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Best garlic presses 2026: tried and tested
Sam – an ex-science teacher – uses his physics degree and five years of experience at Which? to test everything from beard trimmers to electric bikes and trampolines.
The best garlic presses effortlessly turn the cloves into paste, without being difficult to clean.
Top brands including Oxo Good Grips, Ikea and Joseph Joseph have been 'hard-pressed' in our tests, all tried by multiple experts. We measured the effort needed to press them accurately with a force gauge to discover how easy they make crushing garlic for your favourite recipes.
We've tested 16 garlic presses, choppers and rockers, with three pushing ahead to get our Best Buy recommendation.
One of these was also under £10, proving you don't have to pay more to get a high-performing press. So it gets our Great Value recommendation too.
How our tests find you the best
Effort
Get your garlic without a workout. We use a force gauge to measure exactly how much force it takes to push unpeeled cloves through each garlic presser.
Yield
We weigh the garlic before and after it's pressed to see just how much of the good stuff gets through. The best we've tested presses more than double that of the worst.
Cleaning
A panel of testers tries every press to see which are the easiest to clear and clean.
We also test...
How comfy they are to hold, how easy the press is to use, how well it keeps skin in the hopper, capacity and build quality.
The garlic presses we tested
The biggest brands and the most popular 11 garlic presses are listed below.
Only logged-in Which? members and free account owners can view our results.
Register for free to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations for garlic presses.
| Garlic press | Price | Score | Effort to press* | Ease of cleaning | Ease of use** | Does it have a removable grate?*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to unlock for free Get instant access to these results, plus more reviews and advice by Which? experts, when you sign up for a free account Unlock tableAlready have an account? | 83% | |||||
| 83% | ||||||
| 81% | ||||||
| 77% | ||||||
| 77% | ||||||
| 77% | ||||||
| 76% | ||||||
| 76% | ||||||
| 76% | ||||||
| 73% | ||||||
| 73% |
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Date tested: August 2026. Page last checked: August 2026. We are not able to show every retailer, and cheaper prices may be available.
* Effort to press based on average force needed to press a single medium-sized unpeeled garlic clove. The more stars, the less force required.
** Ease of use factors in average testers' rating, along with whether you have to peel the garlic beforehand to use, if you can fit large-sized cloves in it and if the grate is removable.
*** Swing-out grate is when the press folds open so that the grate is more accessible for cleaning, but it can't be completely detached from the body of the press.
A selection of the garlic presses we tested is listed in alphabetical order below.
Only logged-in Which? members and free account owners can view our results.
Register for free to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations for garlic presses.
Chef'n GarlicZoom
Does it have a removable grate? No
Need to know We could fit four medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 8.4 x 6.7cm, 87g, material: plastic
Ikea Koncis Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Yes
Need to know We could fit one medium-sized clove in it at a time, size (L x W) 16 x 5cm, 150g, material: stainless steel
John Lewis Soft-Touch Handles Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Swing-out grate for easy access
Need to know We could fit two medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 20.2 x 6.6cm, 246g, material: soft grip handle and stainless steel body
Joseph Joseph CleanForce Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? No
Need to know We could fit three medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 16 x 4.2cm, 142g, material: plastic, trigger-operated wiper blade to remove crushed garlic, cleaning tool to remove trapped garlic and skin from grate
Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Swing-out grate for easy access
Need to know We could fit two medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 17.8 x 3.8cm, 340g, material: stainless steel
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Lakeland Helping Hands Garlic Rocker
Does it have a removable grate? No
Need to know We could fit five medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 11 x 6cm, 88g, material: plastic, comes with scraper for cleaning
Lakeland Soft Grip Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Swing-out grate for easy access
Need to know We could fit two medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 19.7 x 6.7cm, 250g, material: soft grip handle and stainless steel body
Oliver's Kitchen Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? No
Need to know We could fit three medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 15.7 x 5.3cm, 240g, material: stainless steel, other colours available
Oxo Good Grips Garlic Press with Built-in Cleaner
Does it have a removable grate? No
Need to know We could fit three medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 17.8 x 5.1cm, 395g, material: soft grip handle and zinc body, built-in cleaning tool to remove trapped garlic and skin from grate
Stellar Premium Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Yes
Need to know We could fit one medium-sized clove in it at a time, size (L x W) 19 x 5cm, 208g, material: stainless steel
Zyliss Susi 4 Garlic Press
Does it have a removable grate? Swing-out grate for easy access
Need to know We could fit three medium-sized cloves in it at a time, size (L x W) 18.6 x 3.6cm, 200g, material: aluminium
More garlic presses from our tests
Here are the rest of the garlic presses we've tested, listed in alphabetical order.
