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kitchenware Food Mill for Sauce?

mcbob

mcbob

eXtreme
I'm looking for opinions on using a food mill for sauce preparation.
Currently I have been using a sieve to separate the remaining skins and seeds from my fermented sauces. This method works well but is very tedious.
The sieve does seem to remove more fiber that I prefer which leaves the sauce a bit thin. I usually end up adding some pulp back to the mix to correct it.
I have been looking at some manual food mills as a possible replacement to the sieve method.
Can anyone offer up an opinion on how effective a mill might be for consistency and to speed the processing time up?
 
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A food mill with multiple sieves should work well. They range from fine to XL so make sure the mill you buy has these options so if you need to buy a slightly larger or smaller sieve you can. Bonus if it comes with all of them.
 
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I saw it on amazon but that one, I don't think comes with 5 sieves and they retail for about $30 each. Yeah looks like a good one. German steel!
 
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YES for a manual sieve! I have the old school style with one size holes, tin one and it's worked great. Got one from my parents during the estate clean out and another from a thrift store. Bought one from amz with 3 plates but haven't had an opportunity to need it yet.

They work pretty quick, I have used one processing about 5 gallons of a ferment. Probably only took 20 minutes. Just remember... CrankCrankCrankREVERSE. And save the tailings! Those can be dried, ground up and used in spice or Chile blends, if they dont have a ton of seeds.

There are electric sieves, I think some low end entry models that are advertised for tomatoes (Harbor Freight?) all the way up to a couple thousand $$, mega-processors.

If I'm using habs or superhots type chiles, I don't bother trying to remove the seeds ahead of time. They don't have a lot of seeds. If using something like a Fresno, those have a ton of seeds and a large placenta. I will typically cut those in half, yard out most of the seeds then proceed. I noticed that during a ferment a lot of the seeds fall to the bottom, so you can scoop out the top produce and leave the seeds at the bottom.


You may want to consider ferment-sieve-THEN blend. Blendering will break up a lot of the seeds, depending on the quality of your blender, and then that little bit of bitterness as well as the tiny bits of seed will be in the sauce. The mouth will feel those hard bits of broken seed. Sieving first will remove the whole seeds and should yield a smoother sauce.

Good Luck and Have fun!
salsalady
 
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I'm convinced to give one a try. Anything to get away from the spatula/sieve method I have been using.
I do try and remove most of the seeds for the ferment. I grew a bunch of Fresno's this last year and really liked to blend the with ripe jalapenos. The Fresno's seemed to have a tougher skin and left a lot in the sieve though. It made for some interesting fermented powder when dried.
 
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I got some Scottish blood in me and try and go cheap. A typical batch for me is 1/2-1 gallon.
Would like to keep it under $50 without a total compromise on quality.
I see quite a few out there that might be questionable.
 
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Downriver said:
Food Mill comparison

Spoiler Alert - another vote for OXO.

Like SL, I use a vintage, manual crank, cheapo tin thing....and it does a great job, lol. Usually can find one at a thrift/flea market type place for a couple dollars. Well worth the money.
Click to expand...

In the report linked above, one feature to note is 2 of the mentioned mills have a crossbar mounting bracket and the Mirro has an open bowl. The old thrift store ones I use have an open bowl, the blade is fastened by a spring nut from below that also has a sweeper "arm". I haven't used a model with the support crossbar above, but would think that might get in the way of dumping product in and cleaning the tailings out.


When processing thru a food mill, I dump a couple cups product into the mill, grind/grind/grind/reverse (do this a couple times)- add a couple more cups of product, repeat...
When this is done a few times and there is a decent size glob of tailings, I reverse a couple turns and then dump the tailing in a side bowl to discard or dry for seasonings.

This is where the crossbar could get in the way.

just a note to consider-

If you are processing a gallon or so, that will go very quickly with any of the hand crank models and you will get more end product than using a sieve and spoon.

Have Fun!
SL
 
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I have noticed the crossbar mount on most I have been reviewing. I also noticed just a few models had a drop-down piece of metal that was part of the crossbar. I believe it was to help push larger chunks down into the mill grinding area. That seemed like it might be useful at least for things like onions etc that might be in the sauce and bigger chunks.
I haven't bought one yet but appreciate the suggestions. I will have something to test out before harvesting this fall.
I better get started with some seeds fairly soon. It's been seriously cold for this local the last few weeks. Its set me back on plans.
 
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It will be interesting to see how it works for you. I'm still skeptical about the crossbar being a pain. Perhaps if it was in line with the handle (instead of perpendicular) it would be easier to pour/scape out the tails. Also, I don't see any "feet" to rest on the bowl. It looks like you have to hold it with one hand and grind with the other. That might be a pain as well. Let us know your review after use. Shoot, I might buy one myself, lol.
 
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