A few years ago I saw one of the chef's on the Food Network using a fine gauged planer from the hardware store and though, WOW what a great tool! I ran out to the Home Depot, they didn't have one that was fine enough, so off to Lowe's, nope, not them either, finally I wound up at a craft store, and found one in the wood craft aisle. Ever since then I have found so many uses for this cool kitchen tool. (I have since upgraded to the one with a handle that is actually MEANT for use in the kitchen)
It's perfect not only for zesting citrus, but also grating pecorino or locatelli for wispy, fluffy ribbons of hard cheese over my pasta. Whenever a recipe calls for finely minced garlic or ginger, I pull my microplaner out as well.
Do you keep whole cinnamon or nutmeg for baking? Use your microplaner to grate your spices (do this onto a sheet of waxed paper, so that you can measure easily)
Making dessert? Want to have that pretty dusting of fine chocolate over top? Grate some on the you mircoplaner (you can get even more creative by grating over a stencil… so pretty!)
The microplaner is relatively inexpensive (retailing for anywhere from $7 to $12 depending on where you shop) and is a multitasker in the kitchen so it's worth every penny.
-Christine Garner
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