I Reeked of Garlic for a Week to Find the 4 Best Garlic Presses

How you like your garlic is a highly personal matter, but a good rule of thumb is that the finer the mince, the sharper the bite. If you’re looking for that pungent zip from a clove, then consider the garlic press, which extrudes the allium through holes, creating a punchy paste. 

Garlic presses vary as much as knife work, but they offer one certainty: speed. Mincing garlic by hand is sticky business (literally), and a garlic press turns that unpleasant experience into one where you just have to squeeze two handles and out pops the garlic.

When it comes to choosing a garlic press, the biggest considerations are, first and foremost, how you prefer your garlic (punchy or extra punchy?), but also how comfortable it is and how easy it is to clean.

I tested eight garlic presses, spanning from reliable but budget-friendly options to sky-is-the-limit luxury ones, which, in the case of garlic presses, is about $50.

The Winners, at a Glance

The Best Garlic Press

OXO Good Grips Garlic Press

$18 $12 at Amazon View on Webstaurant Store $26 $18 at Jcpenney.com

Beefy, grippy handles, an easy-to-clean grate, and full-bodied, uniform minced garlic made this my favorite press, even if it’s a little on the clunky side.

The Best Self-Cleaning Garlic Press

Dreamfarm Garject Self-Cleaning Garlic Press with Peel Eject

$50 $45 at Amazon View on Dreamfarm.com View on Sabavihome.com

This is a consistent workhorse suited for anyone who prepares their weight in garlic each year. It takes up some space, but if you need to churn out a high volume of garlic, this is the fastest tool for the job.

The Best Compact Garlic Press

Zulay Kitchen Premium Garlic Press Set

$20 $13 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Zulaykitchen.com

Small and, dare I say, elegant, this press has a small capacity, but it does the job well and is easy to clean. And yes, that petite profile counts.

The Best Budget Self-Cleaning Garlic Press

Joseph Joseph CleanForce Garlic Press

$18 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Josephjoseph.com

This was one of the easiest to use and clean, despite being all plastic. The handles were wide and easy to grip, too.

The Tests

• Hand-mincing Test (Control): I used a moderately sharp eight-inch chef’s knife to mince three cloves of garlic to set a standard. I got as fine and even a mince as I could by hand without turning the garlic into a mushy paste. 
• Capacity Mincing Test: I ran three peeled cloves through each press (excluding those with smaller capacity) to see how well each handled a formidable amount of garlic.
• Taste Test: I tasted the product of each press to note mince size and taste. Talk about garlic breath!
• Unpeeled Press Test: I ran unpeeled cloves through each press to see how well they handled this. It often required a little more force, but when the skin didn’t catch, it saved me a significant amount of time, and the output was comparable to what I got with peeled garlic.
• Durability Test: I opened and closed the hinges of each press and inspected all moving parts to determine whether there was any likelihood of a terminally weak joint or component.
• Handling Test: I also considered the ergonomics of each press. Were the handles comfortable? Did pressing garlic require extra effort, relative to other models?

What We Learned

Screens With Larger Holes Produce Milder Garlic

Larger holes result in larger pieces of garlic with less bite. When garlic is very finely compressed—almost juiced—it becomes extremely pungent, bordering on acrid. This is due to two enzymes within the clove coming into contact with one another and forming allicin. The other downside of such finely pressed garlic is that it will oxidize much faster.

Finer screens require a little more muscle, too, which can result in an uneven consistency. They also tend to be much more difficult to clean. The Männkitchen Stainless Steel Garlic Press and Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press had the smallest holes of the presses I tested, resulting in a good bit of extra elbow grease and a much more biting garlic. 

In contrast, garlic presses with larger holes, like the OXO Good Grips Garlic Press, pressed fragrant, but not too punchy, even bits of garlic. 

Hinge Placement and Quality Are Key

Durable materials (probably) don’t matter as much—it’s just garlic, after all. And unlike a citrus press, for example, the hinge of a garlic press, which is the weakest link on the whole kit and kaboodle, isn’t going to receive much pressure unless it is wildly misused. The placement and size of the hinge, however, is another story. I liked hinges that went through both pieces fully and, when closed, allowed the plunger and the screen to sit flush. Presses that leave even a slight gap (or gaps), like on the Joseph Joseph Helix Garlic Press, require more force and leave a lot of garlic unpressed.

Pressing Unpeeled Cloves Saves Time, But It Also Wastes Garlic

While pressing unpeeled garlic can save a good amount of work and time, it can also leave a substantial amount of clove(s) unpressed in the chamber. The amount varied depending on how compactly the plunger fits against the screen, but regardless, there always seemed to be some garlic left behind. Depending on your prerogatives, the efficiency of getting a lot of garlic pressed in a hurry might outweigh the collateral loss, particularly if peeling garlic isn’t your favorite chore.

