You may not think of these as cool tools – but wow do they come in handy! You’d be surprised how often a recipe will call for you to sift ingredients, strain a sauce – or heck even drain your pasta or rice!
Fine mesh strainers come in assorted sizes and I recommend acquiring at least three – that will nest nicely in your cupboard. Take them out for all kinds of chores:
- Juicing citrus: You can place your smaller sized strainer directly over the intended recipient of your lemon or lime juice. No pulp or seeds can possibly infiltrate through!
- Sifting your dry ingredients when baking will almost assuredly ensure a smooth cake batter. Use your larger size strainer to drop your ingredients in (e.g. sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt) and tap the sides to gently dust the bowl with the powder. Sometimes, sugars and salts can clump – and the strainer will catch those producing a silky smooth batter.
- Making pasta just for yourself? Use the medium-sized strainer to drain your rigatoni or spaghetti. No need to break out the huge colander – this baby will do the trick just fine.
Having these handy tools in your kitchen will make easy work of myriad quick mixing, folding or juicing chores!
Funny thing- I was just going to get rid of the strainer we have, now I will find more uses for it.