Food mill

[Gina]

I found a nice foodmill at a yard sale this morning for $1 and decided to give one another try. This is the larger sized. In the past I've had no luck with using one. I thought it messy and a waste of time and I gave it to goodwill. But that was a smaller version, so maybe the larger one will work better.

Has anyone else used one and liked it? What did it work best on? Thanks.

Here is an internet image of what I got:

http://www.pickyourown.org/cooking/foley2.jpg

[janharker]

I use mine for making mashed potatoes.

[IshbelRobertson]

Great for making cooked tomato sauces
Used to use it for making baby foods (using what we adults were eating)

Don't use it for mashed/creamed potatoes though as I find a ricer works so much better.

[herbgeek]

I use mine for straining the seeds out of raspberries, and freeze the puree to make into a dessert sauce, or make jam.

[CathyA]

Gina, what are you going to use it for? How big across is it?

[Simpler at Fifty]

I use it when I make applesauce. I cook the apples overnight in the crockpot. I run them through the food mill in the morning. It makes great applesauce.
We used it for making pumpkin for pies and for squash for the freezer when I was a kid.

[Gina]

Gina, what are you going to use it for? How big across is it?

Not sure yet. Since I only have access to tomatoes, making seedless/skinless tomato paste may be the first try, but having lots of those is still weeks away. Wish I had access to ample good raspberries and apples, but sadly don't.

It's still in the car, but I think it's about 9-10 inches across. The lady (on the young side) said she had used it for making baby food. It looks almost new.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

[CathyA]

It works, but I found it a hassle to have to stop every so often and dig out all the skins.
I have a Victorio strainer, which separated the skins from the juice.....which was really nice.
The food mill seems to work best when using it for things that don't have skins. (peeled apples, cooked winter squash, etc.)

[razz]

To remove the skins, simply reverse the direction that you are going, turn upside down and the skins will drop out into the compost bucket. I love mine for tomato juice and sauce, applesauce, prepping food for the dehydrator and so on.

[treehugger]

I have one and find it an invaluable time saver for making apple sauce (no need to peel or core the apples before cooking), chile pastes, and tomato sauce (again, no need to peel or seed). I hope you find yours works well and is useful. The price was certainly right!

Kara

[Gina]

Ooooo! Chile pastes. Never thought of that. I grow lots of chiles with thicker skins. I fire roast them and then have to peel and seed them - a time-consuming pain. Running them through a food mill would be really cool. I'd get a new product and save a lot of time. Thanks. :)

[treehugger]

Ooooo! Chile pastes. Never thought of that. I grow lots of chiles with thicker skins. I fire roast them and then have to peel and seed them - a time-consuming pain. Running them through a food mill would be really cool. I'd get a new product and save a lot of time. Thanks. :)

Yes, that's it exactly. I love to use chile pastes in sauces, but man is it a giant pain to push it all through a sieve or just pick out the tough skin pieces. A food mill does ALL the work. :) Not to mention saving you from burning your fingers on the hotter chiles.

Do you have any of Rick Bayless' cookbooks? That's where I have gotten my recipes that use chile pastes/sauces. Yum!

Kara

[Gina]

I have one Bayless cookbook but it's an older one - from '96, and after a quick look, doesnt seem to have anything about chile pastes - only one small section about straining sauces through a standard strainer. But I can see the possibilities. I love Mexican foods and green sauces, etc.

I add fire-roasted chiles to many sauces/'stews' (non mex) and they tend to totally breakdown anyway, esp if long-cooked. Might just as well try the food mill. In fact, I have some very early chile fruits I've been thinking I should pick since they are stunting the vegetative growth of the plants too early in the season. Might have to do that this week. :):)

In fact, one of the things I like about my favorite chile (Numex Joe E.Parker) is the thick flesh and 'tough' skin. That makes them easier to peel by hand. And now.... Zoom.....

[Gina]

I picked the relatively young chiles and fire-roasted them this evening. I allowed myself to be less careful than usual in terms of scorching every part. As a result, there were parts that were still 'uncooked'. I decided to nuke them to soften all of the flesh, and that was a good move. I then cut off the caps, and did remove some of the larger seed clumps, and some of the easiest burned skin. Then chopped it slightly, and ran it through the food mill. Interesting stuff came out. Hotter than I was anticipating, but a good flavor for young chiles. I got 1.5 pounds - about 3 cups.

I can see many uses for this chile paste. Great in cooking or salsas. It could be frozen in icecube trays for smaller dollops. Since I'm running the dehydrator tomorrow for something else, I might spread it out and dry some of it too, then pulverize it and use it as a dry spice powder.

Using the foodmill was an experience. Kinda messy, and it took a bit to get used to. The larger one is much easier to use than the small one I tired in the past. I can see using it again, but I doubt it's going to be often.

It was well worth the $1. :)