# Puree without blender or food processer. Doable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776 "2009-09-27T21:24:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/1 "2009-09-27T21:24:35Z")
So, for this I break my self-imposed exile of the Dope. For I have a problem, and it will take the combined minds of the Doper community to untangle this Gordian Knot. So I’m trying to make a pumpkin bisque, based off this recipe: [http://www.recipezaar.com/Pumpkin-Bisque-13553](http://www.recipezaar.com/Pumpkin-Bisque-13553) The problem is, my food processor is kaput, not that I’m sure the thing ever worked. I also own no blender. How should I go about pureeing the soup to prepare it for serving? Will an electric hand mixer work? Any help much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/2 "2009-09-27T21:40:22Z")
The way pureeing was done pre-food processors was using a [drum sieve or tamis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_sieve). If you’ve got a wire sieve, you can approximate pureeing. It won’t be super smooth, but it’s probably the best you’ll get without a food processor or hand blender. Just make sure everything is cooked to the point that it’s falling apart, and pour it into the sieve set over a bowl. Push it through with a spatula or spoon. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/3 "2009-09-27T21:51:18Z")
Athena’s got it right. If you’d like to pick up an appliance for not a lot of money for these situations, you might look at a stick blender (sometimes called a hand blender). They can get up to the $100 range, but I have a cheap one (less than $25 if I remember correctly) that works OK for recipes like this, and is definitely handy when you want to puree something that’s more fibrous. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/4 "2009-09-27T22:00:48Z")
I assume you’re trying not to buy any new tools at all? A [salad chopper](http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=746&f=32597) or [ricer](http://www.lefsetime.com/store/product_images/Heavy-Potato-Ricer216.jpg) would do the trick. For about twice as much you could get an immersion blender. I make shrimp paste manually by using two side-by-side cleavers and just chop until I drop. Don’t know how long it would take to get pumpkin down to the right consistency that way. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/5 "2009-09-27T22:02:54Z")
I have a [china cap](http://kitchenography.typepad.com/my_weblog/images/sept_19_china_cap_2_1.jpg) that I like for making purees while out camping. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/6 "2009-09-28T13:29:01Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have a [china cap](http://kitchenography.typepad.com/my_weblog/images/sept_19_china_cap_2_1.jpg) that I like for making purees while out camping. You make purees _while camping_? I bow down to your culinary ambition. So, back to the OP - did it work? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/7 "2009-09-28T13:49:24Z")
A mortar and pestle will also work for smooshing things to a paste, but that’s probably more small-scale than what the OP needs here. If it’s _really_ a matter of not having the right tools but not wanting to buy new stuff, I guess you could MacGyver yourself a scaled-up version of a mortar and pestle by pouring the food into a large mixing bowl and mashing everything with the largest spoon in the house. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/8 "2009-09-28T17:29:57Z")
Two words: Potato. Masher. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/9 "2009-09-28T19:18:27Z")
One of [these](http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE) will work pretty well. Foley makes the one we have. We mostly use if for potatoes, but I’ve used it to make a paste of chicken livers for a spread and it worked fine. Most of the pumpkin’s coarse stuff won’t go through and that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/10 "2009-09-28T21:53:42Z")
So, funny story, guys. Turns out? The thing worked after all. I was just putting it together wrong since the instruction booklet was never given to me. But thank you for all the ideas! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/11 "2009-09-28T22:05:52Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > You make purees _while camping_? I bow down to your culinary ambition. > > So, back to the OP - did it work? \ I spent over 20 years as a medieval recreationist, and one of my specialties has been medieval cooking in field conditions [camping events, many times kitchens are not available. Hell, many times running water = a potable water spiggot in a pasture] and our camp at the [national convention](http://www.pennsic.net/) also known as the Pennsic War is known for the food. I think the most people I have made dinner for was 125, but in my own insanity plea I did have a kitchen staff of 2 sous chefs and 4 scullions helping me. Besides, making potage puree des haricots blanc is a snap compared to eggs benedict for 25 =) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/12 "2009-09-28T22:20:07Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > A mortar and pestle will also work for smooshing things to a paste, but that’s probably more small-scale than what the OP needs here. > > If it’s _really_ a matter of not having the right tools but not wanting to buy new stuff, I guess you could MacGyver yourself a scaled-up version of a mortar and pestle by pouring the food into a large mixing bowl and mashing everything with the largest spoon in the house. Actually I made [white sals](http://home.earthlink.net/~smcclune/stewpot/cgmw/Recipes-on_table.htm) at pennsic using well emptied 1 lb propane cylinders to pound the ingredients sealed into double 1 gallon ziplok freezer bags. We had brought hummus, but it had gone green and fuzzy because someone left it out of the cooler and we needed a replacement we could make with ingredients we had at hand. Very odd to watch, very similar to Drakemir Piridvicvic repairing a laptop at troll in lanternlight wearing 13th century rus clothing =) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/13 "2009-09-29T15:39:14Z")
For pumpkin soup, you can’t go wrong with a wire sieve as a good emergency option. **aruvqan** , have you ever tried the period egg-beating method of just straining them through a sieve a couple times? It works surprisingly well. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/14 "2009-09-29T19:26:52Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > For pumpkin soup, you can’t go wrong with a wire sieve as a good emergency option. > > **aruvqan** , have you ever tried the period egg-beating method of just straining them through a sieve a couple times? It works surprisingly well. yup, and a great way of getting out shell fragments when you oops =) My project this winter is learning to bake in my wood stove … it has a baking oven built in. I have cooked on one of the classic old style kitchen wood burning ovens, but this is a different style. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puree-without-blender-or-food-processer-doable/511776/15 "2009-10-01T23:07:46Z")
If you’re willing to spend more time and end up with a smoother than colander consistency, you can just use a big knife. Just like you were dicing ginger into a paste. I had to improvise this once when cooking at an old girlfriend’s house who had no blender, processor, whisk or strainer. It works fine.