Fine mesh strainers are used for many different types of cooking, baking and food preparation tasks, from sifting powdered dry ingredients for baking or garnishing baked goods to straining sauces and custards, rinsing uncooked rice, quinoa or beans, and draining pots of cooked pasta.
When the sieves I inherited from my mom that had served us both for decades eventually needed to be replaced, shopping for replacements turned out to be more challenging than I could have anticipated.
In this review, I'll share my advice on how to choose the best fine mesh kitchen strainers for your needs as well as my product reviews for the fine mesh sieves I purchased nearly five years ago and recommend highly.
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| Learn how to be a savvy consumer when shopping for fine mesh kitchen strainers. |
3 Pro Shopping Tips for Choosing the Best Fine Mesh Kitchen Strainers for Your Needs.
Think About How You Will Be Using Them.
When shopping for fine mesh strainers, the best choice will depend on what you want to use them for. The ideal diameter, depth, handle, weight balance, durability, wire mesh size and stiffness will be very different for mesh sieves used primarily for sifting cocoa powder, flour or powdered sugar than for those used mainly for straining fresh raspberry seeds or draining a large quantity of just-cooked pasta.
So, before you start researching or shopping for new fine mesh sieves, take a few minutes to think about the types of tasks you want, need and expect your new strainers to perform well.
Consider the Most Important Product Features and Characteristics for Your Specific Uses.
Once you have made a list of the things you want to use your new strainer(s) for, it's time to educate yourself about the different types of materials, construction, mesh fineness, and other options available in models at different price points and think about which ones might be best suited to your needs, priorities and budget.
For example, if you are shopping for a small strainer for steeping loose tea in a cup or travel mug, an inexpensive model made of a very finely woven nylon mesh material might do the best job of filtering out the tea leaves. On the other hand, if you also want to be able to sift or dust small amounts of cocoa powder or confectioners sugar, you might decide to go with a more expensive, stainless steel model that has a stiffer wire mesh and a slightly looser weave, the tradeoff being that it wouldn't be quite as effective at filtering out the small, powdery bits of tea leaf.
Similarly, having a comfortable, contoured, riveted handle (and preferably two) may be a priority if you are looking for a large-capacity, heavy-duty strainer, but a thinner, flatter handle attached with spot welding might be fine if you only need a small or medium size strainer for lighter-duty tasks.
Stay Focused on Your Needs As You Compare Fine Mesh Strainers and Read Product Reviews.
Whether a review is positive or negative, consider the author's praise or complaints in the context of your own needs and priorities. Also keep an eye out for negative fine mesh strainer reviews based on inappropriate assumptions or unreasonable expectations.
Reviews by reputable industry experts can be extremely valuable, but it's important to consider how well the reviewers' evaluation and rating criteria match for your own needs, preferences and intended uses for the product.
I learned this firsthand at the beginning of 2017. A few weeks after I bought a Cuisinart set of small, medium and large strainers that I wanted just for the two smaller sizes, Cook's Illustrated published a fine mesh strainers equipment review (subscription required) that rated the Cuisinart set as "not recommended." Since I trust and respect the America's Test Kitchen staff's opinions, I was dismayed by the low rating for the set I had just bought. However, when I looked at the reviewers' product selection criteria and the performance tests they had devised, I saw that many of the features, specifications and use cases they had focused on (e.g., approximately 9" diameter, stiff, extremely fine wire mesh baskets, handles that were comfortable to hold over an extended period of time, long, wide hooks that fit easily over both medium and large pots and bowls) weren't relevant to the small and medium Cuisinart strainers or the types of tasks for which I had chosen that set.
On the other hand, those criteria and tests were extremely relevant to my needs and wants for the much sturdier Kukpo 9-inch strainer I had purchased to complement the small and medium sized Cuisinart sieves. If that Cook's Illustrated equipment review had been published one month sooner, I might have had second thoughts about buying my $14 Kukpo, despite the $45 price tag of the only "highly recommended" model, the Rösle 7.9-inch Stainless Steel Round Handle Kitchen Strainer.
So, keep your own needs in mind as you are reading fine mesh strainer reviews and looking at product features and specifications. Also, remember that no strainer can do every job equally well and be open to the possibility that investing in more than one might be your best bet, depending on how many things you want to use them for.
Recommended Fine Mesh Kitchen Strainer Reviews
Here are my personal product reviews for the best fine mesh kitchen strainers I purchased to replace the much older ones I had inherited. The ones I am recommending have been in frequent use in my kitchen for at least several years, show minimal signs of wear and continue to meet my quality and performance needs and expectations.
