Several months ago, our cheap cheese graters broke due to heavy usage. The folks at our local Sur La Table recommended Cuisipro brand graters, and had an ample selection from which to choose. I bought two — the fine grater (for hard cheese like parmesan), and the coarse grater for softer cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella). Both graters work acceptably for parmesan, but softer cheeses don’t stand a chance against the coarse one.

The holes in the grater are so small that the cheese (especially mozzarella) becomes a torn-apart, pasty mess before the shredding is done, and I end up wasting more cheese than shredding it. Plus, the shreds that do emerge are so thin that, unless you’re in a very cold environment, they all stick together into a giant glob.

I suppose I could try the “ultra coarse” variety, but, instead, I found a cheap box grater with really big circular shredding holes that handily shreds 1-lb. blocks of Cappiello mozzarella on one side, and Miller’s Parmigiano-Reggiano on the other.