The Wonderous Food Mill

Like many people, I went without a food mill for years. Now I wonder why. Oh, we always had a blender and used it often but it is relegated to smoothies and mayonnaise now. The food processor has been around for a long time, was used intensely at first. Now, it comes in useful once in awhile. Once we began to make pasta sauces, thick soups and jams and jellies; now that we put up most of the vegetables we eat through the Winter, the food mill is used more than both blender and food processor combined.

The food mill is so basic. It looks like a cross between a bottomless pan and a child’s toy. Yet, if you want to cook home-made tomato sauces, this is a must have tool. There are other uses, of course, but they have viable alternatives. If you want mashed potatoes, you can use a mixer or potato masher; if you want the potatoes perfectly smooth, but thick, then a food mill will do the best job. If you are making jams and jellies, you can use a cloth to filter the seeds and stringy parts. If you are making a pureed soup, you can use the food processor or blender; but if you want the soup smooth but naturally thick, the food mill will do the best job.

A food mill is a great gift for the kitchen, it looks good on the shelf and prepares many foods better than a blender or food processor can. While the blender whips everything into liquid and the food processor chops everything to a puree, food mills simply separate the pulp and juices of food from the seeds, peels and strings. All this without an on/off switch. And it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

My favorite food mill is made of stainless steel and holds about a quart of boiled fruit or vegetables. It has three blades (or disks), each has different sized holes for straining, so the food mill can be used for tomatoes, with large disk, and seeded berries with smaller holes. The food mill is like a pan without a bottom. The disks fit tightly into the bottom and have holes that allow the pulp of the food to pass through while blocking seeds and rinds. On the bottom, the food mill has three foldout legs that fit over bowls and kettles so it can easily be stabilized while working. To push the vegetables through the mill, there is a handle attached to a fan-shaped press. Turning the handle forces the vegetables through the disk.

To use the food mill, select the appropriate sized disk and insert it into the bottom. Then set the spring loaded handle and press into the disk to hold it down. Next, set the food mill atop a bowl or pan. Use the fold-out legs to make it stable. Ladle the food being milled into the holding bowl. Once you have enough fruit or vegetable loaded, begin turning the the handle. The simple, fan-shaped press forces the food through the holes in the disk, making a smooth, puree. Unlike the food processor and blender, this puree is not chopped into tiny, tiny bits. Sometimes, you may have to scrap the food off the sides of the bowl with a spatula, but often turning the handle backwards will pull the stuck food into the bowl. As the mill empties, add more vegetables until you have milled them all. When you have milled as much of the food as you can, or you desired, you will have a dryish mass of peels and seeds. These can be thrown into the compost bin.

If you have never used a food mill, look forward to soups that are smooth but with more texture than a puree, for jams that set better than those prepared with a food processor and perfect mashed potatoes. A food mill should last for generations and makes a great addition to the kitchen. Most are not expensive. Instead, considering how well they work, how great the results are, food mills are one of the great deals in kitchen tools.

copyright 2005 Chromia Poetics