Chinois -- What's the best design?

[Richard Kilgore]

I have seen two styles. One made by the French firm Gobel that has a single metal strap about one inch wide that protects the fine mesh and is separated from the mesh by about 3/4 inch. The other is Italian and has two heavy wires that run down the mesh and criss-cross at the bottom, touching the mesh from top to bottom. My impression is that the Italian design may trap particles between the wires and the mesh and be harder to keep clean. The Italian one also runs about $90 vs $65 for the French.

What's been your experience? Any reason to choose one over the other?

[fiftydollars]

i like an exoglass matfer I purchased last year. I was suspicious of the plastic body, but it has turned out to be a pretty good product. The plastic is molded onto the tight wire mesh and leaves no room for particles to hide. It also has a wire cage that attaches to the plastic and does not seem to trap particles.

In general I have better luck with the wire cage, compared to the strap, when it comes to protecting the wire mesh. I also think that It's much easier to clean around wires than it is to clean around a large metal strap. Neither is all that good at protecting against the knives in my kitchen, which seem to be the major threat.

Edited October 4, 2004 by fiftydollars (log)

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks. Interesting. The cage on your exoglas is apart from the mesh, but the Italian one I mentioned above is not.

Anyone else?

[dano1]

i've used them both, no difference to me as long as they don't go to the dishpit ;).

Dang thats a lot of $$ though, what size? I pay about $40 here locally at a restaurant supply house for a "bouillon strainer". As long as the mesh is same size save the bucks.

hth, danny

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks, Danny.

Anyone else have any experience or opinions?

[ducphat30]

I vote with both hands for the exoglass matfer.

It is a great piece of equipment and the sturdiest chinois we have used. It has lasted over a year, I know that sounds ridiculous but we went through 5 chinoises last year. We have definitely changed the handling procedures for it, but it is a tough chinois. You can find it for around $45 from Previn Inc out of Philadelphia.

[robyn]

I have a chinois - but I doubt it's commercial quality. You didn't say what you're trying to strain. For a lot of things - not super heavy lifting - I simply put a Krups coffee filter in the chinois. They're relatively strong even when I mash down with a spoon - and all I have to do when cleaning is throw the filter away. Robyn

[andiesenji]

I have a couple, one I have had for years, a very large one with its own stand and even better, it has a "liner" which is stainless steel with 1/4 inch (approximately) holes in it so I can press all I want and it won't deform the mesh which is a triple mesh, super fine. I am pretty sure it is made in France, it has Le Fleur stamped on the band near the handle.

I also have one of the Matfer ones which is about half the size of the old one.

Edited October 7, 2004 by andiesenji (log)

[MobyP]

The Matfer has been great for me - although despite having - or appearing to have - a very fine mesh, it allows through more particulate matter than I expected. It is rugged though, and goes in theh dishwasher.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks everyone. I already have a China Cap similar to the liner you mentioned, adiesenji. In some situations I would have to run something through the China Cap to strain out the larger material and then through a chinois, but your set up sounds more efficient.

Your point about letting more particulate matter through than you expected may be important to me, Moby. Does that create any real limitations for you?

[MobyP]

Well, ever since reading the FL book, I've become a bit of a sieving neurotic. The matfer is my first threshold - pouring the cooked stock/bones/mire poix etc through for the first time. It holds a good volume, preventing the bits from falling in with the stock, and rests well against the rim off the pot. For 'cleaning' up my sauces/stocks however, it's a bit large. I tend to put one regular-sized sieve inside of another - sometimes three at once (in decreasing mesh size) which catches about 90% off particulates not caught by the matfer. Then I pour it through my skimmer, which has the finest mesh I know.

Again, I only mention it, because from eye-balling it, it seems like the Matfer is a finer mesh than my other sieves, but it's difficult to guage - or my eyes aren't good enough.

[andiesenji]

I looked back in my old files and found the chinois receipt and the little hang tag that came with it. It is not made in France, it came from Belgium and I bought it at Surfas in 1984, and I recall that the traffic was absolutely awful that day because the L.A. Olympics were going on and there were several venues in that general area. Where it usually took me less than an hour to get to the store from Reseda (my then home) mid day on a weekday, it took us nearly two hours. I was so worried about getting my perishables home safely that I went down the street to the Alpha Beta market and bought a styro cooler and some ice. I had a lovely fois gras and some quail eggs that needed to be kept cool and my friend had bought a roll of pancetta and a couple of pounds of chicken livers.

Funny how looking at that receipt brought that day back to me as if it were yesterday. I couldn't even remember where I bought it prior to finding the receipt.

It strains out even the tiniest particles but it is a bitch to clean. There are three layers of very fine mesh that are at different angles to each other. When you look at it straight on and rotate it back and forth, it looks like silk because of the optical effect of the mesh alignment.

I often take it out in the yard and use the high pressure hose nozzle on it. I always dip it in water to which I have added some bleach prior to final rinse with boiling water. I have never put it in the dishwasher because the strap around it is tinned steel, not stainless and it would be ruined in the dishwasher.

Because of the stand, which is fairly tall, I can dump stuff into it and let it drain on its own which is less likely to force tiny bits into the space between the mesh layers.

I use it for straining jellies as it catches strawberry seeds, tiny as they are.

The price in 1984 was 69.50. I wonder what it would be today.