Side by Side Comparison of: Culina vs R.S.V.P.

WOW...JUST WOW!!!....that's really all I can say.I recived my ricer and garlic press today and boy was I impressed.It came in a beautiful and elegant cardboard box and when I opened it, I couldn't believe the quality of the 2 items and they were beautifully tagged with instructions and a recipe. I even used it tonight to make Cauliflower rice and it works excellent.I'm very satisfied and totally happy with my new kitchen toy.Thank you for the excellent customer service and the quality products you sell.You have a customer for life NOW

After lots of looking I bought this one. I like it, it gets the job done, its comfortable to use, and it gives lots of options on the size of the holes to mash through. The more holes, the smoother your mashed potatoes. I also find it easy to wash. The only problem, as with all mashers, is that they are not small.

These 2 items are a great size and easy to handle. Easy to clean. Takes some getting used to but a great item to have for the holidays. The garlic press was a great idea, makes for fast work of getting the garlic minced. This is going to save my fingers from the open graters. I am going to try other foods and fruit with these gadgets. Great price for both items. Great design.* I did receive these items at a promotional price for my 100% honest opinion. This does not guarantee a positive review.

This has opened my eyes to the best mashed potatoes ever! Rather than boiling and mashing the potatoes, I steam them in my pressure cooker (skin on, but cut into 2-3 pieces). Then I press them through the ricer which peels and "mashes" all in one step. Fold in the butter, cream,- what ever you are using to season your potatoes for the best mashed potatoes you will ever make! This ricer is easy to clean and easy to squeeze. It comes with a garlic press which was great as well!

I cook with a lot of garlic and its a pain to constantly dice it. Broke this out last night and it was awesome...quickly diced the garlic for me. Kind of difficult to clean, but compared a normal garlic press it is a breeze. The ricer, I haven't used yet, but it appears to be of similar quality as the garlic press. These are heavy duty and larger than I expected. Happy with my purchase

I got this set on a daily deal and boy am I glad I did. Very well packaged, would make a great gift. Love that both the potato ricer and garlic press have interchangeable blades. I find this set to be very easy to use and clean up is a snap.I like this kind of potato ricer better than the hand crank kind because clean up is much easier. The collar on the potato ricer is a little hard to get out, but I think after some use it will be easier. Please take that into consideration if you have arthritic hands.This will be my third garlic press in 2 years, one was an Oxo brand and the other some cheap metal thing I picked up at Goodwill. They both ended up breaking after about a year, so hopefully this one will last much longer. The collar on the garlic press is much easier to remove.The only thing that I wish is that the whole thing was black and not white, but that is just my preference.

RSVP Potato Ricer and Baby Food Strainer - White/GreenI bought this product because it was highly reviewed on an episode of America's Test Kitchen. It is essentially a really big garlic press. It is great for making mashed potatoes, which is what I use it for 95% of the time, but I imagine it would do a great job of processing/pureeing other foods as well. It is easy to use and does not place much strain on your hands. It also has an extension that allows it to rest over a pot, which is very useful. The plastic is sturdy, and it is easy to assemble and disassemble for cleaning.

I bought this particular ricer because one of the cooking magazines that I read had it as a 'top rated' product. I was not disappointed. The two mesh inserts are easy to exchange and I can make perfect mashed potatoes. it is handy to have the piece at the front of the ricer over-hang the bowl that you used to collect the riced potato. I usually fill it just 1/2 fill for best results. I highly recommend this product.

This made the best mashed potatoes I ever ate. I got the recipe and the review from America's Test Kitchen and have so much enjoyed using this. For some reason it shows two discs for pressing but I only got one with mine, but I make do with it. It is also great for pressing hard boiled eggs for egg salad and the like. It is easy to clean. I just disassemble it and toss it into the dishwasher as soon as the dog has licked off the bulk of the food.

