Despite mainly being used to grate cheese, the trusty box grater has many other uses.
Taking to Reddit, one user wanted to know what the side with the small holes is used for.
Posting a picture of their grater, the Reddit user said: “Does anybody ever use this part of the grater? What is it even for??”
Many people chimed in, saying the side with the smaller holes of a box grater is for grating your knuckles.
“I thought it was just for tearing your knuckles to shreds as you get to the end of the ginger,” one person joked.
Another added: “Slicing your knuckles open.”
“Yeah, all this has ever done is hurt my hand, but I’ve literally never used those small hole graters ever. I use the other side for making grated cheese for my family since I don’t eat the stuff,” said another.
Others said it’s for ruining sponges, getting caught in the kitchen drawer and grating your foot.
“It took me years to figure out.”
Some helpful people jumped in to explain what the small holes are really used for.
“It took (me) years to figure it out,” one person says. “Parmesan and lemon/orange/lime zest is best shredded on those 2 sides.”
“Zest hard cheese or garlic and nutmeg, maybe ginger to make it like a paste,” another added. These smaller shredding holes can also be used to finely grate chocolate.”
How to use each side of a grater
Here’s a quick run-down of how to use each side of a standard four-side box grater (for anyone wondering.)
The standard four sides
- fine
- medium
- coarse
- slicer
The finest side of a box grater features tiny puncture holes facing outwards in the metal. It is perfect for grating hard and dry food items that you want to be small and powdery, like parmesan cheese, bread, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. It’s also excellent for zesting citrus.
The medium side is perfect for grating fruits and veggies.
The coarser edge is more for shredding than grating. Use this site for shredding firmer vegetables when you want to retain some of their texture for recipes. For example, potatoes for fritters. It’s also used for fruits and vegetables with high water content and soft cheese that would turn to mush if grated on the smaller sides.
Lastly, we have the slicer, which is used to slice fruits and vegetables quickly when you don’t want to use a knife.
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