Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A utensil used to crush garlic
WordNet
n. a press for extracting juice from garlic
Wikipedia
A garlic press (also known as a garlic crusher in Australia and New Zealand), is a kitchen utensil to crush garlic cloves efficiently by forcing them through a grid of small holes, usually with some type of piston. Many garlic presses also have a device with a matching grid of blunt pins to clean out the holes.
Garlic presses present a convenient alternative to mincing garlic with a knife, especially because a clove of garlic can be passed through a sturdy press without even removing its peel. The peel remains in the press while the garlic is extruded out. Some sources also claim that pressing with the peel on makes cleaning the press easier.
Garlic crushed by a press is generally believed to have a different flavor from minced garlic, more of garlic's strong flavor compounds are liberated. A few sources prefer the flavor of pressed garlic. Raw-foods chef Renée Underkoffler says "a good garlic press makes dealing with garlic a clean pleasure. Pressed garlic has a lighter, more delicate flavor than minced garlic because it excludes the bitter center stem." The magazine Cook's Illustrated says "a good garlic press can break down cloves more finely and evenly than an average cook using a knife, which means better distribution of garlic flavor throughout any given dish."
On the other hand, some chefs say garlic crushed in a press has an inferior flavor compared to other forms of garlic. For instance, chef Anthony Bourdain calls garlic presses "abominations" and advises "don't put it through a press. I don't know what that junk is that squeezes out of the end of those things, but it ain't garlic." The British cookery writer Elizabeth David once wrote an essay titled "Garlic Presses are Utterly Useless". Alton Brown has expressed suspicion about them on account of their having only one function.
Cook's Illustrated lists some additional uses for a garlic press, such as mashing other small items (including olives, capers, anchovies, and canned chipotles) or pressing out small quantities of onion or shallot juice.
Usage examples of "garlic press".
Old garlic, burnt garlic, garlic cut too long ago, garlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting.
She painstakingly peeled husks from the cloves of two large garlic bulbs and got to work with the garlic press.
I did not seem to have forgotten anything yesterday when I had driven to Virginia Beach to shop, although I would have to do without garlic press, pasta maker, food processor and microwave oven.
Laying aside the garlic press, she dried her hands on a borrowed apron, borrowing it hadn't been her idea, called out that she'd be right there, and tripped over the cat.
Laying aside the garlic press, she dried her hands on a borrowed apron&mdash.