Handy Finds Club
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In the kitchen / 2 min read

Soup night, two textures.

A food mill for the base. A grater for the cheese finish.

Soup night, two textures. An empty OXO Food Mill rests on a pale kitchen counter beside a Microplane Professional-family grater. Tomatoes, a carrot and celery lie on a linen towel, with a small wedge of hard cheese on a board beside the grater. Tools are resting before preparation; no milling or grating is shown. Historical product-photo cutouts: OXO photographed in 2013, Microplane in 2012. Exact models unverified; current Microplane 2.0 differs. AI-generated background and food props, not a tested recipe. Ad. Photo credits and edition notes in the guide.

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Sizes & buying notes ↓

The 2013 food mill and 2012 grater illustrate the product families. Check the current model and grating blade.

Dwight Burdette (CC BY 3.0) and Denkhenk (CC BY-SA 3.0). Composite by Handy Finds Club (CC BY-SA 3.0). Photo credits & licenses

The products in this guide

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Prepare the soup base

OXO Good Grips Food Mill

Consider a hand-operated food mill if you want a choice of grinding discs for preparing a puréed base.

Product-family search. OXO mill photographed in 2013; exact current model, capacity, and disc set are unverified. Check the selected item’s specifications.

See options on Amazon

Search results: check the model, size and seller.

Details & buying notes
  • The current Food Mill includes three discs for fine, medium, and coarse textures.
  • OXO's instructions describe turning the knob by hand to push food through the mill.
  • The legs fold for storage.
  • Keep the tools you already use if they give you the soup texture you want.
See current OXO Food Mill details

Grate the cheese finish

Microplane Professional Series graters

Consider a Professional Series grater for a separately grated hard-cheese topping. Choose a current blade type for the texture you prefer.

Product-family search. Grater photographed in 2012; exact model unverified. Current 2.0 design differs, so check the selected grater and blade type.

See options on Amazon

Search results: check the model, size and seller.

Details & buying notes
  • Current Professional Series 2.0 options include Fine, Coarse, and Extra Coarse graters.
  • Microplane lists hard cheeses among the uses for the current 2.0 Coarse grater.
  • The current 2.0 Coarse grater includes a protective cover for storage.
  • Keep your current grater if it already suits your cheese and preferred texture.
Browse current Microplane Professional options

By Handy Finds Club · November 3, 2026
Research-based recommendations. Our approach.

Choose each tool for its job

For a soup night with a puréed base and a little grated cheese on top, consider two separate jobs. The OXO Good Grips Food Mill is an option for the base; a Microplane Professional Series grater is an option for the finish. Choose the role you need. You do not have to buy both.

OXO food mill: work on the base

Consider the mill if you enjoy preparing soup by hand and want a choice of grinding discs. The current OXO model includes fine, medium, and coarse discs. Its instructions describe turning the knob to push food through the mill and include soup among the suggested uses.

Before using it, follow the assembly instructions and check that your receiving bowl or pot supports it securely. The tools in our scene are resting before work; the image does not demonstrate a working setup.

Microplane grater: choose your finish

If you like adding freshly grated hard cheese, compare the current Professional Series blade options. Microplane lists hard cheeses among the uses for its 2.0 Coarse grater. Choose a blade for the topping you want rather than matching the look of our older photo.

The current 2.0 Coarse option includes a protective cover for storage. Keep a grater that already suits your cheese and preferred texture; this is an optional finishing tool.

Check the current version

The OXO mill was photographed in 2013; the Microplane Professional-style grater in 2012. Exact pictured models are unverified. Today's Microplane 2.0 design differs, including its hanging loop; the OXO photo does not establish today's listed capacity or disc set.

Both Amazon links are paid product-family searches, with different variants and possibly unrelated results. Check the item you select. Manufacturer links are ordinary links. We may earn a commission from qualifying Amazon purchases. This guide is based on sources checked November 4, 2026, Japan time. We have not used these tools or tested the pairing.

Sources & further details

Manufacturer links show current specifications, variants, and availability. Check those details before ordering.

Photo sources and image license

Food mill photo: Oxo Brand Food Mill by Dwight Burdette, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Photographed March 8, 2013; exact pictured model, capacity, and disc set are unverified.

Grater photo: Microplane by Denkhenk, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Photographed June 16, 2012. Professional-style family identification is based on appearance; the exact model is unverified.

Changes: only the tools were selected from the two photos. They were cropped, cut out with hand-drawn masks, resized proportionally, and repositioned. Soft contact and cast shadows were added on separate layers. The tools were combined with an AI-generated counter, vegetables, towel, cheese, and board. Text was added to the social versions.

Composite by Handy Finds Club, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. View the full-resolution scene. The original OXO photo remains CC BY 3.0. The composite license applies to the image, not this guide text. No endorsement by the photographers, OXO, or Microplane is implied.

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