Matfer Bourgeat Professional Bouillon Strainer/Chinois with Exoglass Handle and Fine Steel Mesh Sieve

I purchased this a year ago, and continue to be entirely satisfied with it. Using it has made stock making go much faster - the straining part was always the biggest hassle and time drain - so I make my own stock more often now. Cleanup is also much easier than with the multiple strainers and layers of cheese cloth I used to use to end up with this same quality of filtration. If you chill the broth to below 40 degrees F in an ice and salt bath before the final straining into a container, it will end up straining away most of the fat as well, so no need to do an extra step for fat separation. I use a 17 cup Snapware storage container, so that's just over a gallon of stock each time. If you're considering buying one of these, you probably already make your own stock regularly or you would be thinking about spending this much money on a tool like this. If you can afford this item, go ahead and get it. It's expensive, but it really does make a difference. It is large, but that is part of what makes it work so quickly and well. You can pour quickly, straining from one pot to another without any concern about splashing over the edge of, or over-filling, a too-small strainer.

I use this at least once a week. I use this mainly for straining homemade yogurt and occasionally chicken bone broth. This is a very fine strainer. Very little yogurt strains through with the whey. I turn one gallon of milk into yogurt. It takes filling this strainer up twice for the entire batch. I usually let it strain 1/4 of the way down which takes about 45-60 minutes if the yogurt is straight out of the warming oven. This produces approx 2.5-3 quarts of yogurt. Reducing it too much produces dry thick yogurt. Straining bone broth is a breeze. It ensures all small bones are caught. Its large enough to strain the bones from a whole chicken. Pros: -it's large, thus reducing your straining time -dishwasher safe -handles high heat well -sturdy - the wires that protect the strainer work well Cons: -It's large. It may be difficult to store depending on your kitchen. - the size makes it really hard to strain by hanging in even a large stockpot. It does stand and lean while straining ok though. It can be difficult to clean the fine mesh. I use a sink sprayer and then put it in the dishwasher. -the price is a bit high Overall this is a great purchase and I am extremely pleased with the product. I can't imagine making yogurt without it.

I’ve used these in professional kitchens and I decided to replace my 30 year old chinois that has a tendency to rust because, while the mesh is amazing, the frame is made of reactive metal. This exoglass is fabulous. If you’re looking for a chinois like we’d use at high end restaurants, this is the one. The mesh is extra fine and the cage both protects the mesh and allows the chinois to rest on the lip of a bain marie without the strained liquid running down the sides of the container. Also, professional trick: get a 2 oz ladle instead of the wooden pestle. First, you can use a 2 oz ladle elsewhere. Second, the bowl of the ladle fits the bottom of the chinois perfectly. Just grab the handle and move it up and down to help pass the liquid through the mesh.

Yes, it's large, expensive, and a bit of a pain to store, but it's incredibly well made, has a fine, durable mesh, easily cleans in the dishwasher, and works flawlessly in practice. Hard to ask for more.

My wife and I have had this for months and used it several times in that period. We've used regular mesh strainers before but never another chinois so I can only compare this to regular strainers. From that viewpoint, this is way better than a regular strainer. I don't know how it stacks up against other chinois though. The hooks opposite the handle have proven useful as I sometimes mount this over a kettle while I prepare wort for homebrewing. I've noticed, though, that there still seems to be some particulate trub in my wort sometimes. There is way less than if I had tried to use a standard strainer or, really, any other method I've tried. My wife made some jam for the first time recently and we made use of both this chinois and this HIC Brands that Cook Wooden Pestle for Chinois . That particular pestle fit really well with this chinois though I was a bit worried that a lot of poking might cause the pestle to break through the chinois' mesh which would be pretty terrible given how expensive chinois are. That was the first time we used a pestle with the chinois and the results were a lot better than our attempts to use other tools (i.e. wooden spoons) to press out more liquid. I suppose that the chinois stands I've seen might be used to keep the mesh from pushing up against whatever container you're working over but two pieces of metal wire crossing around the outside of the screen provided good support. I was able to place the chinois inside my 2-cup measuring glass such that the wire held the mesh screen away from the glass itself. I think the only way that an actual stand may have been more useful than these wires is if you needed to get the chinois higher out of the container you're working over or maybe if you need both hands. Since anything that strains through the screen seems to flow down the screen until it reaches the tip, I didn't have to worry about the liquid squirting out all over the counter. This is nice considering that the screen must be at least seven inches tall. The only drawbacks to this are that it's not very multi-purpose; a cardinal sin for many dedicated kitchen-dwellers. It's also pretty large so it takes up most of an entire shelf in one of our cabinets. If storage space, money, or amount of use are a concern for you then this tool might not be a good fit. If you've got the space and money, this has been a great tool for me in home brewing and my wife in preserving so I'd recommend it.

I make fermented drinks such as kefir, both water and milk, and beet kvass in one gallon containers. When I strain out the liquid for bottling, the solid foods come out with it. Previously, I used a collander and then a typical round strainer. This was particularly awkward when making beef or chicken broth in large canning kettles, which also has to be strained. This strainer is so great I can just pour the food into it and it holds about 2 quarts of foods. Now, straining is one step rather than three. It is also fine enough that I can put yogurt into it and it will strain the whey! I would otherwise have to use a cheese cloth. Even though it is expensive, this strainer it is worth it. It is also very sturdy and will probably last for my lifetime. I don't even have to worry about hot liquids, the materials are impervious to heat. I use it almost every day.

Fairly large strainer that strains mixes, etc into a very fine end result. Using it to strain fruit purées for different flavor lemonades and it performs wonderfully. Fantastic liquid quality due to the very small hole pattern

This is a really good strainer made with good quality materials and will specifically be useful for yogurt making for example. The reason I give it a 3 star review is because cleaning up this strainer with such a tight mesh is really complicated.