Bought me a food mill, now what do I do?

Cafe Society
1

Per the pie thread, I ordered a food mill which should arrive in the next couple of days. So I’ll of course make a couplea grape pies (if the concord grapes are still available) but what else? You know, I’ve got a hammer, so I need to find some nails :slight_smile:

Applesauce might be nice, especially the chunky sort. What varieties of apples go well in sauce? And what can I add to it to add a little variety? (have had apricot-sauce which had apricots - would I just simmer up some dried apricots or puree some canned or something?)

2

If you like Veggie options, you could make this really good sauce:

Garden Brown Sauce

3

Oh that looks interesting, especially some of the linked recipes. Do you actually puree the solids into the sauce though? or strain them out as the recipe suggests. Might be good either way, really, though one would have to be careful not to let big chunks of peppercorns get into the final product!

4

I like it for tomato soup when you don’t want the skins hanging in there, myself.

5

Use it once, then put it in the very back of the bottom shelf of the least-used cabinet in the kitchen and never see it again.

6

Sounds like a plan to me. :dubious:

Maybe the “once” you could make salmon mousse.

7

Mill some food, obviously :stuck_out_tongue:

8

Any time a recipe tells you to rub something through a seive, use your food mill instead.

Also, soups that you blenderize, if, after blenderizing, you run it through your mill, will go from smooth to silky smooth.

9

Formerly I used a mill to make apple butter.Wash & chop the apples,cook at low heat 'til soft,run through the mill to void the skins and seeds/pockets.We make so much apple butter I sawed the crank off and turned an adaptor to drive the impellor with a cordless screwdriver (low rev/high torque).
Use another method now,but that was quicker than coring and peeling.
Also,what Manduck said.

10

Also excellent for producing mashed potatos! Cook as usual and run throught eh food mill along with some butter and milk.

11

Really - if you do this, you don’t have to core / seed first? Heck, that’d be worth it right there (I hate coring apples).

12

Yep,really.I will point out there’s a faction that believe apple seeds cause bitterness or worse (actually contain a trace of cyanide,right?),but I don’t crush the seeds nor stew for protracted periods.
That was said about cider too-remove seeds before pressing-but if you’ve never been to either a commercial processing plant or a backcountry cider mill,the seeds are the least of the evils getting squoze.
I got a Peel-Away for apple butter making.Peels,cores and slices virtually at the same time.The kids think it’s fun,they’re right.Also makes curly fries.

13

I second the Peel-Away - it’s totally fun to use and actually kind of amazing. I never made apple pie before I got one because it was too much of a pain in the ass, especially the peeling.

14

Interesting! I just looked that up on Amazon. I assume you’re talking about something like this?

Of note: when I first googled the term “peel-away”, I got loads of hits.

for PAINT STRIPPER. Er, I suppose that might work but I’d worry about the whole “poisonous chemicals” thing :slight_smile:

15

Exactly - you want a heavy-feeling one, though, probably made out of cast iron. You want it solid. Mine has a suction cup instead of a clamp - think I might prefer the clamp.

Also, the product is just cool - it makes apple springs! and a super-long strip of peel.

16

Yes,that’s it.I have the suction base too,no complaints. Only one caveat with the Peel-Away,it doesn’t work easily with soft or overripe apples.

17

Looks like fun. I may have to get one for the next apple season.

Can you set push the spiral-slice blade out of the way so you just get the peeled apple? or are you stuck doing the peeling and slicing at once?

18

How about a nice pumpkin or squash soup?

19

Lessee…yeah,the slicer/corer part comes off,so you can peel only.Depth of cut/ peel thickness is adjustable.Slicing thickness isn’t as that’s a function of the lead on the drive screw.
Another tip, ( been through a bushel so far today and I’m taking a break) the corer hole is handy to center the axis of the apple-if you’ve ever thrown pots on a wheel or turned wood on a lathe when the work is off-center,there’s a certain aggravation involved.