Food Press thingamy

[CommissionerLin]

Does anyone know what this contraption that I am going to describe is called and where might I be able to purchase one?

The contraption is essentially a food press but its specific purpose is to squeeze the last pint of liquid out of the solid and semi-solid ingredients that have gone into the making of a stock eg., cartilage, bone, skin, vegetables, etc.

I know this contraption exists because I have come across it in cookbooks. It is apparently de rigueur in upscale French restaurants.

[Anna N]

Does anyone know what this contraption that I am going to describe is called and where might I be able to purchase one?

The contraption is essentially a food press but its specific purpose is to squeeze the last pint of liquid out of the solid and semi-solid ingredients that have gone into the making of a stock eg., cartilage, bone, skin, vegetables, etc.

I know this contraption exists because I have come across it in cookbooks.  It is apparently de rigueur in upscale French restaurants.

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Is this what you are thinking of? Or maybe a food mill?

[HKDave]

I've never heard of pressing stock leftovers to extract the last pint of liquid. You might make a remouillage with the leftovers after straining off the first stock, but you wouldn't press them firstly because life's too short and secondly because you'll get lots of particulates that'll cloud up your stock.

The only thing I can think of that sounds remotely close to what you're describing is a duck press. It's not used for stock, but you would find it in some old-school French restaurants:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/equivalents_s...ndex=D&tid=2529

[Shalmanese]

Are you talking about the duck press they use at La Tour d'Argent?

[rooftop1000]

Dare I guess a Chinoise strainer...AKA China Cap with the wooden pusher like on a meat grinder?

tracey

[carlux]

Sounds to me like a Chinois - a type of strainer used to get the last drops.

I use a food mill, excellent for squeezing all the juice and pulp out of tomatoes, and wonderful for mashed potatoes. Mine comes with three sizes of disk, so that you can choose which is the best for whatever you're squeezing through.

[Fugu]

Yes, a duck press is my guess as well.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Fugu (log)

[chezcherie]

i think you are referring to a chinois (or china cap) and pestle:here

the only thing is, don't extract the very last drops with it--if you mash and press too hard on the solids, you'll get some bitterness in your stock. but other than that, it's a great tool.

[CommissionerLin]

i think you are referring to a chinois (or china cap) and pestle:here

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Thanks guys, I think the chinois and pestle and the food mill would both do the trick. The duck press might work as well except its probably too small. Typically, I make a stock with pork bones/chicken carcasses/vegetables in a 10 litre stockpot filled to the brim and (as HKDave correctly observed) it would take too long to extract the residual liquid using such a diminutive press.

Presumably if the chinois or sieve were big enough you could dump the solid residue into it and let gravity and time do the trick. The only problem is I haven't come across a chinois/sieve that big and one would need to spend half an hour or more coaxing the liquid out of the solid residue seriatim, were a smaller one to be employed.