Food mill preserves pulp, not seeds

The mechanical sieves can be found at less than $20.
By KATHIE SMITH
SCRIPPS HOWARD
I confess that despite all the cooking I have done through the years, I have never owned a food mill. But I could have used one recently when I made Concord grape pie.
A food mill is a kitchen utensil best described as a mechanical sieve. With a hand-turned paddle that forces food through a strainer plate at the bottom, it removes skin, seeds and fiber. During my mother's and grandmother's era, a popular brand was the Foley Food Mill.
A food mill would have made my Concord Grape Pies easier and faster. When I talked to a friend about how hard it was to get my grape pulp through my kitchen sieve, she suggested using a food mill to save more of the pulp. Without it, much of the pulp is wasted. She said she also uses a food mill when she makes jam.
"A food mill has a wire that scrapes the pulp off and catches any tiny seeds," says Sharon Dela-Hamaide, owner of Kitchen Tools & amp; Skills in Perrysburg, Ohio. Today's food mills are stainless steel as compared to the tin food mills of earlier eras. "There are three different discs. Use the smallest holes to keep the seeds from going through."
Availability
Dela-Hamaide's shop carries three food mills, including a generic Mini Food Mill for making baby food at $15.50, which would be best for the small seeds of Concord grapes. She also sells a generic food mill at $35.50, and the Frieling at $41.
"People use these a lot in the fall," says Dela-Hamaide, noting that they are great for applesauce, straining fresh cooked pumpkin and to remove the seeds from tomatoes. "You turn the handle and it pushes the food through quickly. Some people use it for mashed potatoes, spaetzle and tomato sauce if you want a chunkier consistency."
The new food mills "are far superior to what my mother had with the Foley Food Mill that was tin," she says. "They rusted easily. In the summer with the humidity you had to make sure it didn't get any moisture." (Today's Foley Food Mill is rustproof, stainless steel and dishwasher safe, and available by mail through the Vermont Country Store.)
The use of a food mill was something that was not mentioned in any of the recipes I had for Concord Grape Pie. When so much of the pulp was wasted because I couldn't get it through a standard sieve, I cut the Concord grapes in half and removed the seeds that way, which kept the pulp intact with the skin. In a Concord Grape Pie, you use the skins even if you've slipped them off the pulp. (I note this only because I don't want you to be discouraged from making this pie if you don't want to buy a food mill.)