An easy-to-clean garlic press

Is it garlic? Or art?

(Credit: Eva Solo)

I love garlic. Mincing it, I'm not so much a fan of. But eating it? Yeah, I like that. I add minced garlic to nearly everything I cook. But you know what I hate even more than mincing garlic with a knife and a cutting board? Cleaning out the ridiculously tiny holes in a garlic press.

I know, they give you that little plastic tool to help, but it really doesn't. At least, mine doesn't. And there I am, hunched over the sink with a toothpick, going tiny square by tiny square, trying to get rid of garlic bits.

Eva Solo, a Danish company that launched in 1997, has a potential solution. The company says that each project it releases is "created as the center of its own universe." The company's garlic press is a beautiful piece made of stainless steel, with an integrated glass jar for storing extra cloves. But the truly brilliant part is that the press itself eschews the typical holes in favor of open slits, making it much easier to remove those bits and clean the press.

Both the garlic press and the glass jar are dishwasher safe, and the entire contraption is striking enough to serve as a centerpiece--or at least to live in plain sight on your kitchen counter.

At around $100, this tool is about $95 more than your typical garlic press, but think of the hours--and the backaches--you'll save.