I don't see it as a cost savings because I buy a better quality cheese when I buy a chunk and I think it is worth it. To me, grating cheese right onto the hot food with a hand held grater at the time of serving gives the best flavor because it is freshly grated. If a recipe calls for a large quantity of grated cheese, it is sometimes tempting to buy pre-grated. But I don't like to store grated cheese if I can avoid it. One of those simple crank type cheese graters would probably work well, but it's not high on my wish list. One more thing to clutter the gadget drawer.

Jim

A microplane grater will take care of grating parmesan quickly. There's no point in grating and freezing IMO. A chunk of parm keeps well in the refrigerator and then you can have fresh. The microplane will come in very handy for other tasks too. So why spend the $$ on a one use gadget?

Nancy

Yes, you can use it on your feet too. :)

I am another that always uses a microplane on Parmesan.

I have a small holed hand held grater that I used to use for Parm..but then I got a name brand foot long Microplane. It does a much better job..those little rectangle 'blades' do a better job than round holes. Fast, quick, and light grate so the cheese begins to melt as it hits the hot food..
It's a wonder tool for zest and chocolate too!

oh yeah and feet...amazing!!!!!! LOL I'm going to go try to find some shorter ones for hubbies and my feet..One each..and that'll leave my "kitchen" one to the kitchen only.. snort....Thank Goodness I have a dishwasher!

I have one of those hand held things that the cheese is "stored" in and it has a crank at the top. I don't like it, though. I've tried storing the whole gizmo in large plastic bag to keep the cheese from drying out too much and it doesn't work. The cheese still gets dry and tasteless fairly fast. The way I store my parm is wrapped in saran wrap, inside of a ziplock freezer bag and in the drawer that is in the middle of the refrigerator (I think that one is for meat, in my fridge.) Some people say plastic kills the cheese but I've tried several methods and that is what works best for me so far.

I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to chime in! :)

Microplane is the way to go. I used to have a Zyliss crank grater that worked reasonably well, but it can't compare to Microplane.

I don't grate cheese onto hot food - I grate the amount I think is necessary and put it in a small bowl for serving. I put a tiny wooden spoon in the bowl as well, and I usually use bowls that I got at Marukai's 98¢ Store (which has raised its prices to $1.48!). If I have any left over, I store it in a plastic bag with all the air removed and keep it in the cheese drawer. I generally use it within a couple of days or else make some Caesar dressing to use it up.

Lars

I'm with Lars on this one. The Zyliss one is better than most, but still can't hold a candle to the Microplane.

Parmesan keeps quite a while if you keep it from collecting any condensation.

Lars? Where did you find tiny wooden spoons, please? I've had zero luck finding anything to replace the tiny ceramic one I broke.

Microplane here, too. We store Parmesan in one of those little Handi-Vac bags to stave off mold. It satisfies my need for gadgetry, and the cheese keeps a lot longer.

Can you really use the microplane on your feet? Does it make them smell like cheese?

I too use a microplane to grate parmesan. I have one of the zyliss things, and it's sat in my gadget drawer for 5 years without being touched. It's not that easy to clean, and takes up a lot of space, so I'll probably give it away (anyone want it?). :)

As far as storing cheese, a local cheesemaker told me that the best way was to tightly wrap each piece in waxed paper and put that in a ziploc bag. It seems to work rather well so far.

Bri

hey, Maureen?
Check out the link. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Microplane for feet

Just hook up an IV for my parmesan.

I store most of my cheeses vacuum packed in Food Saver bags, in the fridge, like Maureen. Annie freezes some of hers. To each their own.

Oh yeah and I finally found a source for parmesan without animal rennet - at a 'Fresh and Easy' store (along with $2.59 5 lb. bag of flour and $3.50 bottle of real vanilla)! W00t!

I don't DARE tell you what I use for parmesan cheese for fear of being excommunicated from the forum! Maybe I should get some "real" stuff, just to play with my microplane. I bought the pre-shredded kind before, but it went moldy in no time at all.

I'm responding to Beanthere (Renee?) about the mini spoons. Back in May at the FFF, I noticed they had mini spoons at Crate and Barrel. They were colored and white (ceramic), and they had wooden ones as well. Actually, I think the wooden ones were olive wood. If you have one near you, you might try there. I love mini kitchen toys. I picked up a mini cleaver at a thrift shop a couple days ago. It's not sharp enough to cut anything, but it sure is cute. I think it's made for cheese... so kind of on topic!

Here is a link that might be useful: Spoons link!

I never buy pregrated parmesan. I usually pick up a kilo size wedge of Reggiano and just keep it in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Lasts for as long as I need it too. Probably between 4 to 6 weeks. Would never freeze good cheese. I just cut off a chunk as big as I need for whatever we have having. If I need a lot of parmesan for something, then I put the pieces in the mini processor. Quick way to get a cup of grated parmesan. Otherwise I use one of the microplanes. I have the microplane cheese grater, but more often than not I either use the zester or the

Rest assured, I have a microplane dedicated to my pedicures.
I bought it from Bed Bath and Beyond in the kitchen section though. I go barefoot in the house all day and it works great. I used to use pumice stones and all sorts of "gentle" foot products when I really needed an electric sander and buffer.

This thread has convinced me it's time I should have a microplane. I would not use it on my feet, but it could come in handy in my woodworking shop.

Jim

Jim, that's where the inventor got the idea....from a wood rasp.
Works great...grate??? LOL! on feet, cheese chocolate and garlic...
Oh yes and ginger too!
Linda C

Ginger! That's grate! Now I must have a microplane. Oak, maple, mahogany, Parmesan, Pecorino, ginger, oh my. Please tip off my family before Christmas shopping. It's not too late is it?

