Food preparation activities such as sifting, straining, and separating dry and liquid ingredients are part of almost every process in the kitchen. Having the right tools to perform such tasks is essential for efficient food preparation. If you need help in choosing the right equipment for your commercial kitchen, speak with our experienced food industry consultants. HPG Consulting as a food service consultant assists customers in all aspects of food service planning and management. Continuing the discussion, in this blog post, we cover five types of strainers that are must for every commercial kitchen. Take a look.
1. Food Mill
A Food Mill is a strainer used to puree soft foods such as soups, sauces, or mashed potatoes. It can also be used during canning or make preserves to produce a smooth puree without seeds, skins, or stems. A food mill usually comprises interchangeable disks or drums with holes of different diameters to puree foods either smoothly or coarsely. These are delicate pieces of equipment, so care should be taken when cleaning and maintaining them.
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2. Colander
A Colander is a heavy-duty equipment used for washing and rinsing large quantities of vegetables, and draining freshly cooked pasta. The strainer comes with interchangeable meshes that are used depending on the type of food to be processed. The drain holes are the largest of all strainers so be sure not to use it for washing smaller particle items.
3. Tamis
A tamis is a snare drum shaped kitchen utensil that acts as a grater, strainer, or food mill. The equipment has a cylindrical edge, made of wood or metal, that supports a disc of nylon or fine metal mesh. It is usually used for sifting dry ingredients either for baking or to remove larger particles from finer in culinary applications. Tamis is also used for creating very smooth purees.
4. Food Ricer
A Food/Potato Ricer is a long-handled device with a small can or cylinder at one end and a plunger attached to the other. The cylindrical end has large holes through which boiled potatoes or other vegetables are pushed using a plunger. Food ricers usually come with two different sizes of cups.
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5. Chinois or China Cap
A Chinois is a conical sieve with an extremely fine mesh. It is used primarily for straining liquid ingredients and are available in various degrees of fineness. It is used to strain purees, custards, soups, and sauces, producing a very smooth texture. It can also be used to dust food with a fine layer of powdered ingredient. The finer wire mesh of chinois are relatively expensive as compared to china cap and should be handled delicately to ensure a long usable lifespan.
Wrap Up
If you are planning to set up the kitchen of a new restaurant or want to upgrade an existing one, talk to the food industry consultants at HPG Consulting. Leveraging proven expertise in food service planning and management in accordance with global standards, we aim at addressing diverse client requirements while keeping costs to the minimum. To discuss your requirements, simply call +91 9311 202 627 or +91 11 43505228/29. You can also fill out our contact form to get in touch with our food service consultants.