Do I need a chinois?

[jgm]

I've been contemplating getting a chinois for a couple of years now. And as my cooking skills (and sense of adventure) increase, I run into situations more and more where one could be used.

So I'm watching Alton Brown's program a week or two ago, and he's straining stuff through a large strainer lined with cheesecloth. And he says, point blank, that a cheesecloth-lined strainer will do everything a chinois will do, for a fraction of the price... and storage space. Storage space is a major issue for me. If I get one, I think it will have to live in the garage.

I can understand that the mesh of a chinois is much stronger than that of a strainer, and will withstand pressure as one is trying to strain out as much liquid as possible. I'm unsure of whether I would ever have the need to press THAT hard.

Comments? Suggestions?

[Jake]

I couldn't do without my chinios. It is easier than fooling around with cheesecloth and other strainers etc. Although I have been know to do the final strain through cheesecloth in the chinios....

[zilla369]

If you can afford it, get one. You won't regret using the space it'll take up to store it.

[Toliver]

You also have to understand Alton's perspective (or mantra, actually). He doesn't recommend purchasing good-for-only-one-function gadgets for the kitchen since they take up precious room and are used for only one thing. He prefers gadgets that have more versatility.

[slkinsey]

I think it's part of Alton Brown's schtick to use "alternative" non-traditional lowbrow equipment. For example, in one episode he advocates wrapping meat and liquid in a tinfoil envelope and "braising" it in the oven instead of using a proper braising vessel on the stovetop.

[Marlene]

I confess. I have one and almost never use it. I tend to do the fine mesh strainer and cheesecloth thing.

[Pumpkin Lover]

I think it's part of Alton Brown's schtick to use "alternative" non-traditional lowbrow equipment.

I appreciate that about his show, though (not sure if yours was a critical statement, but)--the sentiment helps cooks to think on their toes, especially if they don't have a lot of equipment or gadgets (like me). I don't have much arm strength either, so pressing food for liquid on a chinois would probably be useless to me. So I'd be more likely to use the cheesecloth-strainer method.

What about paper towels--what's the difference between using those and cheesecloth to strain stock?

[Pallee]

I'm a big believer in always buying the tool, what ever it is! I use my chinios so much - straining custards, stocks, sauces, etc. Advantage is that it doesn't absorb any of your precious liquid (like demiglace) and doesn't contribute to the trash heap. I have a drawer for things with holes and it nests in with other friendly devices. (Next to the drawer for bowls) Even if I had to store it in the garage, I'd still own one.

Plus, you've been thinking about this for YEARS? Talk about self control! C'mon, cut loose, make yourself happy!

[eje]

So I'm watching Alton Brown's program a week or two ago, and he's straining stuff through a large strainer lined with cheesecloth.  And he says, point blank, that a cheesecloth-lined strainer will do everything a chinois will do, for a fraction of the price... and storage space.  Storage space is a major issue for me.  If I get one, I think it will have to live in the garage.

←

I like cheesecloth because you can pick it up and squeeze out every last drop.

I tend to use cheesecloth in a strainer first, and then a coffee filter, if I need something filtered finer.

Paper towels have an unpleasant tendency to rupture. Plus, I am not convinced 100% on their food safe-ness.

[Abra]

I strain a lot more since I've had a chinois. My food is a lot smoother as a result. The other day I made a simple pate and put it through the chinois, which gave it a gorgeous, silken texture that I don't think I would have been able to achieve any other way.

[Smithy]

Paper towels have an unpleasant tendency to rupture.  Plus, I am not convinced 100% on their food safe-ness.

←

I'm not worried about their food safe-ness, but they clog in a heartbeat and then, as noted above, rupture. Stick with cheesecloth, or muslin, or the chinoise. Coffee filters, by the way, work for thin liquids, but in my experience they'll clog easily too, and you can't squeeze them to force the liquid through.

[WolfChef]

I have one, and have debated purchasing at least one more. It is used all the time in our kitchen, in fact for myself it's almost as indespensible as say a knife or saute pan, but then again we makes lots of stocks and sauces. Alton is right if you would only need to fine strain something a couple times a year, but if it is a couple times a week/month then I'd get the chinois.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm definitely in the pro-chinois camp (I've got two). I recently learned the trick of using your immersion blender as a pestle, which speeds things up considerably.

But, let's face it: if you're making a lot of stocks, sauces, custards, and so on, it's good to have. If you don't make food that requires that level of fine straining, however, it'd be a waste.

edited to add: Oh, and if you do get one, be sure to get one that has a stand like this one. Unless you have three hands, in which case you'll be just fine without.

Edited March 17, 2006 by chrisamirault (log)

[andiesenji]

I have more than one because I sometimes have two or more things going at the same time and don't want to have to take time to carefully clean stuff out of it before being able to use it for something totally different.

