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See why.The Best Food Mills
We wanted to know which food mill was the most stable, efficient, and easy to use.
Last Updated Nov. 2, 2022. Appears in Cook's Illustrated September/October 2002
Our old winner was discontinued, so we tested a few additional food mills. The Cuisipro Deluxe Food Mill, which has been redesigned since our original testing, impressed us with its comfortable handles and smooth, efficient processing. It is our new winner.
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See Everything We TestedWhat You Need To Know
A food mill simultaneously grinds and strains foods. To use it, you turn a crank, and a spring-loaded blade presses the fruit or vegetable through a perforated disk, extruding a smooth, dense puree and leaving most skins and seeds behind in the hopper. Because you often don’t need to peel or seed produce before milling, the food mill can save a lot of time and effort. We wanted to know which food mill was the most stable, efficient, and easy to use, so we tested a range of models, using them to make mashed potatoes, applesauce, raspberry coulis, and tomato sauce.
Each mill we tested has at least three interchangeable disks with different-size perforations for fine, medium, and coarse purees. While the perforation sizes and patterns varied from model to model, puree quality was not an issue. All models produced smooth, even-textured purees with each of their disks and handled each type of produce equally well—the tomato sauce, coulis, and applesauce made with each mill were great, although all mills ground some potato skin into the mashed potatoes.
For almost every task, even the slowest models were faster and more efficient than the peelers, ricers, wooden spoons, blenders, and strainers we’d otherwise use for those preparations. It took us 11 minutes to peel 1½ pounds of tomatoes by hand and put them through a blender, making a seedy, aerated sauce, but it took just 2 to 4 minutes in the food mills to process the same amount of unpeeled tomatoes into a skinless, nearly seedless sauce.
Still, some machines worked more quickly than others. The main factor in determining speed was the force exerted by a small spring at the center of the mill. Each time you set up a food mill, you compress the spring by locking the bar it’s attached to into the hopper. When compressed, this spring keeps the rotating blade close to the perforated disk and delivers the force necessary to extrude the produce as you turn the crank. Slack springs didn’t generate enough force to mill the food quickly, but springs that were too tightly coiled pushed unwanted berry and tomato seeds through and required more muscle power to compress, making setting up mills and breaking them down more difficult. The best mills had medium-tight springs that were easy to install and provided just enough force to process produce efficiently without seeds passing through.
Problems also arose in terms of comfort, as larger mills were heavier to lift, which you must do periodically to clear out pureed material that has accumulated underneath. Others had handles that became uncomfortable to grip after just a few minutes.
Stability also proved important. Models with legs that ex...
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Stability: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This food mill had the largest capacity of all the models we tested, allowing us to process a significant volume of potatoes, apples, or berries in one batch. With medium tension on the spring-loaded blade and a smooth turning mechanism, it quickly produced high-quality mashed potatoes and applesauce without requiring too much muscle. Its rubber-coated handle and hook helped stabilize it on a wide range of vessels, although it still rocked a bit during use. Another small problem: It was a bit deep, sitting in the puree in smaller vessels.
Recommended with reservations
- Stability: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 3 stars out of 3.
This food mill performed quickly and did the best job of straining out seeds from berry coulis and tomato sauce; its four disks gave cooks more processing options. But it was a touch heavy, and its wide wire handle was uncomfortable to grip and made it harder to lift. Finally, although its large hook lifted the mill just above the puree, it didn’t always latch onto pots as securely as we’d have liked, so it rocked a bit during use.
Not Recommended
- Stability: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 0.5 stars out of 3.
This model was the easiest to dismantle and had comfortable rubbery handles; better still, grippy, foldable legs made it the most stable mill we tested. But with not quite enough tension on the blade, this mill took the longest to make applesauce, coulis, and tomato sauce, ineffectively churning the contents of the hopper and often failing to push anything through. To get things moving, we had to reverse directions with the turning handle frequently—an action that made the blade grate unpleasantly against the perforated disk.
- Stability: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2 stars out of 3.
This model milled food relatively quickly and did a decent job of straining out most seeds. But it was done in by its hooks, which were placed so close to the top of the hopper that the mill inevitably ended up bathing in the puree it made. The hooks themselves failed to truly latch on to any cooking vessel, causing the mill to jump around like a bucking bronco while in use. Finally, not all the parts were dishwasher-safe—a big minus when it comes to messy milling.
- Stability: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This pricey food mill smoothly churned out great mashed potatoes, applesauce, and berry coulis. Its metal hook was able to reach the sides of a Dutch oven, saucepan, and large bowl, aiding its stability, but it rocked back and forth a bit during use. It was also the heaviest mill we tested and its steel wire handle was uncomfortable to hold, so it was difficult to lift. It has a medium capacity and is fairly deep, so its base often sat in the resulting puree.
- Stability: NaN stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: NaN stars out of 3.
- Performance: NaN stars out of 3.
This food mill was one of the lightest in our lineup and felt unstable on a wide variety of cooking vessels. It has adjustable legs, which we hoped would greatly improve stability, but they only reached the sides of smaller cooking vessels and didn’t extend to span our favorite Dutch oven. We had to frequently reverse directions on the turning handle to clear the disk and get things moving, causing an unpleasant grating sensation and sound.
DISCONTINUED
- Stability: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Performance: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This inexpensive, lightweight food mill proved the top choice of every cook who tried it. Despite a relatively small capacity, good spring force enabled it to puree foods quickly and efficiently while allowing just a few tomato and berry seeds to pass through. Its handles were comfortable, and it was easy to lift and crank (a narrow crossbar made it a tad tricky to take apart). Best of all, long, notched legs allowed the mill to feel comparatively stable while sitting high and secure above the food.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
Miye Bromberg
Miye is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She covers booze, blades, and gadgets of questionable value.
Sarah Sandler
Sarah is an assistant editor for ATK Reviews who is deeply passionate about anchovies and sourdough bread.