This gave us the lightest, fluffiest mashed potatoes we've ever made. I tend to make 10-20 lbs of mashed potatoes at a time, and usually a reach a point where I have to stop mashing while there are still some chunks. This takes care of that problem. It takes a bit longer than mashing, because you have to feed the potatoes into the hopper after boiling (maybe half a potato at a time, diced). We chose this after seeing it on America's Test Kitchen, and it takes more force than I was expecting after seeing it being used on the show. I think they cooked their potatoes longer than we usually do. Its not a ridiculous amount of force though, slow and steady does the trick.

Over the years, I've owned a few potato ricers, but they were either too small, or broke easily. But after watching a video review on America's Test Kitchen a couple months ago, I decided to order this handy gadget. It's everything and more, and I like the two sizes of grating surfaces. I've used this ricer for many more foods than just potatoes, such as multiple heads of garlic, whole cooked tomatoes, bananas for recipes, and even cooked veggies I wanted to puree and add to my stock pot but didn't want to get out the big food processor. Easy clean-up, too. I would buy this again, and if I were a young mom, it would be my go-to kitchen item for making baby food in small portions.

This is my first ricer, I bought it because it wasn't too expensive and it was recommended by America's Test Kitchen. I'm used to lumpy potato and thought I'd spoil myself and buy this.I used it yesterday for the first time. I filled it up completely with potato, but it was hard to use. I took half out and it was much easier. I was amazed to see my plate pile up with potato that looked like grated cheese coming out! I'm going to love this thing. It was very easy to clean, I washed it by hand, then stood it up, just to make sure there was no water trapped inside, after reading a reviewer's comment about that happening. I wish I bought this thing a long time ago. I'm so happy I will no longer be eating lumpy mashed potato!

Great product but too big and bulky and when I press down with the garlic press the plastic feels as if it's going to bend or break. I have to be careful which is not something I am use to with my stainless press. Its a great product but it's not for me, I will continue to use my stainless press instead.

Pretty nice ricer, skins the taters and makes smooth mashers.

Great Product better than expected

Works great for potatoes, haven't used the garlic press yet.

First, the garlic press - nice that there are different discs you can put in for how you want your garlic - small, mashed, etc. - but I found this item pretty much the same as other presses. It was a bonus as what I was interested in was the ricer. It also has different discs to use depending on how you want your end product. Personally, I'm terrible at making mashed potatoes. I can smash 'em OK, but I just can't seem to mash them - always lumpy. Which is why I always make them smashed. My daughter is learning how to cook and I didn't want her in the same boat should she want good mashed potatoes. I ordered this and gave it to her when we were making a special dinner, explaining that she would have to be the one to figure out this mashed variety. The inside of this contraption is non-stick and easy to clean - super bonus - it will be used again without fear of KP duty. I had small potatoes, but I still cut them in small pieces. We cooled them a bit, a little warmer than room temp. Now for the magic moment.. hmmm.. OK, this isn't electric, so I highly recommend that you put your bowl in the sink where it can't slip and fall and toss your hard work all over the floor, as it does take some muscle to get push those little chunks thru those tiny little holes. We were glad there was only the two of us for this meal - otherwise we would have had to take turns. Or find a nice strong fellow to work a bit for his dinner. I will have to say that we did have some nice potatoes, this thing works as promised, but it will take a fancy meal before we pull this gadget out again. Ending comments - yes, it works, it's easy to clean, bonus garlic press - all good. Cons- it takes some oomph to take those easily smashed potatoes into tiny little rice bits!

I got this on black friday so it was a great price, I'm not sure if I would've paid retail for it but it's a good set. A bit tedious to clean and lots of parts but I love the texture of riced mashed potatoes (much fluffier) and sometimes its easier to hand a relative/friend a garlic press than to cringe as they take forever to mince a head of garlic. It seems sturdy like it will hold up well but if you are a city dweller like me and have limitied kitchen space, it might not be worth it as a unitasker. Does exactly what it says it will though, so that's why I give it 4 stars.

