleaner, but I was able to clean it by running under water and scrubbing with a toothbrush. This loosened the leftover garlic and was pretty easy to do.
While it worked, this was a decent garlic press. Now the bad part. The pin that holds the two parts of the garlic press together kept coming out. I would replace it and it would last for a while until it would come apart again. The last time it came apart in my wash water, and the pin disappeared down the drain before I had even realized the press had fallen apart yet again. So now I am left with a totally unusable garlic press.
For the price of this garlic press, I should not be having to look for a replacement. I will certainly not be getting this item again.
Customer Review: Awesome Garlic Press!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this garlic press! I had never even heard of Zyliss before, but I took a chance when I saw it for sale at one of those close out/overstock discount stores. I've had 2 or 3 presses over the years some that worked OK and some that just flat out didn't do a damn thing but crush the garlic. This press works beautifully and produces finely minced garlic with very little waste.
I saw that some people complained about theirs did not come with a cleaning tool. Well..mine came with one. Maybe back in the day they didn't come with one, but mine did and it works great. Even without the tool, it doesn't take much effort to clean it up.
I haven't experienced any of the coating issues some have had, but I've only had this press for a few weeks and have used it probably a dozen times already. So far so good.
The pressing action itself takes very little effort and feels pretty light and ergonomic.
Do yourself a favor and pick one up. You'll be glad you did. I know i am.