Straining

The tools, coarse to fine

Colander

Large holes. Draining pasta, potatoes, washed vegetables. Removes nothing small.

Standard sieve

Medium mesh. Sifting flour, draining tinned pulses, removing seeds and lumps.

Fine sieve

Fine mesh. Straining custards, purées and sauces. Removes most solids and leaves fine particles.

Chinois

A conical very fine sieve. The classic sauce strainer, and its shape concentrates the flow.

Muslin or cheesecloth

A cloth rather than a mesh. Removes very fine particles and gives clarity a sieve cannot.

Jelly bag

Muslin in a frame, for dripping fruit juice. Clarity above all, and slow.

Coffee filter

Finest of all and extremely slow. For very small quantities where clarity is everything.

The rules that matter

• Do not squeeze a jelly bag. Squeezing forces fine solids through the cloth and clouds the jelly permanently. Let it drip.
• Do not press a stock through a sieve. Same reason. Ladle it rather than pouring, and let it pass under its own weight.
• Do press a purée through — that is the whole point, and a ladle or the back of a spoon works the solids through the mesh.
• Scald muslin before use. It removes any manufacturing residue and stops it absorbing so much of what you are straining.
• Wet the cloth first for the same reason. A dry cloth soaks up a surprising amount.
• Line a sieve with muslin rather than using muslin alone, so it holds its shape.
• Strain twice where clarity matters — once through a sieve to remove the bulk, once through muslin for the finish.
• Keep what you strain out. Fruit pulp from a jelly bag makes fruit cheese; stock solids do not, and go.

Getting a genuinely clear liquid

Stock, consommé, jelly and cordial all follow the same sequence.

1. Simmer rather than boil throughout. Agitation breaks solids into fine particles that no filter removes cleanly.
2. Skim as you go. Removing scum early stops it dispersing later.
3. Let it settle off the heat for ten minutes before straining, so heavy particles sink.
4. Ladle the liquid out rather than pouring the pan, leaving the sediment at the bottom.
5. Pass it through a sieve first to remove the bulk.
6. Then through scalded muslin, without pressing or squeezing.
7. For absolute clarity, chill it and strain again — some particles drop out as it cools.

Where straining is the whole technique

• Jelly making. The clarity of the finished jelly is decided entirely at the dripping stage.
• Custards and crème anglaise. Straining catches any egg that set, and it is worth doing every time.
• Stock and consommé. Clarity is the mark of a good one.
• Purées and soups. A fine sieve after blending removes fibre and skin the blender could not.
• Yoghurt into labneh, where the straining is the transformation.
• Cheese making, where curds are separated from whey.
• Cordials, where a cloudy result is usually the bag being squeezed.

Common questions