Side by Side Comparison of: Culina vs Norpro

Love this for mashed potatoes. I got one for my mom and sister as well. Makes the fluffiest mashed potatoes super easily.

There are so many good points to this Ricer!! First, this would make the perfect gift for the Cook in your life! It comes in a beautiful, impressive box. The product itself looks sooo impressive! It's easy on your hands. It has a pot hugging side so you can go right over your pot when you use it. I use it for Mashed Potatoes and it's beyond perfect! The price can't be beat! I've spent twice as much for Ricers that weren't half the quality of this one!

Functional, heavy duty Play Doh tool! This tool is priced right for giving to the kids. Takes a bit of arm muscle, so I'd recommend it for ages 4+. Or better yet, join them and have some fun yourself. There are two "screens", to choose from, and the larger holed screen works best, with pieces extruded that are the size of spaghetti. You won't have to be concerned about the kids breaking this metal tool.

Boil UNPEELED chucks of clean potatoes. Don't overcook the potatoes. DRAIN WELL. Butter and spice to taster.And now...the foolproofing...USE a RICER!Heat milk, then gradually add. Stir with wooden spoon or whisk. Viola! Consistently great mashed potatoes!The ONLY reason I would consider deducting a star is that some potato would squeeze out the side of the plunger/piston. Next time, I'll weigh it. I'm now guessing it was less than 2% of the total. One can always just tap it back into the hopper, so it's not a big deal, it's just not perfect. I edit the review and publish the actual number. In any event, I stand by the 5 stars and RECOMMEND the product.

I chose this ricer because I hated the color of the RSVP green one and this was half the price (at the time). They are exactly the same but for the color and I just love it! It WORKS, it's easy to clean, dishwasher safe, lightweight.... I have a surprising number of ricers in my kitchen and all the others are now available to gift to someone I don't like ;-)By the way, works well for squeezing the water from spinach (for spinach pies) and soaked bulghur (for tabouli).

I live alone and mashed potatoes take too long. Peeling boiling and then cleaning the mixer made me give up mashed potatoes.With this I just bake a potato or two in the microwave, cut in half and send each piece through the ricer. I pull the skin out with a fork after each piece - yup, no peeling!

I bought this for my boyfriend because he wanted it to make mashed potatoes. He is strong like ox, and it stands up to his meaty grip. When asked for comment, he said, "I can only imagine what else I could rice with this."

This is the one ricer that ruled them all. None makes better mashed taters than this bad boy! And it doesn't stop there either. you can rice many different veggies with this tool. Don't think just buy it, I love mine and its so easy to clean.,.

Ricing potatoes is just so much better than mashing (lump potential) or using a wand or hand mixer (gummy potatoes). This makes fluffy, lump free mashed potatoes to use as is or in a recipes (such as Shepherd's Pie). Sturdy, easy to use.

This brought my mash potato game up big time. I have never heard of a ricer until my mother in law used one. So easy to use and doesn't take a lot of hand strength (as long as your potatoes are cooked enough). Easy to take apart and wash either by hand or dishwasher - easy to put back together.

We use this to drain thawed spinach for varios recipes. This process used to be time consuming and frustrating since it had to be done by hand. This strainer really speeds up the process.

Last year at Thanksgiving, I was a guest at my mother-inlaw's house. She was boiling potatos for dinner when suddenly she pulled out a "ricer." In my 52 years, I have NEVER heard of a ricer and watched her use it. I have to admit, they were the best mashed potatos that I have ever had. My 23 year old son is a great cook and he uses the ricer more than I do. Are you tired of lumpy mashed potatos? If so, a ricer is the solution. Once you use it, you will be hooked for life.

Gets the job done. Seems quite strong.

This is a good product and more durable than I thought it would be. I do not peel potatoes now and it does take some muscle work to completely rice a potato with the skins intact. It comes with two different size screems however I only use the larger one. The only knock I have is the black plastic part that holds the screens in, sometimes pops out when un-plunging. I would recommend this product though, as it makes crazy, fluffy mashed potatoes.

Works like a charm for the most part, except that the tolerance between the piston and sidewalls could be closer to prevent potatoes, stewed apples and other soft-cooked materials from squeezing out. Size of holes in each ricing disc is appropriate for most uses.Those with smaller hands may have a difficult time gripping and squeezing the handles without using two hands, which in turn makes the device less stable when it's resting on the rim of the container receiving the processed food.

I like it well enough though when I am in a hurry, I use a ricer potato masher. This ricer does work when you need finer riced potatoes for special recipes. I got a laugh at the plates when I took it apart the ricer for its cleaning right out of the box and found that the plastic bag on the ricer plates was not immediately noticeable. The plates are in a plastic bag and placed in the ready to rice position so be sure to take it out for its scrubing or guess what I am pretty sure it won't work LOL.

