Why We Love This Pasta Strainer

There’s nothing a couple of colander I discover gratifying. From the house it occupies within the cupboard and the dishwasher to the concept that it holds meals an inch or so above the underside of a—let’s be trustworthy—germy sink, practically every little thing concerning the instrument 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 guardian 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 believed it could work. I used to be uncertain because it had an “as seen on TV” vibe to it. I waited just a few 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 largest jobs (although we nonetheless save a cup of that candy pasta water after 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 principally 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 explanation the strainer is so profitable is a numbers recreation. A normal six-ounce field of mac and cheese is full of 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 drag out with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and it’s such a bit of quantity of water that utilizing a large colander appears 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 amount of trouble to take care of 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 you must 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 for those who pour too aggressively some shells would possibly bounce 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 may ship scalding scorching water to your drain with confidence. It’s constructed from ABS plastic, so it’s food-safe and hasn’t warped. As an alternative of a typical coiled metallic spring to supply the clamp’s rigidity, the Chef’s Planet makes use of a large strip of stainless-steel that is remained rust-free all these years later. It grips onto any pot we have now, although the design, which features a brief fence that hugs the skin lip of the pot, appears to suit greatest on our three-quart saucepan, which is about 7.75 inches vast. Whereas we’ve used it for full bins of normal pasta, it may be awkward to tip a Dutch oven or stockpot over into the sink and maintain it there for just a few seconds whereas it drains. So, we nonetheless preserve a colander round for giant 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’s 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 constructed from heat-resistant, food-safe ABS plastic. Whereas some descriptions point out its capacity to pressure grease from a frying pan, I’d solely advocate doing that after the oil has cooled to room temperature. The attachment can also be dishwasher-safe.

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

They’ll typically carry out related duties, however usually, a colander is a bowl-shaped vessel perforated with holes or areas that enable the cooking liquid to go by whereas capturing the meals. A strainer, typically known as a fine-mesh strainer, is a handheld gadget 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 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 vast 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 tools editor for Critical Eats. He now freelances for the location.
• Sal has used the Chef’s Planet strainer, as an alternative of a full-size colander, at the least as soon as per week for years now.