Posts Tagged ‘food strainers’

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Food Strainer & Sauce Maker

March 7th, 2010

Many people have some sort of food strainer sauce maker combo in their kitchens, but rarely use them.  They are one of the most helpful kitchen gadgets for making things from scratch, yet they sit idle in the cabinet.  I know, because I was this way for a long time!  However, I was able to break through and figure out how to use mine more frequently.  In this post, I want to show you how to make sure that you actually use yours.  They aren’t cheap, and they are extremely useful, so dust off your food strainer sauce maker and lets get to work!

Why People Don’t Use Their Food Strainer Sauce Maker

I have two theories of why people don’t use their food strainers.  Either they don’t know how, or they hate cleaning it up afterwords.  Both excuses are legit, but easy to overcome!

Using a food strainer is relatively simple.  Food goes in the top, gets smushed, and comes out the bottom.  The problem is that many people don’t cook things that take advantage of this tool.  The most common uses for a food mill are tomato sauce, apple sauce, jams, jellies, and pie fillings.  If you’ve ever tried to make raspberry jam without a food strainer, you know how much of a pain in the ass it is!  Instead, put the berries in the top of your food strainer sauce maker and let it do the work for you!

There really isn’t a trick to making cleanup of your food strainer easier.  Instead, it’s a matter of cleaning as you go.  Once the you’re finished with the strainer part, bang it against a trash can on both sides to knock out as much of the pulp as you can.  Cleaning the grinder will take a brush, or a lot of water pressure, to get all of the junk out of it.

Or better yet, get the kids to do it!

A common problem that people run into is that when they make things like tomato sauce from scratch, they begin to hate the taste of canned sauce.  This is only natural, and should be embraced!  Your pallet is becoming refined!  This leads to one of two outcomes; either you never make pasta or pizza, or you use your food strainer each time.  You now have an excellent excuse to break out this awesome kitchen gadget!

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What Is A Food Mill Strainer?

March 7th, 2010

A food mill strainer is an awesome invention that allows you, the cook, to transform foods into new states.  Most of these will be long, perforated cones with a grinder mechanism on the top that is controlled by moving the handle.  While these won’t get much use from the novice cook, they are a necessity in many high end home kitchens.  Prices on food mill strainers vary from around $40, all the way up to around $200.  The good news is that you can probably get away with the cheap model for use in your home.  In this post I want to share with you how these work, their primary uses, and who they are best for.

How Does A Food Mill Strainer Work?

A food mill strainer works by grinding and smashing food that goes into the top, and separating the liquid that comes out from the pulp that’s left behind.  The small teeth inside of the mill section work to process just about any type of food that you can throw at it.  Beneath the grinder section is a finely perforated metal cone that works to catch all of the pulp that is leftover from the liquid.

These aren’t the easiest kitchen gadgets to use.  The knob that you have to turn to process the food can be tough to work with.  Most of the time, you are working to keep the entire food mill stable with one hand, while you turn the knob with the other.  While it is a lot of work, there are aren’t other tools that can do the same job, so it’s a necessary evil!

What Are Food Mill Strainers Used For?

The most common use for a food mill is for making tomato sauce from scratch.  After the tomatoes have been blanched, they go right into the top of the mill.  Run them through and you have sauce that comes through and crushed tomatoes in the strainer.

They also make apple sauce, separate the seeds and skin of berries, and grind up other veggies to get their juice.

Who Are Food Mill Strainers Designed For?

I would venture a guess to say that 80% of all food mills are used in restaurants.  Most people don’t make their own tomato sauce!  The other 20% that live in people’s homes are for those that are avid cooks.  Average cooks won’t get a lot of use out of a food mill because it is so much easier to buy everything in cans than it is to make it.

Although, they do make much more sense than an electric food strainer!

A food mill strainer is a very cool kitchen gadget, but many people just don’t have a need for it.  If you are looking to make your food from scratch, and have the time to accompany that, these are designed for you.  If so, invite me over for dinner!

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What To Look For When Shopping For A Food Strainer

January 29th, 2010

A food strainer is one of the handiest tools to have in the kitchen.  Having them in different sizes will only increase the uses that you have for them.  Not only do they do much more than separate your pasta and its water, they become an integral part in your sauce and dessert making.

If you’re confused about the difference between a colander and a food strainer, don’t worry many people are.  A colander is what you use to drain pasta in the sink or rinse vegetables.  A food strainer can be used for those things, but will also separate fat from gravy, berry juice from the skin and flesh, strain sauces, and catch lemon juice seeds before they go into your food.  They’re closer related to a cheesecloth than a colander, but does many of the jobs that both do.

The most important element in food strainers are the materials that they’re constructed from.  Having a plastic food strainer might seem like a good idea for saving money, but most people will end up melting it and needing a new one!  Metal is the best choice, and stainless steel is the best of all of the metals.  Painted or ceramic metals are going to rust over time and cause more problems then they’re worth.  Stainless steel might not fit the decor of your kitchen, but it will last as long as your kitchen does so it’s smart to buy it once and never worry about it again.

Most food strainers will have a mesh inside that allows liquid to pass through but catches most of the solids.  Mesh food strainers work great because they’re a bit flexible which allows you to press out liquid more effectively.  Conical food strainers work well for separating veggies scraps from veggie broth and other large applications like that, but are more limited in their uses when compared to the mesh strainers.

When looking for a strainer that will be multifunctional in your kitchen, look for an 8-9 inch stainless strainer with a metal mesh inside.  These will last forever and help you complete your meals in a faster and more elegant fashion!  Each type has its own benefits, but for all around use and quality these are the way to go.

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