Superbags

[inigoaguirre]

As there is at least one Spanish contributor to this thread I'll try my luck

Would a superbag be appropriate for straining horchata/orxata?

I'm wondering if the extra filtration would make the drink a little less 'granular'.

←

i guess so but i really couldn't tell

[lapin d'or]

Anymore news on the use of the Superbag?

Can't find the 100Micron here in the UK, so is it worth getting one from US or Spain?

←

superbags

Adey, this UK site was linked to in another thread recently - they list the 100 micron bag. No idea if they have them in stock.

[takadi]

Is 100 micron overkill for straining a regular stock? What about 400 micron? I have no clue how large a micron is in comparison

[sygyzy]

100 microns is the width of a human hair. I have been happy with mine. I use it to strain consommés. I think if you are just straining stock, and are not expecting the liquid to be completely particulate free, then 400 microns is fine.

[paulraphael]

100 microns is the width of a human hair. I have been happy with mine. I use it to strain consommés. I think if you are just straining stock, and are not expecting the liquid to be completely particulate free, then 400 microns is fine.

Any more thoughts on this? I'm interested in a superbag for clarifying stocks. I would only be interested in consomée-like clarity if there was no flavor penalty (which seems doubtful).

What would be the ideal mesh size if you want stock as clear as possible without losing significant flavor?

I figure for extreme clarity I can use gelatin or agar clafification ... or get another superbag.

[rooftop1000]

I recently used the Brew Bucket strainer bag ...for its designated use...and it worked very well. None of these list the actual width of the mesh, but you may be able to ask or check out a local place that sells brewing equipment

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdBySubCat.aspx?SubCat=660

tracey

[OliverB]

not sure I'd spend this much, but it's certainly an interesting thing. I'm mostly thinking that I'd probably not use it very often and eventually forget that I have it

How well do these hold up?

[paulraphael]

They're a lot cheaper than a halfway decent chinois ...

No thoughts on the ideal mesh size for straining stock?

[paulraphael]

Someone clever at the Cooking Issues website suggested that the superbag might actually be a repackaged (and marked up) industrial filter.

I did some searches and found similar filter bags all over the place; I ended up scoring a pair of 100 micron bags and a pair of 250 micron bags on ebay for a total of $27, shipped. No way of knowing if these are as good as the haute cuisine variety, but it seemed like a good way to dip my big toes and test the concept.

I'll let you know how it goes.

And ... to answer my own question, the Superbag people say that 400 microns is just a bit finer than a standard chinois. So 250 microns is for significantly finer filtration, and 100 microns is for clarification.

[slkinsey]

The main difference between the ones you bought and the Superbag is strength.

[jgm]

The main reason I've hesitated to purchase a chinois is because I simply have no place to store it.

I do make sauces from time to time, but what I need is something for straining soups - especially asparagus soup.

Would a 400-micron Superbag be an appropriate substitute for a chinois for me? The idea that it would store in a very small amount of space is extremely tempting.

I've never even considered making tomato water, although I had a wonderful gazpacho made with it last summer at bluestem during the Heartland Gathering, but if I had the means to do it, who knows?

[slkinsey]

No, I woudn't think that a superbag would work for that. The thing about a chinois is that you reduce the particle size of something like an asparagus puree by scraping it through the sieve. A superbag is just going to hold the particles back and clog up. You want a superbag for applications where you more or less want just liquid to come through the other side.

[paulraphael]

The main difference between the ones you bought and the Superbag is strength.

Why, what's the superbag made of?

The industrial filters come in quite a few materials. One of type I bought is nylon, the other is polysester. Both are monofilament. Polypropylene is also available. I assumed the superbag would be one of these materials.

If the ones I got turn out to have a short lifespan, they'll at least let me test the concept for cheap.

[paulraphael]

I got they bags and they look great. Don't anticipate any durability problems. But they're coarser than I'd been led to believe. The 250 micron bag is barely finer than my chinois (it filters out some additional stuff but doesn't visibly improve clarity). The 100 micron bag provides some clarification but not a lot.

I've ordered a 50 micron bag to try out. $13 for a pair, free shipping. Very good ebay seller ... I'll be able to try them all the way down to 1 micron for about the price of one authentic superbag.

By the way, I'm most impressed by how easy they are to clean. I was worried that this would be a major catch. I find it easier than cleaning a chinois, since the fabric is much thinner and less textured than the mesh on the metal strainers.

