Blender, Food Processor or Food Mill

[weinoo]

I'm making a roasted butternut squash soup, with leeks, apples, onions, carrots, celery, etc.

I have at my disposal a blender (non Vita-mix, sadly), a food processor, a food mill and a hand blender. To puree, what method would you use? I would imagine the blender followed by the food mill would give the silkiest texture, but I'd prefer not to clean both.

[Chris Hennes]

I don't get why you would need to food mill after blending. I'd think that even with a standard blender that would be unnecessary. Or... you could use this as an excuse to get a new blender! The BlendTec has a soup button on it, you push it and viola! Soup (and hearing damage).

[JAZ]

I make pureed vegetable soups a lot, both for myself and for classes, and what I've found is that my old blender worked better -- faster, actually -- than my food processor, so that's what I used. If I want a really smooth soup, I pass the pureed soup through a medium mesh sieve. I recently got a Blendtec but haven't used it for soups, so I'm not sure if I would need to strain after blending with it.

When we teach our Kitchen Basics series, we have our students prep asparagus for steaming and roasting, and then use the ends for asparagus soup the next day. There's a Vitamix where we teach, so that's what I use for pureeing the soup. Even using that, though, I still need to strain, because there's so much fiber in the asparagus ends. If I were using the tender part of the asparagus or other tender vegetables, I'm not sure I'd need to strain the soup.

In my experience an immersion blender (I assume that's what you mean by "hand blender") is pretty much worthless if you want a smooth soup. It's great if you want something rustic, but you'd be blending for hours to get the soup totally smooth.

[Lisa Shock]

Regular blender, and perhaps then run through a chinois for those perfectionists out there.

Hand blender, aka immersion blender is a touchy subject. My 16-year-old Braun Multimix that has a main body similar to an old-fashioned hand mixer or egg-beater, not the newer one that is a stick-shaped immersion blender with changeable heads, is far more powerful than the waring 'professional' immersion blender I have at work. So, in general, I'd have to rate this option very low as modern equipment just doesn't seem to measure up.

[weinoo]

I don't get why you would need to food mill after blending. I'd think that even with a standard blender that would be unnecessary.

The food mill after blending is used because as Janet says below...

If I want a really smooth soup, I pass the pureed soup through a medium mesh sieve.

There's a Vitamix where we teach, so that's what I use for pureeing the soup. Even using that, though, I still need to strain, because there's so much fiber in the asparagus ends.

Anything really fibrous benefits from the blend/mill technique. And I guess when you want it super professional quality, a chinois is in order.

Seems like this is a job that's not for the food processor or hand blender.

[Carlovski]

I sometimes make a spiced butternut squash soup where I roast the squash with crushed whole spices. That benefits from straining after blending as the spices get rather bitty, although I haven't tried with my new more powerful blender, it may well pulverise those too!

[bonkboo]

Considering making a cranberry ice for Thanksgiving (stole the idea from the Thanksgiving thread.) Recipe calls for using a food mill. Can I use a food processor instead? Some other device? Thanks.

[radtek]

I believe so. Also an immersion blender or regular blender would probably do the trick. You'll need to wide-mesh strainer to separate some of the solids.

[JAZ]

While you can use a food processor or blender to puree the fruit, a food mill also strains out the solids, so you would need to pass the puree through a strainer after blending.

[pbear]

In my experience, what a food mill will do that a food processor (or other puree device) will not is separate the pulp from the skins. I assume the cranberries are cooked before being passed through the mill. (It would help if the OP posted or linked the recipe.) Not saying the puree approach won't work, but it'll be more gritty. Whereas straining will capture the juice, but not the pulp. (And if you're going to do that, you might as well just buy the juice, being sure to get juice and not cocktail.) Again, might work, but it'll have less body and flavor. Or, better, go ahead and get the food mill. Not expensive and useful for all sorts of things. A great way, for example, to make mashed potatoes and other vegetable purees.