Jim

I have a flat, hand held grater but I find it to be a pain. I think it's time I got a microplane. I used one at Annie's for lemon zest, it was so cool! I've just been holding off due to finances, but between citrus, parm cheese and ginger, I think I will get a lot of use out of it and make it worth the investment.

I use a microplane. I find it quiet difficult to hold a huge chunk of cheese and try to grate it because my hand is small. I guess I could break a piece off but it just somehow seems disrespectful. ; )

Bri, if you decide to give away your Zyliss I would love to have a chance at it.

Beverly

Micro plane user here. I have one just for cheese and another narrow one for ginger, zesting and whatever else occurs to me for grating, but not my feet!

Did I mention that I am a spammer for a large multi-national microplane company? Looks like it will be a very good year for us.

Jim

Wow, thanks for the link, Beanthere! I had no idea!

And so specialized, too. That site must be a foot fetishist's paradise. There's a little grater for every need. Tools for onions and bunions all in one convenient place!

I'll probably sneak back there and get one of those heel buffers when nobody's looking. My feet can use the attention.

Like the rest of the world apparently, I use a microplane for my parm. But pretty much only when grating directly onto food; other than that I go to the box grater. I know that there are several types of microplanes, but here are my findings based on the one whose dimensions, excluding the handle, are about 1" by 8":

A box grater is a lot quicker. Each stroke takes a lot more cheese off the block, and the bigger surface means you are not digging a trench into the cheese to where you have to readjust to grate down the peaks. Another consideration, the microplaned cheese takes up maybe three times the volume of regular grated cheese of the same weight. I know that grated cheese is not an ingredient that one would get too particular about measuring, but if you do want to follow a recipe closely you need to remember that. Lastly, I find the consistency of box-grated parm better for putting in a bowl to serve at the table because a spoonful of the fluffy stuff will have more of a tendency to hold together in drop in a pile rather than sprinkle out evenly.

Again, directly on food it is always the microplane. It melts so nicely but perhaps most importantly, the microplane takes up a small fraction of the dishwasher space of a box grater.

As for storage, I always buy a nice size hunk (always Reggiano) and store it in a foodsaver bag that starts out big enough to reseal several times. By the time the bag is too small to use anymore, the cheese is still good as new and will be used quickly enough to where I am not too concerned storage. Saran wrap is fine at that point.

(Wow, that became a long post!)

It's sad, but I don't buy the good stuff any more. Saving it for pasta, salads and such is a joke. I'll cut off chunks and eat with wine and crackers. It won't last a week and it's too pricey for my snacks.

Stumpy....microplanes come in different sizes....not all are that 1 by 10 inch strip....and they come in different "coarseness"...that produce different sizes of gratings....from ribbons to powder to shreds etc..

I buy a half a kilo of parm reg or more and cut it into the size I will use and carefully wrap and freeze all but one chunk and get it out as I need it. parmesan freezes very well because of the low moisture content.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: m icroplane

Thank you Linda. I figured as much, which is why I noted which one I have and use. I recall for a fact that the one I bought was specifically labeled for use with hard cheeses. Makes sense, as that is what I bought it for.

If there are significant differences in the consistency of the different grates, then it would be a lot more informative if people would be more specific about which micorplane they use as opposed to just throwing out a name brand. Lest someone sever their achilles tendon when all they really wanted to do was shave some calouses.

Oy vey, so that means I can't use the same gizmo/microplane for lemon zest, ginger and cheese?! Do I have to get 3 gizmos? That I cannot afford.

If no one else wants a zyliss it's yours Beverly. If there are other people who want it, let me know and I'll do another thread and a random drawing.

I think I've used it three times, so it's in near perfect condition...

Bri

{{gwi:1550368}}

I've always called my grater a saber but I think it's a microplane. It's just a great grater. It does grating cheese,lemon zest, ginger, nut meg, fingers ...everything. I don't do the foot thing and I don't think I will suggest it to my DH.

Honestly I used to hate grating cheese and was absolutely shameless in what I would do to con someone else into doing it but I really like doing it now. I swear I am not now and never have been employed by the makers of that thing......Tache

LPink, try and find the Flexible Microplane Set. You get 4 different graters. I have this set but mine only came with 3 graters.

Food, microplane makes a box grater too. My son Matthew bought me one last year for my birthday.

Ann I am really liking the idea of that set. Can you use it on lemon zest, does it grate fine enough? And does it work like a microplane, meaning that you kind of rub it over the surface of what you're grating and the little bits fall into the pot? I have a flat grater that I don't like because whatever I am grating finely tends to stick to the back of the grater and I have to scrape it off, which is just a pain.
Thanks for the tip!
Lpink

We use a microplane for parm daily on our garden-fresh salads, but even more fun is the humor in this thread!

LPink, it is a microplane, Instead of having 4 different handled graters you have a handled frame and three or 4 interchangeable graters. They pop in and out easily. One is fine, that you use for lemon zest or ginger, garlic, and the other graters are more coarse. Great for cheese, chocolate, etc...

Ann

Beverly~
I guess the zyliss is yours! I'll email you to get your address and get it shipped out.

Bri

A big thanks to Bri for the Zyliss Cheese grater she sent me. It arrived yesterday and I've already used it and really like it. It comes apart for cleaning and can be placed in the dishwasher I believe.

Thanks Bri!!!!

Beverly

Beverly~
Glad you like the zyliss! You're right, just spin the end off and toss the pieces in a dishwasher! I hope it serves you well.

Bri