I purchased this item a bit over a month ago and have had the chance to use it several times. I have used it to make baby food as well as potatoes. The baby food was a miss for me at this point because it wasn't totally smooth. This was for a baby who was eating baby food for the first time so it was too thick. I will try it again when she is older but for now we will stick to the food processor. It is easy to clean and easy to put together and take apart. There are some definite pros and cons for this product.Pros:Easy to take apart and put togetherFairly easy to cleanPotatoes come out amazingBaby food will probably be OK for older babyCons:Product is large so its tough to fit in the dishwasher (main unit)Takes up a lot of storage spaceBaby food doesn't come out totally smooth

Pretty impressed with this product.Used for the first time a few weeks ago, and the potatoes came out very smooth. So smooth, milk/cream was not even necessary for creamy potatoes.Love it. Would definitely buy it again.Saves the skins, so if the skins are bad - and sometimes the potatoes are sour, which means the skins are worse - you can toss them out.It's also easy to wash.

Saw this as one of the best ricers for making mashed potatoes on America's test kitchen and since I trust them to make all my kitchen related decisions we decided to purchase. Does exactly what they claimed it would do, and well. Only gripe is that after throwing a potato or two in here you'll end up with mashed (but not riced) potatoes coming back on top of the plastic plunger piece. So you'll either want to throw that back into the ricer area or throw out (or if you don't mind it didn't go thru the ricer, into the container with the other mashed goods).Overall, satisfied.

Bought this to replace a metal one we used primarily to squeeze the water out of uncooked potato shreds (hash browns) and to make potatoes mousseline. After about a year of occasional use, the metal one was bent nine ways to Sunday. Bought this one BECAUSE it was made of plastic, and the construction is nice and solid overall.Only knock on it, and the reason I didn't give it five stars, is because getting the retainer ring/basket out to change the blades is a real challenge. My wife has to hold the ricer between her knees and squeeze the tabs, then jimmy the basket out. Not sure if it's just our particular unit; but that's not really a big thing.

I only gave it 4 stars because of ONE design flaw, ie- the trap comes out which makes it EASY to clean separate from the rest of the unit (GREAT). BUT the plunger/masher is NOT removable and is AWKWARD to clean. SOO i modified mine and replaced the hinge pin/rivet with a stainless steel machine bolt and wing nut (4mmx30mm). i can now detach the masher and clean it separately, SO much easier. Note to any who want to do this as well, the pin is solid stainless steel and was REALLY hard to cut off and is a tight fit, but well worth the effort!! Maybe the manufacturer will see this review and make the change themselves, who knows? good luck!

I am so glad that TL posted a review alerting potential buyers not to leave this ricer sitting overnight in water. That is because I would have done the same thing. Yes... some nights I just don't get around to washing out the potato ricer.If that sounds like you, then just be careful not to leave it soaking in deep water. Because I was forewarned, this disgusting danger has not happened to me (yet). Even if you don't soak it in water it is pretty easy to clean up the next day. I use a toothbrush to clean it up after making mashed potatoes. Also, do realize that you can pull the stainless steel perforated plate out of it to wash it.Otherwise, this really works extremely well to make light fluffy mashed potatoes. And the price is right.

Nice product but not the easiest product to clean.

Used the garlic press for the first time today to find that the piece labeled "hopper" was broken. Theres a clip that I found in the box but didn't know what it was for until today.Leaving a three star review because it's not the main piece of the order, and the press still kinda works, it's just very difficult to remove the attachment with only one clip still attached.

Little difficult to use. Does not press smoothly.

Difficult to change plates and clean....but does well once you get it together...would select something different if purchase these items again

Works decently enough but the black insert that holds the removable screens in place always seems to come up a bit while squeezing potatoes through and then potatoes squish up along side the white press. It's annoying but the ricer works well enough otherwise. I think I'll upgrade to the steel ricer.Have not used the garlic press because I have a stainless steel version but it's nice to have on hand as a backup.

