Vivaant Rotary Cheese Grater Hand Crank, Handheld Parmesan Cheese Shredder

I am a former chef and a constant cook. My own kitchen is outfitted better than most restaurants, with everything professional grade or better. There is no comparison between freshly grated parmesan versus the stuff in a can. (Frankly, I'm not even sure what that stuff in a can is since it has a taste and consistency somewhere between sawdust and kitty litter.) I hate using a box grater for hard cheeses. It seems to leave as much cheese on the grater as it does on my board. I've employed MANY rotary graters over the years, only to be disappointed in their construction as well as their inability to do what they're supposed to do: grate the cheese/nuts/chocolate/etc. that I'm running through there. Inevitably they find their way into the recycling bin, another exercise in futility and waste of money. As I banked my latest disappointing grater off the lid of the bin and into the cylinder, I began my quest for the next member of my cabinet. This rotary grater had received numerous positive reviews, so I thought I'd take a shot. When it arrived and I unboxed it, I was immediately impressed. Loved the design and construction, as well as the "extras", such as some small containers that could attach to the grater and be able to be filled and/or used at the table or for storage. Nice touch. The keystone design on the grating cylinder allows for quick assembly/disassembly and makes cleaning a breeze. Let's not forget the most important part: it tears through my parmesan/Romano/chocolate like a breeze. Its performance is top notch. I was suitably impressed (and that is not an easy thing to do). Now for the negative...kind of. While I was cranking my way to a pile of parm, the grating cylinder broke. One of the support ribs did not handle the stress of hard cheese well. I swapped out the cylinder for a slightly larger grate and finished the job. (By the way, the cylinder for the softer cheese does a great (grate) job on the harder cheeses, but it's s slightly larger grate). Believe it or not, that failure turned out to be a good thing. When I contacted the company, they immediately acknowledged the issue, told me that they had a problem with that and had it redesigned with a different material to overcome the problem, and promptly sent me a replacement. All companies are good when you have no problems. But here's the thing...you can't run a business and not have problems. It's the businesses that care for their customers and take care of the problems that truly deserve our business. Standing behind their products or services should be the gold standard. In too many cases it's not...but it is here. Companies like that have gotten to be too few and far between. The ones that stand up for us, well...they deserve our business and receive my loyalty. Thank you again for a great (grate) product and amazing service.

After looking at several different versions of this hand-held grater from several different vendors, I settled on this one to use in grating fresh parmesan. I've always in the past used the dry grated parmesan that comes in the bottle (such as Kraft parmesan) or the shredded stuff you find in the grocery cheese aisle but have always wanted to try fresh parmesan like you get at Olive Garden. I finally took the plunge and ordered this one - I liked the ease with which it could be disassembled and would work easily for left- or right-handed people (the crank handle is easily swapped). We've gone through a full block of fresh parmesan now with this grater and so far I've really enjoyed using it. The fresh parmesan just adds something special to any dish, taking it to the next level over the packaged stuff, especially when used to garnish plated food for serving. The grater is easy to use and, given how easy it is to take apart, is easy to clean as well. I haven't tried this yet for any other kinds of product (chocolate, other cheeses, etc.) so I haven't used the larger-sized grater drum, though I expect it to function well also. The included containers that you can attach and grate into are pretty small, to be honest, so I don't really envision myself using them at all. I suppose that you could use them if you wanted to take freshly grated parmesan to add to your lunch or something but they really are only good for about 1 person's worth of cheese. So, more gimmicky than anything IMHO but not a negative for the product, just something to keep in mind. Finally, I liked that this grater was sold by a smaller mom-and-pop vendor and I like supporting the little guy, as it were. I can, based on my experience, definitely recommend this grater.

I love to cook, I like seeing others enjoy something I made for them. One thing I never thought about was using already grated cheeses. Once I tried just grating my own I was hooked. Not only is the fresh grated cheese so much more flavorful, but most pre-grated cheese usually contains some type of cellulose to keep it from sticking together, but that also seems to keep it from melting down smoothly. I have a box grater, but it just isn’t convenient for hard cheeses, it’s messy, and just isn’t something I would dig out to say, garnish a plate of spaghetti. So I got this grater to simplify the task of grating those delicious blocks of Parmesan, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano. This grater does a great job of reducing those blocks into delicious piles of grated cheese. I am very happy with it and didn’t give it 5 stars for just two reasons. One, the handle feels just a little too flexible. It hasn’t broken, and it works great, but it just feels like I have to be careful not to put too much pressure on the handle. The second reason is the storage shakers that come with it. They are a great idea, but just a little too small to be really useful. It would be nice if at least one of them was big enough to fill up at the counter and put on the table for guests. A dinner party of 6 would use way more cheese than these little guys would hold. Other than those two minor improvements, this grater is a really good unit. I would definitely buy again, those two negatives are just little things I would change.

I LOVE this so much! I made my first batch of homemade mac and cheese this Thanksgiving and all recipes called for freshly grated cheese. Apparently the pre shredded cheese at the store has a chemical that's a texturizing agent to prevent clumping, and it's toxic and also masks the flavor. The fact that this is handheld, easy, simple to use and clean is a total win. I will use this a lot, am so glad I found it. Safe, great value!!

Perfect - so easy to use - great to have the containers to store the extra cheese

I purchased this grater because it had the refillable container that catches the product as you grind. Then it has a nice cap for a seal. When I received the product there was a note in the box that said to contact Nancy the owner of this family business. Despite the fact that the handle and frame were of a heavy durable plastic, the attachable containers would not tighten and slipped off, making the container feature useless. I decided not to complain and return the product because the grater was rugged and worked well. Since I kept it, I sent an email to Nancy. I really didn't expect any response. It blew my mind when not only did she immediately respond that the loose containers were a manufacturing defect that has been corrected but she offered to send a replacement ASAP. .I received the new containers Priority Mail, I tried them out and this is a really nice unit. It is very convenient to collect the shavings as you go and then have a cap to put on top. All I have to say is that I was blown away by the rapid response for a relativity inexpensive product. I would shop there for anything else. Thank you Nancy

Very average. Not the best. Looking for a new one. Falls apart easily.

takes getting used to but works well

This is the second time am buying this as a cheese grater. My older product was left for my in-laws, so I bought another. I usually keep it in the fridge ready to grate my cheese, washing it in-between blocks of cheese. The older one has lasted over a year with no issues, thus bought a second and hope it'll last as well. Keep it dry and clean.

Absolutely terrible product. When you use it with cheese, the plastic itself gets grated into the output.