I’ve been thinking about getting rasp style zester for some time.  When I looked on sites like Amazon there seemed to be two that consistently got good reviews; Microplane and a German company called Deiss.  The Microplane zester made in America was the original and is quite a bit more expensive than the Deiss, so I decided to get them both and test for myself to see which zester performed best.

The Microplane zester originated in Arkansas, when brothers Richard and Jeff Grace developed a woodworking rasp using a patented photochemical etching process.  The tool was repurposed for the kitchen in 1994 when a Canadian home cook found the sharp, photo-etched teeth perfectly zested citrus without tearing the pith, transforming it into a now iconic culinary tool. 

Now that the patent has lapsed for Microplane, other manufacturers have come up with similar versions so I wanted to find out which was best?

Pros:

Both Microplane and Deiss zesters are comfortable to hold, have stainless blades and are dishwasher safe – though I do recommend you rinse them off beforehand. The Deiss zester also comes with a brush to brush out food before washing.

Cons:

You have to be careful when using these style of zesters because they are sharp. That said you can not sharpen the blades on a zester so it is important to put the cover on the zester before storing in your kitchen drawer to keep the blade sharp as long as possible.

The Test:

I decide to test both zesters using the most common food items that are featured in videos and product advertisement.

35 grams Padano cheese (a hard cheese similar to Parmesan).

Zest a Lemon without taking any of the pith.

Grating Fresh Nutmeg.

Grating Fresh Ginger.

Grating Dark Chocolate.

If you watch my short video you can see for yourself how both zesters performed.

Summery:

You can see that when it comes to grating chocolate, hard cheese (like parmesan) or nutmeg both zesters performed well, but Microplane was a clear winner when zesting citrus fruits.

When looking to buy a zester, you buy it first and foremost to zest lemons and other citrus fruits in your recipes and that is why the word zester is also in the name of the product.

I was impressed that the Microplane zester took the skin off the lemon without taking any pith unlike the Deiss. In my professional opinion, this is because the angle of the cutting blade is shallower on the Microplane Zester giving you a cleaner cut than the Deiss.

So in summary, if you want the best Rasp style zester on the market it has to be Microplane.

Microplane versus Deiss Zester© Kevin Ashton 2026

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