Kukpo Stainless Steel Double Fine Mesh Strainer Review
If you are looking for a large, versatile, affordable sieve that does a good job at a variety of kitchen tasks, the Kukpo Stainless Steel Fine Double Mesh Strainer, 9 Inch Diameter is an excellent choice.
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| This sturdy, inexpensive Kukpo 9-inch stainless steel fine double mesh strainer can handle most straining, sieving and sifting tasks well. |
Key Features and Benefits:
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Practical size. The basket rim is 9" across and the fine wire
mesh basket itself is about 8" wide at the top and 3.25" deep, large enough
to easily drain a pound of cooked pasta, but not so large that it's
unwieldy.
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A versatile workhorse. If you're looking for a single, good
quality, inexpensive fine mesh food strainer that performs well for most
uses, I highly recommend this 9-inch Kukpo model. It's great for
straining stock, sauces, yogurt, custard, frying oil and coffee grounds;
separating milk solids from melted butter for clarified butter or ghee;
rinsing rice, beans, lentils and grains such as quinoa; straining seeds from
fresh berry purée; and sifting flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa or powdered
sugar.
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Durable construction, including two riveted handles. Unlike many fine
mesh strainers, this one has no gap between the wire mesh screen and the
rim/frame where bits of food residue can get stuck and be hard to remove. It
also has two handles that distribute the weight more evenly and are riveted
to the rim rather than spot-welded, making it more comfortable and well
balanced to hold when draining a large volume of heavy food, such as cooked
pasta.
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Two layers of fine wire mesh for better strength, stiffness and filtering
ability.
Doubling the mesh creates a stronger, sturdier basket that holds its shape
better and resists denting, despite its size, even when mashing fresh
strawberries, raspberries, or confectioners sugar firmly against the mesh to
strain the seeds or break up hard lumps.
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Dishwasher safe stainless steel. I generally prefer to wash my
fine mesh sieves by hand, but it's nice to be able to run them through the
dishwasher occasionally to sanitize them more thoroughly. This one has an
all stainless steel construction that doesn't rust, not only in my own
experience but also in those of many other customers, according to their
product reviews.
- 100% money back guarantee. Although I couldn't find any details about the terms of this guarantee, quite a few Amazon customers have raved about the company's outstanding customer service in their reviews.
Cuisinart Set of 3 Mesh Strainers
I've found that pairing this set of three Cuisinart stainless steel strainers with the larger, sturdier, 9-inch Kukpo double mesh strainer covers all the bases for any use I can think of.
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| This set of three Cuisinart mesh strainers is excellent for light-duty tasks like dusting desserts with cocoa or confectioners sugar, rinsing berries and juicing lemons. |
Key Features and Benefits:
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Three useful sizes. This set includes 3 1/8”, 5 ½”, and 7 7/8”
diameter fine mesh sieves.
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Great for less strenuous tasks. The two smaller sizes in this
set are ideal for things like straining loose tea leaves, dusting powdered
sugar or cocoa over desserts, washing a cup of fresh berries or string
beans, or straining the seeds while juicing a lemon. The largest one is
fine for sifting a couple of cups of dry baking ingredients and similar
light-duty tasks, but the spot-welded handles and thinner wire mesh make it
too delicate for heavier contents and more demanding applications that
require the sturdier Kukpo strainer.
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Surprisingly inexpensive. At the time of publication, this set
of three cost less than $14 on Amazon. Even though I prefer the 9" Kukpo to
the 7 7/8" strainer in the Cuisinart set, I consider that a very good value,
even for just the small and medium sizes.
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Dishwasher safe stainless steel. I haven't found a single speck
of rust on any of mine after nearly five years of frequent use.
- Limited lifetime warranty. Cuisinart offers a limited lifetime warranty for its products if you register your purchase with them. I haven't been able to find any information about what it covers for this strainer set.
Bonus Tip: Use a Stiff, Thin-Bristled Brush to Dislodge Any Food Particles Stuck in the Fine Mesh
Whether you plan to wash your strainers by hand or in the dishwasher, I highly recommend inspecting the fine wire mesh carefully for any bits of food residue that might be stuck. It's best to wash and check the mesh as soon as possible after use, since any clogs will be much harder to dislodge if they are allowed to dry inside those tiny openings. If you need more time, just submerge the strainer in hot water and until you are able to clean and inspect it properly.
I have found that small, dense brushes with thin, stiff bristles, like the two in the OXO Good Grips Deep Clean Brush Set, are the most effective tools for clearing stubborn food particles from the fine wire mesh.
How to Choose the Best Fine Mesh Kitchen Strainers by Margaret Schindel
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