If you have ever tried high-quality food or pastries with zest in them, you have probably enjoyed the natural taste of ingredients that made your experience better and more satisfying.
Zest from citrus fruits has been used for centuries to provide contrasting flavors and aroma in well-known recipes. They are present in cakes, candies, jams, stews, traditional desserts, and even cocktails.
However, not all zests are made the same. The critical factors include the quality of the source and the tool. This is where the best zesters come in with five being listed here.
These zesters offer incredible value for money thanks to how efficient, durable, and reliable they are at delivering their task. You can easily get the zest that you want, at the quality that you want. That said, better check them out now!
Best Zesters Comparison & Rating
Image | Zesters | Rating |
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| 95% | |
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| 90% |
Want to Learn More?
Before you decide which zester to buy, you might want to find out more about the best options available. This is to make sure that you will absolutely enjoy the zester that you would get for your kitchen. Also, be sure to click the yellow buttons below to see their best deals on Amazon! With that, here are five of the best options that we rounded up especially for you.
JOFUYU Version Lemon Zester & Cheese Grater
Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 16 x 2.2 x 0.7 inches |
Material | Stainless Steel |
Color | Black |
Weight | 4.8 ounces |
This is everything that a zester is supposed to be. It has a significant length to allow for long strokes to get those long strings of fruit peels. It is razor-sharp as advertised and makes zesting lemons or shredding Parmesan cheese a breeze. It's nice and sharp so you don't have to press hard at all. The brush that came with it removes the necessity of washing the zester after every use. It’s dishwasher safe, too, so cleaning isn’t an issue.
BelleGuppy Lemon Zester & Cheese Grater
Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 12.99 x 0.59 x 1.38 inches |
Material | Stainless Steel |
Color | Yellow |
Weight | 3.52 ounces |
You can’t ask for a simpler example of a zester than this. It works perfectly well, it’s durable, and will reduce anything into fine particles. The blades can handle the toughest ingredients like nuts, frozen fat, and more. It’s also a great way to get those long strings of citrus peels that are used for making cocktails. The cover is also helpful while grating. This allows you to grate small ginger and garlic pieces without your fingers touching the grating surface. It provides additional safety for your hands when grating very small pieces of ingredients.
YIBIDINAY Citrus Lemon Zester & Cheese Grater
Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 12.95 x 1.73 x 1.38 inches |
Material | Stainless Steel |
Color | Yellow |
Weight | 3.87 ounces |
The blades of the YIBIDINAY zester are incredibly sharp and can make short work of just about any ingredient. Even Parmesan poses no issue with this zester and the same goes for almonds and cloves. You can just pass this under a running faucet to clean it with pure ease. However, users must be warned that the zester has protruding blades. This could cause injuries, especially when zesting small pieces of food items.
Deiss PRO Citrus Zester & Cheese Grater
Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 15.2 x 2.13 x 1.42 inches |
Material | Stainless Steel |
Color | Orange |
Weight | 8.2 ounces |
This zester can skin a lemon faster than a knife with much finer results. You can use this tool for literally anything that needs to be grated or turned into smaller particles. The sharpness of the blades ensures zesting will be done quickly, as well. So you can work through an entire block of gouda or mozzarella in no time. It is very light and has an ergonomic handle for a solid grip ad control while zesting any food item.
Orblue PRO Citrus Zester & Cheese Grater
Specifications | |
|---|---|
Dimensions | 7.15 x 5 inches |
Material | Stainless Steel |
Color | Orange |
Weight | 4.4 pounds |
This zester will serve you for most home cooking needs. It can be used to zest citrus fruits, nuts, and vegetables with ease. The handle provides you with a secure grip and doesn’t slip. The zester part is of reasonable length and width as well. The back of the zester's end is coated with silicone material that protects surfaces where you place it to gain balance.
Zester Buyer's Guide
Zesters will be responsible for removing the skin of citrus fruits in small, fine particles. The sharpness of the blades dotting the surface of the tool will have a huge impact on how well this works. The sharp the blades, the faster the zesting and the more control you have in the process.
It may not seem like it but a zester is still a kitchen tool that can cause injury. There are numerous sharp, albeit tiny, blades that cover its surface. As such, the handle should provide you with a secure and comfortable grip. This helps keep your fingers safe and makes controlling the zester much easier.
Longer zesters mean more blades that you can use and the increase in zesting efficiency is just one of the benefits. The length of the resulting zests themselves will be affected since you can make longer strokes. If your recipes require you to have long strings of lemon skin, you’ll want a longer zester.
A lot of zesters have narrow faces, which can limit the size or even kinds of ingredients that you can easily work with. An entire chunk of mozzarella, for example, would be quite difficult to zest on a narrow blade. You can still do it, but the progress would be much slower.
Just like with cheese graters, zesters are among the most annoying tools to clean in the kitchen. There always seems to be some residue remaining even after washing the piece of equipment multiple times. If you want to avoid this, try going for zesters with shallower blades. This makes it easier to remove with a sponge.
FAQs
A zester is used to remove the skin or the zest of citrus fruits like oranges, lime, lemon, tangerine, and more. The resulting product is called a zest and is then used in various recipes for cooking, baking, or even making cocktails. It’s sought-after because of the bitter, zesty taste and aroma that it brings.
Zesters are often used for many other types of ingredients that need to be reduced into finer particles. These include hard cheeses like Parmesan, dark chocolate, aromatics like garlic and cumin, vegetables, and even some tough fruits.
Zesters typically result in much finer grains of the skin compared to a regular cheese grater. On that note, there are cheese graters that come with zester faces. They can be used either for citrus fruits or the harder types of cheese like parmesan. However, zesters are typically easier to use for this purpose because they are designed for it.
You can use your zester in a similar manner to your cheese grater. However, there are a few key differences depending on what you are zesting. For large, round citrus fruits, placing them in the middle of the kitchen tool would yield the best results. For smaller ingredients like a clove of garlic, it would be better to zest it right at the tip for better control.