Food Mills

Common Questions About Food Mills

How would I use a food mill?

Food mills reduce food down to small pieces, grinding them into different textures that broaden your possibilities. Many dishes, such as spaetzle, require potatoes or other ingredients to be reduced to a fine particle size for proper cooking, and that process can't be done well with a knife and cutting board. Manual rotary food mills usually include multiple grinding plates of varying coarseness, so you can interchange them to get the desired outcome. Mills function differently than blenders and can give operators more control over the final product, while being generally less expensive. Since mills rely on downward pressure and sieves instead of whirling blades, the finished product will feel different in your hand and will function differently in the final product. Mills are preferred when working with grains and spices as well as for producing coarse fragments of some foods, such as potatoes.

Should I get an automatic or manual food mill?

Manual mills should be sufficient for most establishments, but if you plan on milling food frequently, an automatic unit will be more efficient. Automatic mills can yield more than 200 pounds of bread crumbs an hour, while hand mills function more in the realm of 3 pounds per hour. The choice comes down almost entirely to how much of what types of food you intend to mill. If you're going to be using a lot of bread crumbs, then one of the specially designed automatic crumbers will be your best bet, but if you only serve spaetzle every now and then, a small hand mill will get the job done without tying up capital in an appliance you don't use often. Keep in mind, an automatic food mill will require an outlet to operate, while a manual food mill will take up more precious labor time.

What materials are commercial food mills made of?

Stainless steel is the most common material used in producing rotary food mills, but tinned steel is another popular option. Stainless steel is generally the preferred option, as most restaurants are well-equipped to clean and maintain stainless steel, but it'll usually be more expensive than tinned steel.

What other features should I look for in a commercial food mill?

Some rotary food mills come with a handle that keeps it steady while the crank is being turned, which can be invaluable when you're grinding something by hand. Some manual food mills also come with hooks on the bottom that enable them to be attached to a bowl beneath during grinding, which will catch all of the falling particles. Both these features add convenience when grinding food.

Another thing to look out for is multiple sieves – additional sieves enable your mill to grind food to different coarseness and suit different applications. Check the product specification page for the food mill you're considering to see which of these features each unit has, as well as the different sieve sizes that'll come with the mill.