Food Mill

A kitchen utensil used to puree, mash or coarsely grind various foods. Consisting of a round metal container with a curved blade at the bottom and a hand crank above to turn the blade, food is cut into small pieces and forced through holes in a disk that is positioned just below the blade at the bottom of the mill. When the blade is manually cranked in a reverse circle, the ingredients in the mill are scraped off the disk and redistributed to be reground by the mill. Similar to a mechanical sieve or a manually operated food processor, food mills often do a better job of making smooth sauces, mashed foods, pureed sauces and soups, or gaucamole.