It can feel a bit unsteady if you load up the inside with a bunch of potatoes but in the end it does the job. I have used it several times so far and I am really happy with the result. If whatever you are ricing is watery there can be some mess that occurs, I find it best to rice over the sink or into a bowl that is large enough for the ricer to be held under the rim line. I have also found that if you go slow when pressing there is less water to leak out the top. I pop out the inner basket and the grates for washing, those I through into the dishwasher and rinse off the rest, it is better to do this before food dries on it.

This ricer makes excellent mashed potatoes, and is pretty ergonomic, but when left in dirty dish water while awaiting cleaning, water can seep into the handle, and there is no good way to open up the handle to clean it. That concerns me. If it is just water, that's no big deal, but if something contaminated with chicken juices gets in, and later drips out, or just starts to rot and stink, that would be really bad. Be careful to hand wash this thing, and don't leave it soaking before cleaning it.

I'm a new fan! Glad I picked this one because I had a whole lot of mashed potatoes to make. My only complain is that the pin comes out too easily. If you tilt it a little it comes apart. It's suppose to come apart for cleaning but if it had a lock to hold it in place, it would be an improvement.

Nice ricer. This one holds quite a bit so it makes the job go quickly. The construction seems sturdy and it breaks apart easily for washing. I saw a few reviews when trying to decide to buy that the handles bent when using. My question is what were you shoving in there. The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is that the pin holding the two pieces together seems to want to pop out of one end easily. Can be slightly annoying if you have multiple things to rice like a large batch of potato's for making gnocchi like I do. Otherwise good product.

This ricer did a nice job with the potatoes. Unfortunately, I had left the skins on, and the skins stuck in the ricer and prevented it from working as smooth as it could have. I am looking forward to using peeled potatoes on the next try. This is heavy duty and should hold up well.

The potato ricer worked better than I had imagined. We used it for mashed potatos for Thanksgiving and went through 20 lbs. in no time at all. I would recommend this ricer. My other ricer is so small compared to this one I can get things done so much quicker. I can hardly wait to make Lefse with it, should be much quicker. Actually so quick my daughter took it home with her!

After reading some of the other negative reviews I wasn't sure about this ricer. I'm glad I got it though! It works really well, we use it with red potatoes so they're not too big. The nice thing about this ricer compared to the traditional round design is that it has lots of surface to rice the potatoes. It was quick and we made short work of 5 pounds of potatoes. The only thing I don't like about it is that if you're not careful the pin holding the parts together might slip out, this happened once for me. Overall it's really easy to assemble/disassemble and clean.

This ricer works good for the price.I like lumpless fluffy mashed potatos & this unit really helps to make that happen,but I only gave it a 4 star rating because it doesn't process all the product placed in it in one ricing.Some of the product squeezes between the bucket & the press & doesn't make it through the ricerwhich requires it being re-fed, but that's not a deal breaker.

Bought this to make a Vietnamese dessert. The quality of the plastic isn't cheap and fragile. Comes with two exchangeable grates.Only problem I had was sometimes the holder for the grate doesn't hold very well. It tends to slip and the grate comes out. So maybe if they could improve the way the grates are held down it would be 5 stars.

Price is relevant.... Using the ricer, it lets product to squish around the plunger! Not what I figured how it would perform.

Works fine, takes some muscle so don't expect grandma to like it for making a big batch.

Three stars since I bought this for the primary purpose of mashing baby food based on a couple reviews. It is sturdy and relatively easy to clean. For those that are buying for the primary purpose of ricing potatoes, you will likely be very satisfied. If you're shopping for a manual baby food mill, go with one of the little plastic hand-crank mills. They process tougher textures so much better.

This tools works too well for mashed potatoes. The end product is a very constantly fine extruded material, even with the "coarse" screen,My point is that it makes too fine mashed potatoes.I don't have a problem with the cleaning or anything else about the tool.

Nice product but it's impossible for me to take out the basket for cleaning. I have to find someone with *really* strong hands to pinch the tabs together. 5 stars if it wasn't so hard to clean.

This works OK for a potato ricer with cooked potatoes for mashed potatoes. However, I also use it for squeezing the starch out of grated potatoes before frying them, and it bent the first time. Useless for that.

I was somewhat disappointed in this item. I tried it to mash potatos at Thanksgiving. The potatos kept squishing out of the edges of the press, and the presser handle came loose from the frame. I ended up using my old fashioned masher, which took more effort but at least I was not as frustrated.

ok

It still works but it broke the first time I used it. Best way to do mashed potatoes.

