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To me, it's a much larger issue than cleaning, number of uses, etc. but it definitely affects the final taste result, which is very important to me, personally. (I'm bummed I missed this until now, because I've had this discussion many times with good cooks, who are every bit as good a cook as a professional chef--and like to use garlic presses--as opposed to trained chefs (like myself) who have explored many different ways to prepare garlic and find we don't prefer the result.) Using a garlic press does not give you chopped, minced, mashed garlic or garlic paste (which are generally what are used in gourmet cooking), but gives you some of the clove with a lot of the garlic oil which tastes more pungent than if one had the whole clove together. I think this dramatically affects a dish, and is only good for certain purposes, like certain garlicky pasta sauces or mild red salsas (when that type of garlic aftertaste combined with tomatoes and some sugar is very pleasing). To me, each way to prepare garlic, whether slicing, chopping garlic into brunoise or mince or making it into a paste (mince the garlic and then sprinkle some kosher salt onto it, then rub it back and forth with the back of a knife until it's a pulpy mass) all give a different taste to a dish.

wait...what's wrong with the "stink" of garlic on your hands? and AB is the man. Strive to understand the physics of the kitchen, and it will set you free.
Love & Light,
~cj

I am FAR from a professional chef and even I don't like to use a garlic press. I don't feel like the little machine gets truly clean (which grosses me out!) and it feel awkward in my hands. Would rather just use a good knife and chop away.

I was also told once (by a pro) that slices & medium diced garlic are easier to see & pick out for those who are skittish! For myself, I can't get enough! Depending on the dish, I occasionally use a garlic press, but mostly a knife.

Kenjialtci put it well. Basically, the finer you chop or the more you smash the garlic or as jfljoe says, you “don't care about the structural integrity of the garlic,” the more garlicky juice you release. The result is that your garlic will be a lot more pungent if you use a garlic press, smoosh your garlic with a pan, or finely mince it.

@ feriorrenna – I definitely used to put play-doh through my parents’ garlic press. I thus grew up without one.

@mh330, dmarina – I kind of love smelling my garlicky hands after a chopping sesh. It prolongs my food experience. And that's always a good thing in my book.

Smashing the Garlic clove(s) first with the flat side of large chef's knife, and then sprinkling half a teaspoon salt over it, prevents the ensueing catapulting of garlic pieces all over the counter and kitchen floor.

the easiest is with a cleaver SMASH! and then sprinkle some sea salt, smash again and let the crystals help break down the garlic as you CHOPCHOPCHOP. way fast, way easy to clean up. and regarding smells lingering on the hand: if you're cooking/prepping/chopping, you'll inevitably get food funk on your hands. so what??!?!

I am a bad, bad person. I use my garlic press all the time, and at one point, I had two of them. Oh the SHAME OF IT.

@mh330, maybe you should ask someone what "unitasker" means because a microplane, kitchenAid and blender all have multiple uses, and i would take any of them over a garlic press.
& using less overprocessed garlic? just don't overprocess it. i'd rather use a knife and mince a clove, than cut a quarter of a clove and put it through a press?

and i guess i'm the only one that likes my hands to smell like garlic and onions? it reminds me of home, my mom & family dinners.

if you really don't like the smell, just rub your hands on stainless steel, gone in seconds.

My stepmom bought me one of those silicon tubes that looks like a canneloni, for peeling garlic. I gave it back to her. Give me a heavy knife to smash, peel, then chop cloves of garlic anyday - much quicker. I'm interested to try the microplane method, though.

Off topic, I bought an egg slicer, but I use it for slicing mushrooms, fast!

@Perky - I've seen an Oxo one that's similar to the Pampered Chef one at Williams-Sonoma (and more recently, at my local chain grocery store). I don't chop onions or nuts by hand anymore, and my MIL uses hers to make coleslaw from scratch (crazy woman).

@ izatryt and msmeghan: I too was using a microplane WAY before RR! I still say the uniformity of the the garlic taste, while strong, is preferable for me. As an above poster said, if it's too strong, I use less!

I was using a microplane long before Rachel Ray. It's fast, it's handy and it keeps me from worrying if my wooden cutting board has absorbed all that garlic flavor. I pretty much always like a strong garlic flavor, so it's not a big deal. I have bad hand-eye coordination and small hands, so I never quite got the hang of fine motor skills, and that includes chopping garlic.