Thursday, September 25, 2008

How to clean a strainer (sieve)

After reading the previous post about the Creamy Corn Soup, Jessica asked the following question:
Now if you have some tips on cleaning the sieve afterward...

I usually rise it upside down under running water to dislodge most of the pulp. I can also get some more of it out by swishing it up and down in a full sink, but even that tends to recapture some of the floating pulp like a butterfly net, and it wastes a lot of water.

Can you recommend a better method?
Well, I just made another batch of this soup to test the recipe. Besides fine-tuning it, I also came up with the following method of cleaning the sieve that works surprisingly well.

As soon as you finish using the sieve, rinse it upside down under the kitchen faucet to remove most of the stuff stuck in it. Then take it to the bathroom and rinse it upside down under the bath tub faucet. It's much stronger than your kitchen one and will dislodge whatever is stuck faster. The reason you rinse under the kitchen faucet first is because you probably don't want big chunks of corn in your bath tub.

14 comments:

Suzanne said...

You guys obviously need some dogs.

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

Yeah, but then you'd have to clean up after dogs, Suzanne. I'll take the strainer any day. I find that if you hold it upside down over the sink and blast at the outside with the sink sprayer, that does a pretty good job. The spray is more forceful than the tap. And whatever's left, the dishwasher seems to knock out pretty nicely.

Unknown said...

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA great comment! I turn the sieve upside down and use the spray nozzle. Whatever is left after a round in the dishwasher will dry up and generally fall/flake off with a few good WHACKS on the kitchen counter. I grew up in France. "Clean" is relative. So is "moldy."

Suzanne said...

Then you get some kids to clean up after the dog.

Vicki said...

I always thought I got my strainer clean until the handle broke and I took it to my job to have it welded back together...the room smelled like barbecue because of the heat from the welding contacting whatever was in there that I apparently didn't get cleaned off...

Anonymous said...

An excellent recipe indeed. I made some changes though. Instead of making the stock separately, I added everything in a pressure cooker and cooked it that way for 20 mins. Strained out the jus, immertion blended it, strained it and voila!

Helen said...

Hi Anonymous,

Did you puree everything, cobs and all? I don't think my blender would even be able to process them, but I am glad it worked for you.

Cheers,
-Helen

Anonymous said...

No No...just made the stock in the pressure cooker - 15-20 mins then the remainder as you outlined. The pressure cooker just shaves off some time and hassle. I pressure cooked the kernels as well so that shaved off another 10 mins during the shallots/cream phase. Thx for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip!

Paz

Nerdy Cyberchick said...

Thanks for the tip!

Nadira said...

BRILLIANT!!! And booker's method sounds like fun too. :)

We Are Not Martha said...

This is a great little tip... Thanks! Glad I stumbled upon your blog, your photos are lovely! :)
[Chels]

becky otero said...

I found the best method for cleaning a fine sieve is to boil it in a pot of water with baking soda for about five minutes. It works like a charm.
Happy cooking

Shirley said...

You can use toothbrush to clean fine sieve