To start, I needed a new garlic press (mincer). The previous best press I used was from Zyliss (bought some years ago @ BB&B). Looked similar to the Zyliss Jumbo Garlic Press, so that is what I will be comparing this with. I bought this because I like the idea of not just mincing garlic & ginger etc, but dicing, and slicing as well. I then saw this combo came with a potato ricer which I also would like to have. I was a little weary of it being mostly plastic, as I've had some other brands break in the past.Pros:1. The interchangeable parts allow you to mince, dice, slice garlic, ginger etc.2. It is economical. If you easily want to do the above with other manufacturers, you'll need to spend $45-60 and that is not including a potato ricer.3. The cavity for garlic, ginger is a good size and larger than my old Zyliss.4. The plastic top handle did flex a little on usage, but not near enough to break it. So far it appears to be long lasting.Cons:1. The garlic press comes pre-installed with the slicer attached. It was easy to take out and put the mincer in. Make sure not to push on the slicer, dicer blades as they are sharpened on both sides (you can use the little comb like tool this kit comes with or a spoon). The con was taking the white plastic piece of the masher portion out for cleaning right after usage. I rinsed the garlic off, removed the mincer metal piece, but the plastic white masher piece that connects to the swiveling black piece would not come out. It went in without much force while dry, so I just just pushed harder... It finally came out with a lot of pushing force and I found a couple minutes later that I had cut two of my fingers on the plastic. I suppose I could use an emery board, file, dremel to file the white plastic down so that this does not happen again, but I may be returning this because of the next con.2. I noticed right away, but tried it anyway. After mincing the garlic, the minced pieces were quite large. The holes are the same diameter as the dicer fittings at 1/8 of an inch. The Zlyiss I used to have was much much smaller in diameter (maybe 1/16, which would be about 1/4 the of the hole surface area). Looking at other pictures of other presses on amazon, they are all much smaller diameter... This makes it too large for my personal taste in cooking and again, why is the hole diameter the same size as the dicer fitting?Final thoughts: I mostly peeled the dry skin off the garlic first. If you only want a garlic mincer and not a dicer or slicer choose a different product. As I first tried this yesterday, I have not tried the potato ricer. I will return the product, but will not buy the Zyliss either as the coating came off mine like others state after a year.

Takes a lot of squeezin' to get the product through. But, it's sturdy. Kind of a pain to change the blades and to get clean. Takes up too much space in the drawer. Have to process in kind of small batches and the final product is not totally smooth. But, I decided if people don't like a few tiny lumps, they don't have to eat my mashed potatoes. It does do what it says and the final product doesn't make the mashed potatoes too gluey gooey like whipping would.

This is easy to use and to clean. I wouldn't say the potatoes come out super smooth like I like mashed potatoes, I would never use it for guests or fora holiday. But it's good for a quick dinner.

Works decent for potatoes however I got it hoping it would rice cauliflower. Does not work well for cauliflower or anything not potato in origin. Handles well and not too bulky and again stick to spuds.

This works great for making mashed potatoes or for pressing the water out of shredded potatoes prior to frying for hash browns. Unfortunately, the two piece construction (the green and white on the bottom half) are not well sealed and water gets into the unit when cleaning and sloshes around. If they had sealed the unit better, 5 stars, but the sloshing water that is difficult to get out drives me a little crazy.

Great for baby food, nor practical for large amounts of mashed. Nice compact switching out plates is little tricky. Made great fluffy potatoes, however for my large family and can only do about half large potato took a while.

I have only used the insert with smaller holes thus far, but it works great. You do have to ensure the potatoes are cooked thoroughly through, or it gets tough to squeeze (and the result not as good) but otherwise it is as advertised. Don't think I will be mashing potatoes again. We let someone else borrow it and now they are buying one too.Also, cleanup is a snap, and after seeing the review of water getting in it, I just make sure to clean it quickly and not submerge it.Update: someone else helped with cleanup after a meal, and thoroughly soaked it. Water got it inside, had to drill it out, complete design flaw IMO. Downgraded as a result. Boo :(

Garlic press works OK but is clumsy to operate. The ricer is worthless

Does not function as expected disappointed

The potato ricer works great, a little big for my utensils drawer though. The garlic press however, is a little hard to disassemble when it needs to be washed, the first time I used it I cut my fingers and the second time the black square piece that holds the blades just broke. I emailed the manufacturer for information on how to get a replacement part but haven't heard back from them.UPATE: downgrading to two starts because the manufacturer never contacted me, I really hope the SELLER reads my review and helps me out

What a pain, takes too much time to change blades, too much time to clean you are better off chopping the garlic by hand, the potato ricer is just ok. I purchased it for when I cook for a large party, did not save me any time chopping.

