your favorite uses for a food mill

[dvereen]

trying to justify the purchase of a food mill. but wondering how much i would really use it. so what are your favorite uses for yours?

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

The main things I use a food mill for are pureeing vegetables for curry sauce, and making mashed potatoes. I use the fine disc and the mashed potatoes come out like silk.

As for brand, I picked up the RSVP Endurance one for about $25 from a local cooking store. It's the white plastic one with a red handle. Does the same job as the All-Clad one, and costs a fourth as much.

[paulj]

I was recently given an RSVP one. It's a well made copy of the old French design. There is a thick plastic washer at the base of the screw, that serves as a bearing, making the motion smoother. But it also leaves a slight gap between the screw press and the disk. With things that leave a residue behind (seeds and skin) that's not big deal, but more of a nuisance if you want to squeeze every bit through.

[Karl S]

Applesauce.

Tomato sauce. Take a can of peeled San Marzano tomatoes and run them through the mill. Makes a very pure sauce that is very unfashionable (but delectable all the more).

Any other fruits (including the vegetables that are properly fruits in botanical terms) -- the issue is removing peels and seeds.

* * *

Root vegetables, by contrast, go through the ricer, never the food mill or blender.

* * *

Leaves and stalks go through the blender or food processer.

[dvereen]

do you have a name-brand preference?

[Karl S]

I use a Foley. No replaceable discs, but it works like a charm. Cuisinpro is oft recommended, IIRC.

[rootlesscosmo]

I have a Matfer. It cost 50 or 60 bucks (I've had it a while) at a restaurant supply house and I think it's pretty much indestructible.

[paulj]

Mine is a French plastic 'Moulin Legumes No 1' (bean mill?) that has survived a house fire and lots of use. The plastic is melted spots, and the crank knob is missing, but it still does it's job.
http://www.moulinex.co.uk/pages/food_...

[Mawrter]

"Legumes" is a false cognate - it really means vegetables. If you really want to say legumes (beans) in French, it's "les pulses".

[paulj]

Now that you mention it, I should have remembered that Spanish has something similar: 'legumbres'

[Mawrter]

Thanks! Didn't know that.

[ljjhouser]

ALL CLAD - a little hard to find, but I bought 2 from The Kitchen Store.com - $79 They come with all three disks and are well built.

[whiteswife]

Why wouldn't you want to put a root vegetable through a mill? We have a ricer, but it's quite hard to make it work with out over cooking our potatoes, etc.

I thought a mill would be fine.

[foodwinemaven]

Yes please let us know why root veggies go in the ricer, not the food mill.

[Katie Nell]

You might be interested in this post from Carb Lover as well: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/... I'm trying to decide if I want one too!

[dvereen]

that was an interesting post. i try to stay away from sweets but that gelato sounds great.

[HillJ]

If you enjoy a chunky applesauce, mill is perfect tool.

[kayakado]

A food mill lets me make a puree without whipping in a lot of air, in baking and some recipes I need volume measurements that are accurate. Too much air would mess that up.

[Jim Washburn]

My Cuisipro gets used for lots of jobs, but most often to separate rehydrated chile pulp from the seeds and skins. It's a great time and labor saver, and I know of no other tool that can do the job anywhere near as well.

Jim

[dvereen]

thanks for all the great ideas. i think i can justify it now. purees for soups and chile pulp would probably end being my top 2 uses.

[paulj]

Pureeing steamed sweet potatoes for a quick bread (or muffins).

Separating reconstituted chile pepper pulp from the skin.

Pureeing the cooked vegetables in soup or braising liquid.

It is best for making a puree when I want to leave things like seeds and skin behind. This better than using a food processor (or blender) to reduce the skin and seeds to a pulp.

paulj

[saffy]

I use mine to make berry purees in the summer, and spatzle in the winter.

[MMRuth]

Spatzle - how clever! I have a spatzle maker, but can see it being easier in the food mill with the disc with the largest holes. I usually get mine out when I'm making Marcella's chickpea soup.

[Candy]

I have a spatzle hopper. They cost about $5.00. My Foley would make lousy spatle

[rootlesscosmo]

I think if what you want is a puree of vegetables or fruit, the mill does a better job than a processor or blender. I use mine to make mashed potatoes, pureed soup (a potato-leek-carrot one in particular), pureed tomatoes (skins and seeds don't go through and the puree isn't aerated so it stays red rather than turning pink), pureed berries (again, no seeds) for ice creams and sorbets. I bought a fairly fancy one, a Matfer 5 quart, from a restaurant supply house

http://tinyurl.com/yydts8

and I wouldn't be without it.

[Candy]

Mine is a humble Foley from the hardware store. I cna't imagine not having one. Once you get it, "you get it."

[welle]

You could probably do it with a foodmill too, but I bought my tiny entry level food processor just for the purpose of making my own hummus! Homemade hummus has 2 advantages a) you make it the way you like, b)you control how much you make (I usually end up discarding some of the store-bought stuff). And it's also way cheaper to make your own at home.

[dvereen]

um...hummus. good idea. tx