Aldi Review: Kitchen Living Garlic Press

I bought the Kitchen Living Garlic Press that Aldi was offering this week. I've been thinking I needed a garlic press, and at only $1.99 with a manufacturer's 2 year warranty, how could I go wrong?

Kitchen Living Garlic Press

It's made from stamped (presumably) stainless steel. The little "basket" where you place the garlic clove is removable, which should make clean-up easy - just pop the basket out, and give it a quick rinse in soapy water, and you're done.

Kitchen Living Garlic Press - $1.99; 3-pack garlic - 69¢

The press has a decent heft to it, but it feels just a little flimsy in my hand - the handles flex side-to-side and don't quite match up, and the stamped steel has a bit of a sharp edge (but it probably won't draw blood - it's not THAT sharp).

Overall, it's not the finest construction I've seen in a kitchen gadget - but considering the price, as long as it does the job, I'll be satisfied.

I cracked open the 3-pack of garlic (69¢ this week at Aldi), and peeled a clove off of one of the bulbs...

Kitchen Living Garlic Press and it's first victim.

After I peeled the papery skin off the clove, I placed it in the basket of the press, gave the handles a mighty squeeze, and got this:

A whole lot of squeezin', but NOT a whole lot of garlic.

Very little of the garlic was pressed through the sieve, and a whole lot of it was left intact, smashed into the bottom of the press:

Garlic press fail.

The aftermath.

Now, I figure some garlic is bound to be left behind after the pressing, but I did expect the majority of the garlic to end up being pushed through the sieve, not left in the little basket.
It seems that the plunger part of the press just doesn't push down far enough into the basket to force the garlic through the sieve and get the job done.

I repeated the process with a couple of other cloves of garlic with pretty much the same result - very little usable garlic, and a whole lot of waste left in the basket thingy.

Seeing as how the garlic press just doesn't do a very good job, I'm afraid I can't recommend it - even with the $1.99 price tag. I'll be returning this one to the store for a refund.

How was your experience? Did the Kitchen Living Garlic Press live up to your expectations? If yours worked better than mine, or if you have a technique that works better, let me know about it in the comments!

-Jeff the Aldi Shopper