MatferBourgeat Professional Bouillon Strainer/Chinois with Exoglass Handle and Fine Steel Mesh Sieve

If you regularly make stocks this is the strainer you need! I see why pro kitchens use the Matfer, it's mesh is fine but sturdy, the wire supports are strong and easily take the weight when full of bones, plastic handle is tough and doesn't bend or twist under full weight, and it's easy to clean - just rinse and put in the dishwasher. I can see this lasting for years. It's a good size for home use, I make stocks in 2.5gal lots and this saves me several steps compared to using a sieve. I don't use it to strain sauces, for the small amounts I make a fine sieve does the job.This item is absolutely worth the money if you are a serious home cook making stocks/soups.

Yes, it's large, expensive, and a bit of a pain to store, but it's incredibly well made, has a fine, durable mesh, easily cleans in the dishwasher, and works flawlessly in practice. Hard to ask for more.

My wife and I have had this for months and used it several times in that period. We've used regular mesh strainers before but never another chinois so I can only compare this to regular strainers. From that viewpoint, this is way better than a regular strainer. I don't know how it stacks up against other chinois though.The hooks opposite the handle have proven useful as I sometimes mount this over a kettle while I prepare wort for homebrewing. I've noticed, though, that there still seems to be some particulate trub in my wort sometimes. There is way less than if I had tried to use a standard strainer or, really, any other method I've tried.My wife made some jam for the first time recently and we made use of both this chinois and this HIC Brands that Cook Wooden Pestle for Chinois. That particular pestle fit really well with this chinois though I was a bit worried that a lot of poking might cause the pestle to break through the chinois' mesh which would be pretty terrible given how expensive chinois are. That was the first time we used a pestle with the chinois and the results were a lot better than our attempts to use other tools (i.e. wooden spoons) to press out more liquid.I suppose that the chinois stands I've seen might be used to keep the mesh from pushing up against whatever container you're working over but two pieces of metal wire crossing around the outside of the screen provided good support. I was able to place the chinois inside my 2-cup measuring glass such that the wire held the mesh screen away from the glass itself. I think the only way that an actual stand may have been more useful than these wires is if you needed to get the chinois higher out of the container you're working over or maybe if you need both hands.Since anything that strains through the screen seems to flow down the screen until it reaches the tip, I didn't have to worry about the liquid squirting out all over the counter. This is nice considering that the screen must be at least seven inches tall.The only drawbacks to this are that it's not very multi-purpose; a cardinal sin for many dedicated kitchen-dwellers. It's also pretty large so it takes up most of an entire shelf in one of our cabinets. If storage space, money, or amount of use are a concern for you then this tool might not be a good fit. If you've got the space and money, this has been a great tool for me in home brewing and my wife in preserving so I'd recommend it.

Excellent, high quality, sturdy chinoise with a very fine mesh. Strong enough to stand up to making veal stock with large bones, and fine enough to produce beautiful, translucent, jewel-toned jellies. The two hooks give it a welcome stability when wrestling to transfer the contents of bulky stock pots. Its size can present a challenge finding a suitable container to catch the strained liquids as noted by other reviewers. After conducting some research, I purchased a round, polycarbonate Cambro 8 qt container with lid. With an 8.5" inner diameter and nearly 11" in height, this container comfortably and stably accommodates the Matfer chinoise. The chinoise can be stored in the container to save cabinet space. After a year the Matfer still looks like new. It's so beautiful, it practically beckons you to take on any recipe The French Laundry can dish out. My next project with this bad boy will be straining herb-infused oils. Love it. Definitely worth the investment.

I purchased this a year ago, and continue to be entirely satisfied with it. Using it has made stock making go much faster - the straining part was always the biggest hassle and time drain - so I make my own stock more often now.Cleanup is also much easier than with the multiple strainers and layers of cheese cloth I used to use to end up with this same quality of filtration. If you chill the broth to below 40 degrees F in an ice and salt bath before the final straining into a container, it will end up straining away most of the fat as well, so no need to do an extra step for fat separation. I use a 17 cup Snapware storage container, so that's just over a gallon of stock each time.If you're considering buying one of these, you probably already make your own stock regularly or you would be thinking about spending this much money on a tool like this. If you can afford this item, go ahead and get it. It's expensive, but it really does make a difference.It is large, but that is part of what makes it work so quickly and well. You can pour quickly, straining from one pot to another without any concern about splashing over the edge of, or over-filling, a too-small strainer.