I was grating by hand too but maybe with a different tool? I used something that looked like this: http://www.kitchenetc.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=114890 and used the big holes shown for the potatoes and then the little holes for the onion. The onion ended up a pulpy mess and I worried about scraping my knuckles so I switched to mincing with a knife. These were great for my sweet tooth -- sweet but kept in check by the onions.