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by majjam 825 days ago
How do people strain their stock? I use a seive with a muslin in which I then squeeze to get all the juices, but its unweildy and messy.
6 comments

This sounds like a job for a centrifuge so I wonder whether the sort of people who home engineered their way to dishwasher sous vide have come up with washing machine stock straining.
I've read some weird hacks but the traditional non-centrifuge way to clarify the stock is to use some protein like ground meat or egg white to "absorb" any discolorant, protein, etc.
First time I made beef stock, I had much more than I needed; so I decided to turn some of it into consommé. You stir beaten egg-white into the stock, and simmer for a few minutes. The egg-white magically gathers the particles in the stock, and floats to form a raft on the surface. You then lift off the raft, to reveal limpidly clear consommé.

My consommé was lovely; but no better than Baxter's tinned consommé (and no worse). I haven't tried again since.

I just use a fine mesh strainer. If you really want clarified stock, you can simmer it with some egg whites and/or shells, the proteins will agglomerate all the remaining sediment. Strain again and done.
I'd assume with the muslin and squeezing they aren't going after clarified stock.
First through colander and then 1 or 2x through fine mesh strainer.
Like you are trying to pull the juices from the plant matter?

The stock should be flavorful enough as is. You shouldn't need to also squeeze the vegetables to get more flavor (just cook longer if you want that).

I use a mesh sieve and nothing else.

i use a mesh sieve, but i also give the vegetables a press as i'm doing it.
one round through the sieve without the cheesecloth, discsrd large solids, and then one round with the cheese cloth, no squeezing. I don't typically add vegetables to my stock thought, as it seems to me to make more sense to me to add them later, so that the flavors don't evaporate off.
I use a chinois with a wooden tool that comes with the chinois.
I just pour it through my colander and let it drip for 5-10 minutes. Optimal, I guess not, but it's good enough for me.