Search This Blog

Monday, May 4, 2015

How To Deseed Berries

I looked at small kitchen appliances to make the job of deseeding berries easier. You can see my review of the Kitchen Aid juicer here and Kitchen Aid strainer here. I'm just going to tell you this. There really is no "easy" way to deseed berries. But my tips will make the task a little easier. 



Put your berries in a pot, and cook over medium high heat. Continually mashing, to loosen the seeds. I really like this pampered chef nylon potato masher. It provides maximum surface area, for mashing. I let the berries cook, until I can just see a heat bubble form. Just enough to get the berries warm.


Then scrape the berries into a fine mesh strainer. Get the finest wire mesh strainer that you can find. They tend to be expensive, but sometimes you can pick them up for around $7 at discount stores like TJ Maxx.


Having a quality rubber scraper will save you washing pans, between strains. This is a pampered chef large scraper, which I highly recommend. As you can see, there are no seeds in the pan. 


Your first strain, will be the most work. Just mash and press the berries through the strainer, using a spoon, or scraper.


Making sure to scrape the puree, from the bottom of the strainer.


Then wash the strainer, with a brush, if you have one.


Set up a second pan, with the clean strainer.


This time it is important that you do not press the puree with the scraper. Instead, just tap the strainer against the pan, until the puree has passed through.


Those are the seeds from the second pass. Not bad. We are almost done!


Set up the pan and strainer again.


And tap the puree through the strainer. There are just a few seeds left at this point. I'd call that done!


Once the berries are strained, I measure the puree into 1 cup portions. Then freeze.

You should get 1/2 cup puree per 6 ounces of berries.



Sunday, May 3, 2015

Kitchen Aid Juicer and Sauce Attachment Review


I purchased the Kitchen Aid Juicer and Sauce Attachment, for my mixer; for the sole purpose of deseeding raspberries. I wanted something that was quick, efficient, and required minimal effort, on my part.


This is a slow juicer, also called a masticating juicer. It chops and grinds food, at a slow pace. This type of juicer will extract the most juice. It works best on fibrous foods, vs citrus.

I am pleased with the amount of juice. I am also pleased with the waste coming out of the feed. It is dry and compact. Just as you would expect from a slow juicer. Minimal waste. 


I was disappointed with the amount of seeds that went into the juice. I had to strain two or three times, using a fine mesh strainer. All in all, the use of the juicer, made the process of deseeding berries much faster. 

Let me note, that after processing berries, using this juicer, I called Kitchen Aid to see what their recommendations, for deseeding berries was. They recommended the Kitchen Aid Fruit and Vegetable Strainer. You can see my review here.  Looking back, this did a much better job, of juicing, than the strainer. 

Some pros and cons. Lets start with the cons: No color choices. Expensive. Bulky to store. Could use a smaller berry screen. Lots of parts to clean. The pros: Quality product. Efficient. Minimal waste.

I always try to get an attachment, thinking I will save on storage space. That is not the case here. You are better off purchasing a stand alone masticating juicer. This item was returned to the store.


Saturday, May 2, 2015

Reviews

Kitchen Aid Fruit and Vegetable Strainer Attachment

Kitchen Aid Juicer and Saucer Attachment 

Kitchen Aid Fruit and Vegetable Strainer Attachment Review



Before purchasing the Kitchen Aid fruit and vegetable strainer; I researched blogs, youtube, and talked with a representative at Kitchen Aid. I felt confident that this attachment, to my mixer, was going to make the job of deseeding berries a cinch.  


This is the set up. To use the strainer attachment, you have to have the grinder attachment, also. The grinder acts as the housing, to which the strainer attaches. The mixing bowl catches the liquid, but you will need a second container to catch the pulp. 


Right away I knew there was a problem! I was not satisfied with the amount of seeds going into the liquid. So, I reached for a strainer to catch them.


I was more disappointed with the amount of pulp being wasted.


I gathered up the pulp and mashed it through a fine mesh strainer.


To reclaim some juice!

I aborted using the Kitchen Aid strainer, after two packages of raspberries. I feel this is not the attachment to deseed berries. I'm sure it is fine for other fruits and vegetables, with larger seeds; but that is not why I purchased it. 

I hope this review will be helpful to you. I will be posting another review for the Kitchen Aid juicer attachment shortly. Then I will wrap up the reviews with a quick and efficient way to deseed berries.