Grating veggies - best tool for the job?

Tiddlywinks

I've just rediscovered how great (excuse the pun) grated raw carrot is - it's really tasty mixed with cheese. BUT, I only have a grating board and it took forever to grate enough for our meal.

So, what's the best gadget / tool for finely grating carrots and the like?

I don't want to invest in something that isn't right for the job and most things I have seen just chop rather than grate / shred.

Grateful (see what I did there ) for any top tips as I think this is going to be a favourite jacket potato filler for me.....

radiohelen

Box grater - no question! The strands are thick enough to retain some crunch and long but not too long. I think it's something to do with the angle of attack! It's easy to use and lasts forever. Very OS.

Microplane style - too thin and too short
Rotating grater - again too thin
Food processor - OK if you are doing large amounts but you get big lumps left in.

I've really thought too much about this haven't I. I'll get me coat.

Tiddlywinks

Sorry to sound so dumb but what is a box grater ?

Is it a flat grater with a collection box attached or something a bit special?

floyd

Yep, another vote for a box grater

floyd

radiohelen

Thanks floyd. I was off reading posts about self saucing chocolate pudding.... not concentrating.
That is a perfect representation of the box grater form. They are cheap. Buy a solid feeling one and it will give you decades of service.

Alison_Funnell

What ever kind of grater you have they tend to blunt over the years.

PasturesNew

It's still manual and slow ... with bits of knuckle mixed in for good measure.

Alison_Funnell

TBH I find a good 'sharp' one to be a very quick and effective tool. Just depends on the effort put in. I always hold things flat palmed to grate so I don't get my knuckles.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

A box grater for small amounts. Once you get into the realms of HM coleslaw (the nicest thing imaginable to dump on a salad plate!), a food processor with a whirly grating and slicing disk becomes more useful.

jexygirl

For me, hand grater is good, but robocoupe (commercial version of a food processor with grating attachment) for me wins.
Yes, it uses electricity, but, I work out my GP (gross profit) based on everything it takes to make something.
Grating by hand is time consuming - for colslaw and cheese etc, the electricity used versus speed as in staff time, the time from start to finish etc. works out better, tho tbh, we do do large amounts. When we have underprepped due to an unexpected rush, i have made colslaw and grated cheese to order, but I still beleive a food processor is more effective and has so many more uses than doing things by hand regardless of situation.
A good food processor will have blades, graters, even mixers and dough hooks (i have never owned a BM nor would I, i stick it in the mixer!) so for me its multi functional and worth its weight / time saving in gold!
(NB It takes the same time to clean the mixing bowl and attachments as it does to clean a hand grater and to clean down the sides where it was grated so have based it on time used to do the job overall in my experience)
Jex