I’m by no means a prolific cook, but like many, my culinary pursuits have expanded infinitely during the pandemic—more as a way to pass the time than just a way of surviving. Now I want to make new recipes a real hobby in my tiny apartment kitchen. But as a budding home cook, I quickly learned one thing: Most recipes call for garlic, and I absolutely hate cutting it.
While initially I painstakingly minced garlic with a knife (hello, garlic fingers), I eventually resorted to buying canned minced garlic. That said, until I came across Chef’n Garliczoom last fall, months later I’m still passionate about it.
This compact kitchen gadget makes mincing garlic a breeze. Just toss in a few whole cloves and roll the unit along your kitchen counter for a custom chop – the less you roll, the thicker the chop, and the more you roll, the finer the mince.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have poor knife skills and that the garlic cloves are already so small I’m having a really hard time chopping them evenly (and safely) by hand. As a result, I’ve gotten used to encountering foul-smelling chunks of garlic in the dishes I prepare, sometimes cutting my fingers occasionally. This approach is not sustainable.
And, if you’ve ever used canned minced garlic, you know it’s not good. The premade stuff isn’t as tasty as the real thing, so you’ll end up using a lot. Even so, it didn’t taste quite right.
In the end I figured there must be a better way. Since my job involves finding and reviewing products, I’m always scouring the internet for life-changing gadgets. In this case, I think I’ll simply open up amazon.com and type “garlic chopper” into the search bar.
The Chef’n Garliczoom was one of the first results, and it stands out because it really doesn’t look like any other chopper. hey does it have wheels I’m curious. For $13, I didn’t hesitate to add it to my cart.
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The Chef’n Garliczoom is very easy to use: put a few cloves of garlic into the circular chamber, then roll the green wheel along the countertop to chop. More rolling means finer ground meat, while less results in coarser chops.
When it’s time to clean up, the Chef’n Garliczoom’s blades are easy to remove from the chamber—I usually just toss both blades in the dishwasher. When it comes to storage, this appliance is pretty compact, so you don’t have to worry about adding another bulky tool to your kitchen arsenal.
I find myself whipping out Chef’n Garliczoom a few times a week now, and I haven’t since bought a jar of minced garlic. My fingers never smell garlicky (and they don’t suffer from my sloppy chopping skills), and my food tastes amazing – if I do say so myself.