I only gave this 3 stars because I don't use it much because it is too big for my hands and I don't have enough strength to press it. I wish I had bought the smaller version. Good quality materials.

I used this to squeeze spinach very dry, rather than for potatoes. It worked well, but it's clearly not commercial quality despite the name; it came close to breaking every time I gave it a really good squeeze. The spinach also had a tendency to leak out through some small gaps in the construction, and I assume potatoes would do the same. So I'll keep it and use it, but I'm already looking for a better-quality option.

hard to use.

This product was flimsy and hard to use I put it in the trash after the first use. I do not recommend this ricer.

Very difficult removing the plastic part that holds the screen in place. I'm a strong guy and almost returned it because of this. I struggle with it but am keeping the product. Food must be very soft for it to rice. I've used only the large screen. I am more interested in ricing vegetables like cauliflower and squash than potatoes. This is a marginal product.

It took a lot of muscle to rice potatoes with this. I was hoping it would be easier to use.

Doesn't rice potatoes well. Feels like the handle is going to break in half when using it.

IT ARRIVED BROKEN and I COULD NOT FIX IT.

Works, but not so well

Having used one of these from Williams Sonoma, I wasn't expecting this one to feel so cheap. I do expect this to break or cut me.

Works best with baked potatoes and degrades from there. Softer products ooze out around the edges of the pusher, up to half end up in the back.The original purchase was returned for misaligned assembly. The pusher handle was cocked off to the right by fifteen degrees.The replacement was returned after the spot welds connecting the pusher face to the handle failed while ricing baked potatoes for a large Duchess serving at a dinner. Ten pounds shouldn't a life cycle limit, even if it was during a single prep period.The final replacement hasn't failed, yet. There is the possibility of another large Duchess prep. However, at this point it might be more reliable to use the food mill.

Product would fine strong construction and stainless steel.Functions what it should.The Big issue is the fact that they have FINGERLING POTATOES pictured on the box.I an a Exec Chef and it is fine for a couples dinner but sad for large production.Picture is misleading and false advertising..

When you press down the food squishes up the sides of the bowl. Some food does come out the bottom. It's also very hard to manage. I don't like using it at all.

It did not work. I returned it.

I purchased this for $9.95 from a Lightning Deal in hopes of creating silky smooth mashed potatoes.This product does not make mashing potatoes easier, the potatoes got stuck and and pressing down on the lever was difficult.You're better off using a mashed potato masher.

The two items are junk.

Very difficult to press...

This item is Made in China not Italy- the description states that it is BPA Free - but no where on the box, or in the instructions does it say BPA FREE. It is not stamped anywhere on the device itself BPA Free anywhere either. I really have never given a one star review on Amazon yet, but I feel like I need to now because the product description is misrepresented.

poorly designed - It bent initially in the handle and we were able to fix it enough to use. It quickly bent again - unusable after that.

ProsHeavy constructionEasy to take apartConsPseudo sharp edges on handleVERY SMALL meshMashes food---Does not rice foodThe stop is too high to fully press the top part against the mesh.Expensive bad design.Avoid this product

I have always wanted a ricer and I am glad I went with this large one. I was able to prepare 5 lbs of potatoes for thanksgiving with ease. I recommend it.

I bought this Norpro Ricer and used it to rice about 10 lbs of potatoes on Thanksgiving. It seemed to work OK but the handle was bending a little when I applied a lot of pressure. It finished the job though and I thought it would be OK. The last time I used it, only the third time, the metal hinge that holds the handle on bent and I was unable to get it to work. I tried my damnedest to get it back into place with no luck. I would not purchase this item. A ricer should be able to take some strain without bending. Be warned.

Bought this, used it one time. The handles bent like they were made of aluminum. I am very disappointed in this purchase.

I was wanting an all around ricer for various meal preparations. Did my research and decided to pay extra for this "commercial" quality ricer. I am very displeased with this product and embarrassed myself during thanksgiving using it. We all got good laughs but ended up using the old hand smasher. We used super soft potatoes quartered and the handle bent... Not commercial quality! I also have to say that the product is not the same as on the box/pictured. My product's handle is made of flat metal not the half domed - more solid handle, and the face is the only surface with holes - not the sides. The one pictured on the packaging box and picture description, by the looks, seems that it would work wayy better. Mine is now beyond repairs :/ and I bought this back in July and barely used it for the first time thanksgiving and it broke. I hope there is something amazon will do.As for finding a commercial quality ricer... Still looking. Please comment if anyone knows of a more reliable/versatile ricer.