Gadget: Microplane Grater/Zester

Today's entry in my "Gadgets I Can't Live Without" series is the Microplane Grater/Zester. I used to hate hate hate when any recipe called for zest. It seemed like all the zest would just stick in my box grater and none would be available for my recipe. And then I'd spend ten minutes trying to clean it out of the grater. But when I worked in the restaurant, I used the Microplane and now I zest with glee!

The edges are razor-sharp, so you need to be careful. But in a few passes, the zest is off your lemon or lime. It's easy to avoid getting the pith in the mix, and it's easy to clean. I run it under the faucet, quick pass with the sponge and I'm done. There are very few gadgets that can take a most hated kitchen task and transform it into a pleasure, but the Microplane zester is one.

Previous gadget: Cuisinart Smart Stick.