Large Handles Were Comfortable

While garlic isn’t necessarily the toughest thing to press, having large, sturdy, and comfortable handles makes a big difference, especially if you’re pressing garlic in bulk. My favorite presses had wide, stubby handles with a bit of padding, like the OXO, or a slightly suppler material, such as the Joseph Joseph Clean Force Garlic Press. They reminded me of heavy-duty can opener handles, and didn’t dig into my palms or digits in the way that the Zulay Kitchen Premium Garlic Press did. 

Cleaning Garlic Presses Is Never Easy

The four garlic presses recommended in this guide were among the easiest to clean (particularly within their respective categories). That said, it is never a fun job. Cleaning every last bit of pressed garlic out of a screen, plunger, hinge, and various creases and gaps feels nearly impossible, and even a good dishwasher will struggle to perform an immaculate job. Fortunately, allicin, that same compound that forms when garlic is crushed, has strong antibacterial properties, so a few bits left behind aren’t likely to hurt anything (or anyone).

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Garlic Press

The best garlic presses should produce uniformly minced garlic with ease and offer no-fuss cleanup. They should be comfortable to operate, with grippy handles that don’t slip out of your hand when squeezed. Pressing garlic takes some force, but generally speaking, large handles go a long way. That said, it shouldn’t be unnecessarily large or cumbersome.

Our Favorite Garlic Presses

The Best Garlic Press

OXO Good Grips Garlic Press

$18 $12 at Amazon View on Webstaurant Store $26 $18 at Jcpenney.com

What we liked: Apart from being the easiest garlic press to use, the OXO produced some of the most balanced pressed garlic. It was also among the easiest to clean. The rubbery, oversized handles might take up precious drawer space, but they make pressing garlic easy. And where it counts, this little ditty is all stainless steel—no plastic is touching your garlic here. The negligible price tag doesn’t hurt, either.

What we didn’t like: What made this garlic press work best was also what I disliked most. In this case, the handles are extremely bulky, making it tough to fit in a drawer. That said, if mincing garlic is a frequent chore for you, the time saved offsets the space lost.

Key Specs

• Weight: 9.5 ounces
• Materials: Stainless steel, silicone
• Max capacity: 2 medium-sized cloves 
• Cleaning tool included: No
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes
• Can it handle unpeeled cloves?: Yes

The Best Self-Cleaning Garlic Press

Dreamfarm Garject Self-Cleaning Garlic Press with Peel Eject

$50 $45 at Amazon View on Dreamfarm.com View on Sabavihome.com

What we liked: Dreamfarm’s Garject Self-Cleaning Press has the torque to churn out garlic in bulk—it also has one of the largest capacities. It’s fairly easy to operate, quick to empty and refill, and while self-cleaning is a bit of an exaggeration, cleaning it required the least fuss out of all the models I tested. It’s a smartly designed brute fit for the most demanding of home cooks, though it is probably overkill for most due to its elongated handles and heft. For the size of the holes in this press’s screen, which are considerably smaller than OXO’s, it churned out fairly uniform garlic that was slightly less sweet than the OXO, but, again, bulk is the name of the game here. This one is great for speedy output, and an eject lever helps get rid of most of the remnants; in other words, you’ll still have some cleaning to do, but it’s a help.

What we didn’t like: It’s a little on the large and heavy side, but again, the better-performing presses seemed to be this way. The “cleaning” tool doesn’t necessarily clean so much as it removes garlic hanging from the edge of the press.

Key Specs

• Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Materials: Chrome-plated zinc, plastic
• Max capacity: 2 medium-sized cloves (3 max)
• Cleaning tool included: Yes, on the back of the press
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes
• Can it handle unpeeled cloves?: Yes

The Best Compact Garlic Press

Zulay Kitchen Premium Garlic Press Set

$20 $13 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Zulaykitchen.com

What we liked: This is a modest, low-profile garlic press. It comes with a cleaning brush and a silicone sleeve for peeling garlic (that also handily holsters the press and brush, which you can then hang from a hook—a nice, if incidental, space-saving touch). Relatively small screen holes made for exceptionally fine-pressed garlic, to the point that it produced a lot of liquid, resulting in pungent but still sweet garlic that I enjoyed. It’s also fairly easy to clean compared with more complex models (with or without the brush provided).

What we didn’t like: While the handles are sturdy on this device, they take a bit of force to work, and being so thin, they’re a little uncomfortable to operate. The basin also only leaves room for about one and a half to two (small) cloves. The small screen holes are right on the threshold of producing too-fine garlic, which may limit its applications (depending on your taste). 

