Colander Buying Advice
A colander is a type of sieve which is bowl-shaped and is used in cooking for separating liquids and solids. A colander is pierced with a pattern of small perforations for the liquid to drain through, but allowing the solids to remain in the utensil. It featured two opposing wire handles at the lip for lifting. Today, the colander is often made of plastic and does not require handles, but is otherwise unchanged. Colander was used to be made from tin. Aluminum, earthenware and graniteware
were also used. Most colanders today are made of stainless steel for its beauty and durable usages.
When using a colander to drain liquid from extreme hot food such as noodles, it is advisable to place the colander in the sink, rather than holding it. Unless your colander came with the riveted handles. You might want to run cool water to one side of the colander. This will help reduce steam as you slowly pour hot water from the pot into the colander. Try to avoid standing in the position of having your face over the colander, as rising steam could scald your face. Once the pot has been emptied, a few shakes
of the colander will drain any residual liquid. Then you can pour the noodles onto a serving dish, or back into the pan to add sauce.
A colander also comes in handy for draining canned vegetables before cooking, or for cleaning raw legumes like lentils or pinto beans. Many people use a colander for preparing salads. Upon washing vegetables, simply toss them into a colander where they will continue to drain while the rest of the ingredients are being prepared. Since Asian hot pot is getting popular and popular in US, a lot of people like to use a long handled colander for cooking food in a hot pot so that the cooked food would not vanish
in the pot.
A colander is an inexpensive but necessary tool in anyone’s kitchen. Whether draining pasta, preparing salad, rinsing raw lentils or working with canned vegetables, you’ll find that you at least need one for your own kitchen. If you enjoy salads often, consider a salad spinner as well.
Buying Tips:
When you select a colander for your kitchen, look for those with very good mesh so you can drain, rinse and strain even fine items such as rice. If you do not cook very often, pick a plastic one though stainless steel made is much better. If you are indulged in cooking for your family and friends, a good designed stainless steel colander or a copper colander would be your target. It is elegant looking and very durable when using. Most colanders are with short handles. Most your safety, you can select colanders
with long handles and it will protect you from hot liquid in hot food.
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