Why We Love This Pasta Strainer

There’s nothing a few colander I discover gratifying. From the area it occupies within the cupboard and the dishwasher to the concept it holds meals an inch or so above the underside of a—let’s be sincere—germy sink, almost the whole lot in regards to the device wants assist. For many pasta dishes, I fish noodles out of boiling water with a spider so I can end them in sauce in a separate pan. Nonetheless, having a child modified how we make pasta.

Any mother or father who denies leaning on boxed mac and cheese is mendacity. For years my spouse grumbled about what a ache our colander is, which is about the identical dimension as our four-quart mixing bowl, dragging it out to empty the medium saucepan stuffed with water required to make about two-and-a-half cups of pasta, as a part of a kid-approved dinner. So when she identified the Chef’s Planet Clip On Pasta Strainer years in the past, I shrugged when requested if I assumed it might work. I used to be uncertain because it had an “as seen on TV” vibe to it. I waited a couple of weeks—simply lengthy sufficient for the mac and cheese troubles to bubble up once more—earlier than gifting it to her. Sure, reader, I do know: Not all heroes put on capes. That was seven or eight years in the past, and the strainer has primarily changed our colander for all however the greatest jobs (although we nonetheless save a cup of that candy pasta water once we need to end it with a sauce). 

Now we boil the pasta, clip the strainer onto the pot on the range, drain the noodles largely dry, pop off the strainer into the sink, after which end the prep off with butter, milk, and neon orange powdered cheese. After dinner, we nestle the Chef’s Planet neatly between a pair of tines within the dishwasher’s higher rack.

Why It’s Nice

The rationale the strainer is so profitable is a numbers recreation. A regular six-ounce field of mac and cheese is stuffed with dozens of tiny shells, although your child’s favourite model may need small elbows or Paw Patrol footprints. None of those shapes are straightforward to tug out with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and it’s such just a little quantity of water that utilizing a large colander seems like overkill. We’re coping with about six cups of water to make a field, so we normally flip to our small, 1.5-quart saucepot or the taller, three-quart model. With both, it’s hardly the quantity of water wanted to make a field of spaghetti. The Chef’s Planet is simply the correct quantity of problem to cope with in terms of small to medium-sized pots. When not in use it sits in our kitchen junk drawer, proper subsequent to these small plunger-style measuring cups.

The Form Is Common

The strainer’s 91 holes drain water effectively, however it’s a must to pour with a bit extra consideration than when utilizing a bigger colander. The roughly seven-by-three-inch wall retains a lot of the meals within the saucepot, however if you happen to pour too aggressively some shells would possibly leap ship and into the germy pool that’s your sink. The clamp has a silicone pad that grips the skin of the pot, stopping the attachment from sliding, so you possibly can ship scalding scorching water to your drain with confidence. It’s made out of ABS plastic, so it’s food-safe and hasn’t warped. As a substitute of a typical coiled steel spring to offer the clamp’s pressure, the Chef’s Planet makes use of a large strip of chrome steel that is remained rust-free all these years later. It grips onto any pot we have now, although the design, which features a quick fence that hugs the skin lip of the pot, appears to suit greatest on our three-quart saucepan, which is about 7.75 inches huge. Whereas we’ve used it for full packing containers of standard pasta, it may be awkward to tip a Dutch oven or stockpot over into the sink and maintain it there for a couple of seconds whereas it drains. So, we nonetheless hold a colander round for big batches of spaghetti.

Its Makes use of Go Past Mac and Cheese

It’s not a spec you’ll discover on-line, however the radius on the arch of the strainer is 9.05 inches—so it is going to match a variety of spherical diameters. Different methods I exploit it: to pressure water away from microwaved veggies in a one-quart bowl, to catch the shredded bits of meat on the backside of our stress cooker that I didn’t need to clog up the drain, and to pressure tomato juice away from solids in a 28-ounce can.

FAQs

Is the Chef’s Planet Clip On Pasta Strainer heat-resistant?

Sure, the Chef’s Planet is made out of heat-resistant, food-safe ABS plastic. Whereas some descriptions point out its skill to pressure grease from a frying pan, I’d solely advocate doing that after the oil has cooled to room temperature. The attachment can be dishwasher-safe.

What’s the distinction between a strainer and a colander?

They will typically carry out comparable duties, however usually, a colander is a bowl-shaped vessel perforated with holes or areas that enable the cooking liquid to go by way of whereas capturing the meals. A strainer, typically known as a fine-mesh strainer, is a handheld system that is sort of a small colander with a deal with, although the holes are a lot smaller and spaced nearer collectively so it could actually filter out meals particles like pulp from juice.

My pot or bowl has a lip, will the Chef’s Planet match?

The strainer has a fence molded in that hugs the outer fringe of the pot’s rim, with a tab that then sits on the within of the pot. There’s a roughly 0.375-inch huge hole between the 2, so so long as your pot’s lip is narrower than that, it ought to match.

Why We’re the Consultants

• Sal Vaglica was the gear editor for Critical Eats. He now freelances for the location.
• Sal has used the Chef’s Planet strainer, as a substitute of a full-size colander, not less than as soon as every week for years now.