| Garlic press | Price | Score | Effort to press* | Ease of cleaning | Ease of use** | Does it have a removable grate?*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50029813 | No | ||||
| Lakeland Garlic Press | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50029814 | Yes | ||||
| Oxo Good Grips Garlic Press | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50029815 | Swing-out grate | ||||
| Stellar Contour Gadgets Garlic Press | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50029816 | No | ||||
| Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50029817 | No |
Date tested: August 2026. Page last checked: August 2026. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
* Effort to press based on average force needed to press a single medium-sized unpeeled garlic clove. The more stars, the less force required.
** Ease of use factors in average testers' rating, along with whether you have to peel the garlic beforehand to use, if you can fit large-sized cloves in it and if the grate is removable.
*** Swing-out grate is when the press folds open so that the grate is more accessible for cleaning, but it cannot be completely detached from the body of the press.
How we test garlic presses
Garlic press test - in action
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A large collection of images displayed on this page are available at https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/kitchen-utensils/article/best-garlic-presses-aAJ334c9vKDX
We combine testing by a panel of experts with precise measurements to bring you the most detailed and objective garlic press reviews.
Plus, we buy the bestselling garlic presses and put them through our tough tests. We don't accept freebies from product manufacturers or retailers.
We regularly revisit the garlic presses on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing, and when we find them, we do.
- Force to crush We use a force gauge to accurately measure how much effort is needed to press cloves. The best press in this test required less than half the force compared to the worst.
- The amount of garlic pressed We weigh the cloves before pressing, and weigh the amount of garlic that comes out. The best pass lots of garlic through, 83% yield by weight, and the worst leave a lot inside the grate and hopper, 38% in our tests.
- Comfort A panel of expert testers use every single press, squeeze hundreds of cloves through the grates and rate which ones are comfortable to use during long cooking sessions, and which dig into your hand unnecessarily.
- Cleaning Each press is hand washed, with the best being easy to clean, with easy-to-access grates and useful cleaning tools supplied, while the worst have so many nooks and crannies that the garlic stuck there feels like it's taunting you.
- Ease of use Each tester rates how easy each press is to use, factoring in the stiffness of hinges, weight, ergonomics and how well extra features work.
- We also test How well-built each press is, capacity (how many cloves can be pressed at the same time), and how well the press separates the garlic from its skin (do you end up with little flakes of skin in the paste?).
Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our impartiality and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.
Pressed vs minced garlic
Pressing your garlic, rather than chopping it into fine pieces (aka mincing), can have a big impact on your dish.
Pressing garlic releases more of the juices, giving your dishes a stronger and more pungent taste of garlic.
Minced garlic gives a milder, arguably more balanced flavour; it also adds a little texture to your dishes as you have grain-sized pieces of garlic rather than a paste.
There's no right or wrong, but you may prefer pressed garlic for salad dressings, pesto or marinades.
Minced can work better in dishes that cook for a long time (such as soups, stews and sauces) as it gives time for the flavour to be brought out without becoming overpowering.
What's the best type of garlic press?
There are different styles of press that have their own pros and cons, as well as producing garlic that's more a paste or minced consistency:
- Presses The traditional kitchen utensil for squeezing garlic. They release juices and produce a paste-like consistency. They're intuitive and fast to use, but can be tricky to clean or cause strain if pressing a lot of garlic.
- Rockers Like a potato masher for garlic. Rock back and forth on the garlic cloves to mash them up. You need less force, and they're usually easier to clean than presses. You can also control the consistency of the garlic produced. But you need a chopping board, and it takes a lot longer to get the paste-like consistency that traditional presses make quickly.
- Choppers You put the cloves in a container with blades that chop up the garlic. They only produce minced garlic, but you can often do more cloves at once than with a press. But watch out for the blades, and they can be very tricky to clean by comparison.
- Grinders More niche. The cloves sit between two textured parts, and you twist them to grind up the garlic. It gives you more control over how pressed the garlic is, but you can strain your wrist more quickly than with other types.