The Culina potato ricer works fine and met my expectations, but the Garlic Press Deluxe is far from deluxe. The blades do not fit into the slots and, therefore, do not cut the garlic, much less press it. Since I bought them together, I'll keep the ricer, but, if I could, I would return the garlic press.

fairly cheap. Used some ginger in it and was not able to clean out, had to through that piece away. Probably better products out there

Purchased this to make mashed potatoes and went back too old methods for two reasons. First, it was very hard to change out the plates. Second, I felt that the plastic was stressed when I used it. It felt like it was going to break. I ended up having to take out potato to use. Wasted purchase. Might work better for other foods, but would not use again for potatoes.

Not a huge fan of this ricer. Its very bulky compared to others and the plastic handles make it feel like I am going to break it. The different size plates are hard to change out and cleaning is a nightmare! The presser is level and that is a plus when getting all the food to rice evenly. Overall I would choose a metal model next time.

Like others have said, it has a rather small basin, and it feels like it is going to break when I squeeze potatoes through it. It works fine on regular potatoes, but don't even think about using it on anything else. I nearly burst a several vessels in my neck trying squeeze a dang skinless baked sweet potato through it with all my might. Finally, I just mashed it with a fork...

Clumsy. Would not stay in position as I tried to prop it on the edge of the bowl--as it was supposedly designed to do. Holds surprisingly little amount of food. Poorly balanced; it wobbled in my hands, whether it was empty or full. If food gets on the handle (which is hard to avoid), the handle becomes slippery and even more awkward. Large size uses more storage space than I expected.

This ricer is difficult for me to use. The handle is hard to grip because I have small hands. A more serious problem is that I cannot remove the inner sleave as directed by pulling the two tabs together and pulling it out. I have to pull the tabs while at the same time attempt to poke the point of a knife under the edge of the sleave and pry it out. This is very difficult to do and feels dangerous. The sleave has to be removed everytime the ricer is used in order to clean it.

I've owned several ricer-mills over the years. Some better than others. So when I read that this model was rated highly I bought one here. I don't see what the fuss is all about. While it's true that this plunger-press design is generally the better than the bowl-paddle-crank version, there are other models this style that do a better job. My gripe is that the food oozes past the plunger and up the sides of the bin. All models this style do this a bit, the RSVP does more than others I've owned. Additionally its bin is a bit smaller than others. Look around a bit before you settle on this one.

Garlic press broke after a few uses. The warranty and customer service at Culina is a joke, so don't expect anything from them. You might get better results but I won't buy/use anything from Culina ever again.

Tried the garlic presser today. It was difficult to switch the pieces and hard to clean. There is still garlic left inside the holes.

Terrible garlic press, worst purchase I ever made. Blades are rusted and difficult to clean. Awkward design too.

During the first time use, the garlic presser's white masher tip broken. I also have trouble to clean the masher.

Made of plastic. Mine broke trying to crush a garlic clove.

Construction cheap, plastic interior clips broken on receipt. Get a metal one.

Too difficult to operate.

I got mine in the mail and there was a piece missing just the small plate was in there, I don't have the time to mess with sending it back, becouce I live in the country and it will take me 1 hour to go to the post office, so disappointing

Too hard to put the different plates in and one fell behind the washer after first use! I have not been able to retrieve it so now o only have one plate.

It bent and broke when I used it the second time. The cavity is small. Needed to create lots, and lots of small batches to complete the task. Waste of money as far as I'm concerned.

It's hard to use. I had potatoes shooting out the sides. It takes a fair amount of strength. I probably won't use very much. Too bad.

As a potato ricer, this works well. This device is not, however, dishwasher friendly. It is composed of 2 mating plastic molded parts. The joint is not water tight, and it comes out of the dishwasher with lots of water inside. It takes days of shaking, draining and positioning to get that water out. You also would not want to immerse it. I think one could do better.