[tomdarch]

paulraphael - I may have missed a link, but what are the details on the seller/items?

[paulraphael]

I may not have posted:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-Two-2-100-Micron-Nylon-Mesh-Filter-Bags-WVO_W0QQitemZ370289561526QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5636fa4fb6#ht_1142wt_1055

they have lots of others.

And here's a regular retailer with similar things:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/115/378/=4pf5wn

[LOG]

Gabe Quiroz, its wonderful that you work at EL BULLI, I just start trying to do some spherification with Texturas products an have some questions: which superbag do they use to strain the olives 100, 250, 400 microns?, for the minimozarelas spherification is hard to get a nice spherical form, do they drop it from spoons or use some other metod?

[Alex]

Gabe Quiroz, its wonderful that you work at EL BULLI, I just start trying to do some spherification with Texturas products an have some questions: which superbag do they use to strain the olives 100, 250, 400 microns?, for the minimozarelas spherification is hard to get a nice spherical form, do they drop it from spoons or use some other metod?

Welcome to eGullet, LOG.

The last time Gabe Quiroz was logged into eGullet was nearly two years ago, so I wouldn't count on a response from him. Someone else might have an answer, though.

[ChefMortensen]

The superbag is "relatively" simple to understand - and even use.

A clear tomato soup is simply blitzed tomatoes hung in the bag for a day or two. (in the fridge).

The liquid drained from the matter is the clear, almost, transparrent tomato soup.

However, this method can be done with gelatine and agar by freezing it and straining it through a chinoise.

But that is beside the point :-\

The superbag can also be used to create stock or broth.

A mirre poix can be placed within the bag (even bones ect) - and boiled in the water.

When the stock is done - just remove the bag - and if the superbag is fine enough - it will hold out the fat aswell.

I don't know

[bmdaniel]

paulraphael -

Any additional report on the filters bags you got? Reading through Modernist Cuisine this weekend and realizing I won't be purchasing a centrifuge any time soon made me think about this discussion.

I see that McMaster Carr has foodsafe Bags from 500 microns to 1 micron (with a lot of options in between) - any new thoughts from anyone?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#filter-bags/=bmpets

Pages 380-383

[nicad]

paulraphael -

Any additional report on the filters bags you got? Reading through Modernist Cuisine this weekend and realizing I won't be purchasing a centrifuge any time soon made me think about this discussion.

I see that McMaster Carr has foodsafe Bags from 500 microns to 1 micron (with a lot of options in between) - any new thoughts from anyone?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#filter-bags/=bmpets

Pages 380-383

finally started my egullet account to reply to this topic

these will work fine. I work in the water treatment field (among other things) and these are commonly used for water treatment, filtration, etc. The polypropylene bags seen here would work great:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-filter-bags

(click Mesh filter bags) to see a good selection

these are also FDA compliant.

I don't see the need to pay an extremely marked up cost for the same product - clever marketing by the superbag people!

[Kent Wang]

Thanks!

I've been using the 100 and 200 micron bags and they're a little better than cheesecloth.

[Kent Wang]

It's curious that the smallest particle size Superbag is 100 micron. I've used the 100 micron McMaster-Carr bag to filter a lemon zest infusion (I microplane lemon peels and soak in rum) and even that still leaves fine cloudy particles that settles to the bottom. I want to try 50 micron or even smaller. Has anyone had experience with this?

McMaster-Carr has many different shapes of bags, but for sub 100 micron, the High-Performance Filter Bags seem to be the best choice.

[nickrey]

If you want smaller particulate size, why not use filter paper? I currently move through rough sieves to finer sieves to super bag to filter paper in a Buchner funnel. You can stop when you get fine enough for your needs.

[dscheidt]

On 2/24/2014 at 9:14 AM, Kent Wang said:

It's curious that the smallest particle size Superbag is 100 micron. I've used the 100 micron McMaster-Carr bag to filter a lemon zest infusion (I microplane lemon peels and soak in rum) and even that still leaves fine cloudy particles that settles to the bottom. I want to try 50 micron or even smaller. Has anyone had experience with this?

McMaster-Carr has many different shapes of bags, but for sub 100 micron, the High-Performance Filter Bags seem to be the best choice.

 I use a 50 micron one as a strainer.  part number 51705K511 Nylon, 7" diameter, 16" long.  Diameter was chosen because it allows me to put it over a #10 can, and empty the can into the strainer with no mess.