Grating tool? Spong? Mandoline? Something else?

[NotQuiteCockney]

I need some sort of grating tool. (No, not a grater, I have one of those.) I do a lot of grating.

I had a look at my MIL's spong recently, and that looks like it would do the job. Who makes spongs? Is spong the right word for them? Are they machine washable?

I have seen mandolines that purported to do grating, but I'm wavering about whether good grating is worth losing a finger for. (I already have a mandoline, anyway.)

Or, in France, I saw a sort of mill sort of grater, but didn't (of course) note the brand or anything.

Any suggestions?

[JackieNo]

Are they called 'Mouli' or something? Will google...

[oliveoil]

what on earth are you on about?

what the hell is a spong?

what are you grating? bricks????

[JackieNo]

Something like \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000B3OUT/026-9260034-6518852\this?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[NotQuiteCockney]

A spong is (I think?) for cutting up cooked meat to make minced meat. (Ok, I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, but my MIL seems to do it a lot.)

I am not grating bricks. I am grating:

• carrot for carrot cake
  
• courgette for courgette salad
  
• all sorts of root veg for root veg latkes
  

I forget what else. I wouldn't use a tool to grate a bit of cheese to put on pasta, it's for the giant grating jobs, that I used to use a food processor for, but decided the food processor was overkill ...

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, no, not a mouli. I've had one of those. They're good for turning, say, whole tinned tomatoes into chopped tomatoes, but no good for carrots etc.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Good try though, I will try to search more. Also, to find a picture of a spong.

Is "spong" not a word then? It seems like a made-up word, but what do I know, I'm not English.

[JackieNo]

How about \link{http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!10683\this} then? Says it works on veg?

[twocatsonthebed]

I know the mill sort of grater you mean - my (belgian) stepmother has one. Will see if I can find one out there.

Another alternative is grating in a food processor - that works quite well for me.

But Google and I are utterly baffled about spongs - could only come up with a bishop?!? Do tell!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ah, meat grinder is the word I want. Spong is a brand of meat grinder.

[JackieNo]

Or \link{http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!10389\this?}

[oliveoil]

what you need is one of those mini food processor things maybe?

we have a mini one for zapping peanuts when dh has his Thai head on

[NotQuiteCockney]

If I go buy a food processor now, after convincing DH that we needed to get rid of the old one (which was big), I think Words may be Had. I wish to avoid Words.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, and I have a mini chopper thing that goes with the wand blender, but doesn't chop things evenly, so no good for this problem.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Hmm, I used to have one a lot like \link{http://www.kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=ModelNumberLookup&productId=1122\this}. That worked ok, and this one looks sturdier, maybe made out of metal?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Hmm, looks like "rotary grater" is the fix.

That's what I used to use, anyway ... now to find one I can stand, that's available in the UK ...

[Blu]

The drum one that jackie links to or the rotary one you have found both look good to me! I had an all-metal one that I bought in Carrefour in France, but it got all bent out of shape.

My Mum used to have a mincer like \link{http://www.waresofknutsford.co.uk/products_level4.htm?cat1=kitchenware&cat2=Mincers&id=23\this} it was brilliant. For something to mince meat, google 'meat mincer' uk pages only. Others were a bit plasticky-looking - or a fab one that cost £110!