I have one that has a tall tripod stand so delicate things can drip through slowly, rather than being pushed through. I have a steel one with fine perforations and a conical wood "reamer" or whatever the heck it is called. I have one that is a shallow cone with triple mesh layers and one that is perforated steel with a mesh "liner" that snaps in for catching tiny seeds but does allow some of the finer pulp in fruit to work its way through.

I also have some of the old-type Chemex filters, large circles of coffee filter material that can be folded into a cone shape and which fits into the two taller chinois for super-fine straining - I use these for straining the liquid from concentrated matcha that I use in green-tea icecream.

I think that once you begin using a chinois, you will wonder why you ever hesitated, particularly if you make stocks and sauces.

Fantes has several types

If you need Chemex filters, this place has the best price I have been able to find for the 12 inch circles - Chemex filters. I can find the prefolded cheaper but not much luck finding the flats.

Edited March 17, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[handmc]

I have both and for some sauces I use cheese cloth in my chinois for my really nice sauces. I think the chinois is worth the money.

[Abra]

Hey, whaddya mean "old type" Chemex filters? That's what I use in my Chemex to this very day. Chemex rules! But foods with fat don't pass well through paper filters, I must say (from s-l-o-w drippy experience).

[andiesenji]

Hey, whaddya mean "old type" Chemex filters?  That's what I use in my Chemex to this very day.  Chemex rules!  But foods with fat don't pass well through paper filters, I must say (from s-l-o-w drippy experience).

←

You are correct. I use them for specific things, the tea, as I mentioned earlier, concentrated espresso, etc.

[Richard Kilgore]

A somewhat less expensive version is the one made by Matfer. If has a synthetic frame and ss mesh. No stand but it sits securely on top of a stock pot. About $55. I'll try to find a link.

I also have a China Cap --- chinois shape, but perforated metal instead of mesh screen. In making stocks I usually pass it through the China Cap first and then though the Matfer chinois.

I have used cheesecloth in a sieve, and it is not a bad solution for small amounts of sauce or stock ocassionally, or for such as draining yogurt, but a chinois is well worth having if you make stock and sauces more than a couple of times a year.

[Ben Hong]

Do you need a chinois? Hmmm... don't know, but my wife needs one sometimes

[Luckylies]

I think it's part of Alton Brown's schtick to use "alternative" non-traditional lowbrow equipment.  For example, in one episode he advocates wrapping meat and liquid in a tinfoil envelope and "braising" it in the oven instead of using a proper braising vessel on the stovetop.

←

pot roast episode?

[Richard Kilgore]

Here are a couple of the many threads that turn up with a search in this forum on the word "chinois".

Best chinois designs

How much straining is too much?

[andiesenji]

Here is a set of three for 86.95.

Cooking.com has two pages of chinois, strainers and colanders.

Check page two for the Norpro set for 36.95. They are smaller which might be handier for people who do not cook big batches.

Or, you can take at look at this extremely overpriced item

however, it is an Alessi design and they do appreciate in value - but it takes a few years.

Edited March 18, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Malawry]

I cannot imagine life without my chinois. I've done the cheesecloth thing when visiting Mom if I've forgotten to bring mine from home, and it's far less efficient. I usually pull all the solids I can from my stocks with a spider, and then pour them through the china cap which is nestled in the chinois. I throw out the last 1/2" or so of stock, the part that's got tons of particulate matter in it. Makes for nice, clear, fresh stocks, ready to chill and defat and then reduce for freezing. (Any remaining impurities rise to the top of the stock when it's boiled for reduction and are easily skimmed off.)

I think clear stock is well worth the price of a chinois, personally. I don't make a lot of sauces that need straining, but I do make many types of stock to keep around and I like them as clean as possible.

[andiesenji]

I had forgotten about the milk strainer I used when my neighbor had goats and I was making quite a bit of cheese.

It hold a good-sized batch of cheese curds for filtering the whey out, and also is good for draining big batches of yogurt.

This is a big strainer that has a couple of mesh screens between which is placed a special filter, made for filtering milk and which rapidly passes the high protein liquid without clogging. I use two filters when straining the yogurt.

I have used it for lobster/crab stock, which I usually cook in 12-quart stockpot and by the time it reduces, the 7-quart capacity of the filter is just right. It fits one of the taller and narrower Cambro containers.

Lehman's usually carries it but has it on backorder now. It is relatively inexpensive compared to one of the very large chinois. milk strainer

[andiesenji]

These are the ones I use most.

The big one is 10 inches in diameter at the top and has a perforated steel cone with 1/4 inch holes that snaps inside, so the mesh isn't damaged. I can't find the inner cone right now, it has apprently been put away separately and my housekeeper is away today so I can't ask.

Someone asked upthread about the ones with the wires being difficult to clean. The wires are not tight against the mesh, the clearance varies from 1.8 inch to 5/8 inch at the bottom. I have never found this one difficult to clean. Sometimes I do take it out in the yard and use the high pressure hose nozzle, particularly if I have strained something that has teeny fibers, such as grated ginger or teeny seeds.