#500 Lab Sieve

robert.c.brown15

Anyone here own one? Like it? Going to get an 8” one I think.

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For what? I've always kinda wanted a set of sieves, but I can't imagine they'd do much for me that my chinois and tamis couldn't do with some cheesecloth/muslin. Or a superbag (which I have, but never use). Or a Chemex. I like that the sieves are heavy duty and stackable. But they're expensive as **** and I don't see an obvious advantage.

robert.c.brown15

So I have a 20, 60, and 200 in 12 inch, and a 120 in 8 inch. Definitely a luxury for sure. All but one have been Christmas gifts throughout the years too because of the cost. However, I really love using each one.

Here is what I have used each for so far:

12" #20 - For sifting various things to make them all the same size, pushing thicker purees through (like pureed chicken for chicken noodles), and for catching large chunks of meat and vegetable when straining stock.

12" #60 - For soups, vegetable and root purees, and straining stocks and sauces without removing the fat. The 60 removes everything else that multiple passes through a chinois/cheese cloth would catch. So saves me a lot of time and I when I stack the 20 on top, I can pour my pressure cooker contents through all of it in one go and it comes out perfectly strained. Incredibly quick and easy.

12" #200 - I use this for stocks mostly. It further refines the stock and keeps most of the fat out of the stock (if I don't want the fat in it depending on what I'm using it for). Once again, by stacking it, it streamlines the entire process. It could probably elminate all fat if I gently ladled it through, but the little fat that does get through is so small it doesn't make a difference.

8" #120 - I use this for straining sauces like a red wine sauce, or when I made caramelized carrot soup I needed to simmer carrot juice and strain it so it did a great job picking up any tiny particle that didn't need to go through. I also quickly clarify melted butter with it. The 8" size is perfect for sauces and stuff because it is so small. Fits in my 3.5 quart LeCreuset dutch oven too so I can strain directly into it too.

Basically, Thomas Keller got me obsessed with refinement. He would strain and strain and strain sauces through a chinois multiple times, sometimes having to wash the chinios in between strainings. I want to get a similar result, but without that much of a headache. Those sieves allow me to do that. Especially the #120 for whenever I'm making a sauce to go along with a meat dish.

Christmas is approaching and the only sieve I really still wanted was the #500 so I'm going for it and see what Santa brings. I would use that for fluid gels (an 8" should still be enough room to do fluid gels, maybe just smaller amounts at a time) and for further straining stocks as fat can't pass through it. I may be able to clarify butter with it as well, will have to try. If the #500 catches fat as well as I think it does, then I can reserve chicken fat or whatever else fat from stocks and save that for other uses too.

This is a long reply to basically say these sieves make cooking so much fun, streamline the process by making all of this refinement quicker, and the results are fantastic. Refine, refine, refine, refine.

edit: the 12" are in brass with SS mesh because the SS framed ones are way too expensive for what I'd use them for, but the 8" is in SS because it isn't as outrageous. Have used the Brass ones for years. No bad reactions to any food, including Tomato Soup, that has touched the edges of the frames as I push the product through the SS mesh.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Thanks for the detailed reply! I've always wanted a set myself, but have balked at the cost and hadn't heard much in the way of first-hand user experience. I also caught the refinement bug from Keller, and can admit that it's a bit of a pain to pass things through the same sieve multiple times (or lose a bunch of yield to cheesecloth). The superbags make for a good final strain, as they don't hold onto product, but they're certainly not as elegant or fun to use as a nice set of sieve seems like it would be. After you get the #500 sieve, the only thing left will be to get an agitator to shake your stack of sieves around! I don't know any chinois that will bang on itself to move product through... but a stack of sieves on an agitator sure will!

robert.c.brown15

Hahaha, an agitator. Man, that would be something.

I also own a bunch of chinois and don't break the sieves out every time. You can never have enough means of straining!

What do you use the Super Bag for? What micron is it at?