There are many kitchen gadgets we use on a regular basis, probably rarely giving any of them much thought. However, people are often surprised to find they may have been using appliances incorrectly – or to discover they’ve not been maximising the full potential of certain devices.
From using the hole in spaghetti spoons to measure portion size to extending dishwashers to fit tall glasses, there’s lots of clever tricks not everyone knows about. And now a handy tip about the fourth side of a box grater has been shared.
While it may be obvious that each side is used for various types of food, many people have bee stumped by the fourth side’s small holes with outwards, sharpened ridges, as the Liverpool ECHO reports.
One foodie took to Reddit to ask: “Does anybody ever use this part of the grater? What is it even for? All this has ever done is hurt my hand, but I’ve literally never used those smalls hole graters ever. Pretty much just use the other side for making grated cheese.”
An equally confused commenter wrote: “I have this exact one… and I’ve also assumed it was to make the cheese a bit smaller after grating. All it does though however, is f*** your hand up”. Another Reddit user said: “Very handy for shredding cleaning sponges.”
Thankfully, a number of savvy chefs also shared their tips.
One reply read: “Yea but took years to figure out, Parmesan and lemon/orange/ lime zest is best shredded on those 2 sides.” A second said: “Zest hard cheese or garlic nutmeg maybe ginger to make like a paste.” And someone else added: “Potato pancakes come out great with this side!”
According to MarthaStewart.com,”The smaller shredding holes are designed to finely grate cheese, chocolate, vegetables, and more.” Then the smallest holes can be used to make fine strands of cheese that will easily dissolve into salad dressings or sauces, or like Reddit users suggested, to zest citrus and grate nutmeg.
Meanwhile, the side with wide slots is used for slicing. And the side with the largest shredding holes, the one many of us use most, is designed for semi-hard cheese, carrots and apples.