The Best Garlic Press: OXO vs Kuhn Rikon

The short answer

Quick picks

#	Product	Best for	Score	Price
01	OXO Good Grips Garlic Press The garlic press to buy: a heavy die-cast body that crushes unpeeled cloves with a built-in cleaner.	Most cooks	8.6	$20.99Amazon
02	Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press The lifetime press: a hefty Swiss stainless press that crushes with almost no effort and outlasts everything.	Buy-once cooks	8.5	$64.98Amazon

#ad · Prices pulled live from the Amazon Product API, last checked Jul 21, 2026. Where we have no verified live price we show none — we would rather leave a gap than print a number that has gone stale. Scores are our own, compiled from published specs; they are not test results.

For most cooks the best garlic press is the OXO Good Grips Garlic Press, and the reason is that it removes the two things people hate about presses: peeling and cleaning. Its heavy die-cast body crushes a clove with the skin still on, and a built-in cleaner pops through the holes to push the pulp out. It is comfortable, effective, and priced so that buying it is an easy call.

When to spend up on the Kuhn Rikon

The Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Pressis the upgrade, and it earns its premium in one way: leverage. Its long stainless handles crush a clove with almost no hand effort, which matters if you have weak grip strength or you press garlic most days. It is also the more durable object — a solid piece of stainless that will outlast a die-cast press by years. What you give up is the pop-out cleaning tool, so it takes a little more rinsing at the sink.

Which one for you

Buy the OXO if you want the easiest all-round press and the self-cleaning feature — which is to say, if you are like most people. Buy the Kuhn Rikon if you press garlic constantly, want the lowest possible effort per clove, or simply prefer to buy once and never replace it. Neither is a wrong answer; the OXO is just the one that fits the most kitchens for the least money.

In detail

The picks, in full

Most cooks

OXO Good Grips Garlic Press

Body:Die-cast zinc, heavy duty Cleaning:Built-in cleaner that pops through the holes Use:Presses unpeeled cloves

Built-in cleanerPress cloves unpeeled

8.6/10

The garlic press to buy: a heavy die-cast body that crushes unpeeled cloves with a built-in cleaner.

Crush ease: 8.8
Yield: 8.5
Cleaning: 8.5
Build: 8.5
Value: 8.5

What it gets right

Handles unpeeled cloves, so you skip the peeling
Soft, wide handles give leverage with little hand force
The built-in cleaner pushes the pulp out of every hole

What it doesn't

The cleaner attachment is one more part to align when washing
Bulkier in a drawer than a bare press

What it costs to run

OXO publishes no usable wattage for this machine, so we do not show a running-cost figure for it. Here is the method we would have used.

Skip this if…

…You crush a lot of garlic and hate cleaning presses — a knife-and-salt paste or a rocker crusher may suit you better.

$20.99on Amazon

Price last checked Jul 21, 2026. Prices move constantly — Amazon's at checkout is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to OXO Good Grips Garlic Press

Buy-once cooks

Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press

Body:Stainless steel Leverage:Long-handled, high-leverage design Use:Presses unpeeled cloves

Heavy stainless

8.5/10

The lifetime press: a hefty Swiss stainless press that crushes with almost no effort and outlasts everything.

Crush ease: 9.2
Yield: 8.8
Cleaning: 7.8
Build: 9.2
Value: 7.5

What it gets right

Long handles and a big lever mean almost no effort to crush
Solid stainless build that will genuinely last for years
Takes unpeeled cloves

What it doesn't

Considerably more expensive than the OXO
No pop-out cleaning tool included

What it costs to run

Kuhn Rikon publishes no usable wattage for this machine, so we do not show a running-cost figure for it. Here is the method we would have used.

Skip this if…

…You press garlic occasionally and don't want to spend a premium — the OXO does the same daily job for much less.

$64.98on Amazon

Price last checked Jul 21, 2026. Prices move constantly — Amazon's at checkout is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Kuhn Rikon Epicurean Garlic Press

How we picked

Tools we claim to have lab-tested: 0

Every site in this category tells you they ran twenty machines through a lab. We have not, and we say so. Here is what we do instead: read the manufacturer's manual and spec sheet, record the published bowl capacity, motor rating, blade and disc counts and materials, cross-check the warranty against the manufacturer's own warranty document, and cite all of it so you can check the work. Prices come live from Amazon's API and disappear rather than go stale.

The scores above are judgments from that documented research — not test results. The full rubric, including what disqualifies a product, is published in full.

Questions

Frequently asked

Do you have to peel garlic before using a press?

No. Both of these presses are designed to crush an unpeeled clove — the skin stays behind in the chamber and the crushed garlic comes through the holes. Peeling first can give a slightly cleaner press, but the whole point of a good press is that you do not have to.

Is an expensive garlic press worth it?

Only for frequent use or if effort matters to you. The Kuhn Rikon’s long handles and heavy stainless build genuinely crush with less force and last longer, which is worth it if garlic is a daily job. For occasional cooking the OXO does the same task, adds a self-cleaner, and costs noticeably less. If you would rather skip a press entirely, a mini chopper minces garlic too.

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