Key Specs

• Weight: 8.4 ounces
• Materials: Zinc alloy, nickel plating, rubber
• Max capacity: 1.5-2 medium-sized cloves 
• Cleaning tool included: Yes (a brush, and a garlic peeler/holster sleeve)
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes
• Can it handle unpeeled cloves?: Yes

The Best Budget Self-Cleaning Garlic Press

Joseph Joseph CleanForce Garlic Press

$18 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Josephjoseph.com

What we liked: This was far and away the fastest garlic press and about tied for the easiest to use, too, thanks to the large handles and spacious basin. I also liked the “Wiper Blade” for separating stuck garlic—with the pull of a trigger, it actually did a good job. The cleaning tool itself, which stows inside the handle, easily punches through the screen’s large, square holes, popping out any straggling bits. The garlic that the Clean Force produced was a little stringy and inconsistent, with some finer pieces mixed in with larger bits. Still, it was noticeably sweeter than most others, and less pungent. Notably, the screen closely resembles the one found on the top pick from OXO.

What we didn’t like: This was another space hog, and on top of that, it’s not a dishwasher-safe model. The garlic pieces were mostly large, but interspersed with enough fine bits to throw consistency off. Also, being among the more cheaply made options, I’m left wondering about the polypropylene degrading, leaching into food, and its overall longevity.

Key Specs

• Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Materials: Polypropylene
• Max capacity: 3 medium-sized cloves 
• Cleaning tool included: Yes (built into back)
• Dishwasher-safe: No
• Can it handle unpeeled cloves?: Yes

The Competition

• Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press: This has a smart design and is easy to clean (especially with the removable built-in tool), but the output was inconsistent, and the hinge pin is suspiciously thin, especially for a larger-profile tool.
• Männkitchen Stainless Steel Garlic Press: This is an exceptionally sturdy, if heavy and clunky model, but it produced the least output and had the greatest inconsistency. Despite being built like a tank with quality stainless steel, a narrow hole pattern in the screen seemed to require more pressure for it to work. The result was highly inconsistent allium bits. It was difficult to clean, too.
• Gourmet Easy Garlic Press: Promising in concept, this simply designed, easy-to-clean model is made of two detachable arms that link together. It consistently produced finer mince, but was too hard to operate compared with others, especially when pressing multiple cloves. This seemed most likely due to its lack of a proper hinge.
• Joseph Joseph Helix Garlic Press: The name of this model alludes to its unique function, which involves twisting two handles, rather than directly pressing them. It was interesting, but it wasn’t very sturdy, and I broke a small guiding tab when trying to press two garlic cloves, rendering it useless. It may have worked better if it were made with more durable materials.
• Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press: This press smashed garlic around the edge of the plunger, making cleanup a longer process than most.
• OXO Steel Garlic Press: The smaller holes clogged easily and were hard to clean. It appears to be discontinued.
• Williams Sonoma Stainless Steel Garlic Press: The hinged screen on this press flipped back for easier access, but without a self-cleaning tool, the skins needed too much prying to pull free. 
• Vantic Garlic Press Rocker: It was difficult to reach the high levels of force needed to roll this press over the garlic, leaving the garlic mostly half-smashed and not minced. 
• Orblue Garlic Press: A deep but small-capacity hopper meant garlic was smashed into the hinges and skins were tough to remove. 
• Alpha Grillers Garlic Press and Peeler Set: This press was identical to the Orblue model with all the same hang-ups. 
• Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker: The holes on this rocker press were extra-wide, meaning what did get pressed was more of a chop than a mince. Plus, it left over half of each clove unpressed and required too much force. 
• Amco Garlic Press and Slicer: The addition of a slicer on this model made it unwieldy, and the slicer itself was less efficient than using a knife. It appears to be discontinued.

FAQs

Are garlic presses worth it?

If you mince a lot of garlic on the regular and have space for one, a garlic press is a very handy and time-saving tool.

What does a garlic press do?

Garlic presses push garlic through a screen to create a mince-like texture.

Is a garlic press better than chopping?

Garlic presses save a lot of time—what takes several minutes with a knife takes mere seconds with a press. However, the quality is much different, especially at the hands of a skilled knife user, who will produce much sweeter, milder minced garlic. This is because when minced correctly, garlic won’t be squished and effectively turned into juice, which creates the pungent, sulfur-rich compound allicin.

What’s the best knife for chopping garlic?

A chef’s knife with a sharp blade is a good choice for slicing, dicing, and mincing garlic. This eight-inch one from Wüsthof is Serious Eats’ longtime favorite.

Can you chop garlic with a food chopper?

Most food choppers can’t chop finely enough to mince garlic—and Serious Eats doesn’t recommend them, anyway.

Why We’re the Experts

• Owen Burke is a contributor at Serious Eats.
• A founding contributor at Wirecutter, he has reviewed kitchen gear for nearly a decade and worked in restaurants and raw bars.
• For this review, he tested nine garlic presses with one, two, and three cloves, peeled and unpeeled, evaluating the tools on their ability to produce evenly minced garlic, as well as ease of use, cleaning, and durability. 
• We first reviewed garlic presses in 2022. The garlic press from OXO has remained a winner throughout years of testing.