How to Use a Fine Mesh Sieve

A fine mesh sieve, like so many other overlooked kitchen utensils, is the thing you are looking for when you don't know exactly what you need. It can solve problems with sauces, soups and wine, and it's usually right underneath your nose--or at least tucked away in a drawer. No serious cook can possibly live without it. Once you know all of its amazing uses, you too will be running to your kitchen supply store for a brand-new sieve.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Prescreen your eggs with your sieve. If you make brunch for large or moderate groups of people on a regular basis, then you know how taxing the prep work can be making egg dishes for a party. Omelets and frittatas are delightful brunch fare and everyone loves them, but cracking all of those eggs means the painstaking task of carefully opening each egg gingerly, being careful not to get any shell in the mix. For your next party, try this: put your fine mesh sieve over the large bowl that you are cracking your eggs into. Crack an egg directly into the sieve, using a balloon whisk to scramble it in the sieve. The egg will fall through into the bowl, and any fragments of eggshell will be left behind to rinse out after you're done.

2. Unlump your gravy with your sieve. Everybody says they make gravy with no lumps, but you know that's a lie. Incorporating flour into a roux or making a bechamel sauce is difficult, and sometimes you need a little help with quality control. Next time you make a gravy or a sauce, right before you serve it, give it a quick pass through your fine mesh sieve. Use a spatula to help push the sauce through, if it's thick. You'll find your track record with lumps will go from good to amazing.

3. Strain the juice and smoothies for the finicky drinker. He likes OJ with pulp, she likes it without... or maybe that old blender doesn't quite do the job pureeing all of the strawberries in that smoothie? Buy one carton of orange juice and pass one of the glasses through a fine mesh sieve for the finicky "no pulp" girl, and you've saved grocery money on that extra carton of OJ. Or give the smoothie a quick once over with the sieve before serving to ensure smooth consistency.

4. Clarify your broth. Making a stock or broth is a task for the patient, and no part of stock and broth making is more tedious than the clarification process. This can become infinitely easier if you give the broth or stock a quick strain with your fine mesh sieve. You need not even pour the broth through the sieve, actually. Using the handle, take the mesh through the broth three or four times, each time rinsing off the impurities it has picked up. You'll find the broth will be clearer in half the time.

5. Help decant that vintage wine. You're at a dinner party and you've just presented a Chateau Latour 1982 to your guests. You screw in the cork, pull it out and, to your horror, the cork shreds, leaving pieces floating in the wine. Not to mention, there's a good deal of sediment at the bottom of the bottle to contend with, as well. Not to worry! You fine mesh sieve will impart absolutely no flavor to this delicate wine, so as you decant it, pass it through the sieve. It will catch the pieces of cork, and keep the sediment from carrying on into anyone's glass.

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