# Food Mill or Food Strainer?



## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

I have never owned either one of these, although I do have a food processor. I'm trying to decide which of these I would get the most use out of, or do I possibly need both?

So, can somebody give me a rundown of the pros/cons of each? What does each do and not do? If you could only buy one, which would you choose?

Thanks!


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Now, different people may classify them differently, but normally the strainer is to eliminate all pulp, seeds, skin, whatever so you have JUICE with no pulp.

A mill normally removes the tough/hard bits like seeds and skin, but lets the pulp go through (like for jam and sauces).

A food processor just chops it all up into a puree, does not exclude anything. 

I do not have a strainer, I use cheesecloth for that. About the only thing I use juice for is making jelly and drinking.

But like I said, you want to make sure what the product actually does. I've seen enough people refer to a mill as a strainer, but if you really want to strain the product to end up with juice, you want something that can strain out the pulp too.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I just got a Squeezo deluxe at a garage sale. Haven't used it yet ,but the smallest screen looks like it will take out Raspberry seeds. I have an attachment for my Kitchen-aid, the holes in the screen are too big for raspberries. For my tomatoes I use the Kitchen aid, just heat up the tomatoes them I push them thru the strainer,it takes out the seeds and skin. I suspect you should think about exactly what you want to use a strainer for. I use a small processor for chopping onions and jalapenos.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Macybaby said:


> Now, different people may classify them differently, but normally the strainer is to eliminate all pulp, seeds, skin, whatever so you have JUICE with no pulp.
> 
> A mill normally removes the tough/hard bits like seeds and skin, but lets the pulp go through (like for jam and sauces).
> 
> ...


I'm thinking along the lines of preparing tomatoes and fruits for canning, and grinding cranberries among other things. I don't really want to make juice, at least not yet. I have been using my processor for grinding up cranberries but it can be hard to control and it's easy to overdo it.

It sounds like from what you describe that the food mill might be more what I'm looking for, since I'm not really interested in something that will take out everything and leave just the juice (I prefer jam over jelly).


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

7thswan said:


> I just got a Squeezo deluxe at a garage sale. Haven't used it yet ,but the smallest screen looks like it will take out Raspberry seeds. I have an attachment for my Kitchen-aid, the holes in the screen are too big for raspberries. For my tomatoes I use the Kitchen aid, just heat up the tomatoes them I push them thru the strainer,it takes out the seeds and skin. I suspect you should think about exactly what you want to use a strainer for. I use a small processor for chopping onions and jalapenos.


You know, I didn't even think about getting an attachment for my KitchenAid.

So do you like how it works?


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

my3boys said:


> You know, I didn't even think about getting an attachment for my KitchenAid.
> 
> So do you like how it works?


Yes, It works great, so easy our 3 year old grandaughter helped. She got to push the tomatoes thru. She was so proud.The seeds and skin come out the very end and the pulp and juice come out in the center,both places easy enough to place a bowl under.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

7thswan said:


> Yes, It works great, so easy our 3 year old grandaughter helped. She got to push the tomatoes thru. She was so proud.The seeds and skin come out the very end and the pulp and juice come out in the center,both places easy enough to place a bowl under.


Thanks. Now I know what I want for Christmas! :grin:


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

The KA attachment is my main food mill. I don't care if they call it a stainer, what comes out of it is excatly the same as what comes out of my hand crank Foley mill.

I run the pulp through a second time, and usually get quite a bit more of the good stuff out of it. I usually put up 30+ quarts of tomato sauce, so that is a lot of tomatoes to run through the KA. When doing large batches, take a metal spoon or dull knife and scrape the pulp of the screen so it doesn't get all plugged up. It also helps to scrape it like that when you are cleaning it.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Macybaby said:


> The KA attachment is my main food mill. I don't care if they call it a stainer, what comes out of it is excatly the same as what comes out of my hand crank Foley mill.
> 
> I run the pulp through a second time, and usually get quite a bit more of the good stuff out of it. I usually put up 30+ quarts of tomato sauce, so that is a lot of tomatoes to run through the KA. When doing large batches, take a metal spoon or dull knife and scrape the pulp of the screen so it doesn't get all plugged up. It also helps to scrape it like that when you are cleaning it.


Thanks for the tip. I'm definitely putting this on my wish list.


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## terri46355 (May 16, 2003)

I've only used a Foley food mill bought at a flea market, so I don't have an opinion to offer on the difference. The food mill is used for tomato juice and peach, pear, apple, and persimmon sauces.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Here is the KA attachment in use. 










After about 5 qts, I scrape the screen and keep going.










After everything has been run through, I run the leavings back through a second time. This is what I got out this batch. It was about 17 qts. I use paste tomatoes, so didn't need to boil it down much to get what I wanted, and ended up with 14 qts processed. The first batch I did yielded 28 qts processed. 










That would be a lot to process with a hand mill, though I do like using mine for small batches of fruit for making jam. The KA is a bit more work to clean, but well worth it for the bigger batches. It can be messy, especially if you get in a hurry and try to push the fruit down the tube fast. Causes juice to squirt out in directions it should not be going!


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

Thanks for the pics!


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Yup, I do exactly what Macbaby does.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I have the one for the kitchen aid. but lost the inner metal strainer tube.
Any one have any ide where I could get just that part.


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