Moulin No 3 Food Mill, manufactured by L. Tellier in France
I am a home cook not a professional, cook for a hobby, I live in a small flat and space is a
premium so!! very selective on what I buy in terms of equipment
What is a food mill?
Basically it is a sieve with attitude, enables the mashing, pureeing and straining of soft
cooked foods very efficiently and with very little effort, in one action it compresses and
presses the food through the sieve disk, retaining the skins and seeds. Most people now go
for the fast and easy to use electric blender, but in my opinion this results in a different
texture, it combines everything, a food mill gently pushes the food through, leaving behind
the skins and seeds when making say tomato sauces
Moulin No 3, what do you get
The model S3 is a traditional mill manufactured from tin-plated steel and comes with 3
perforated disks (cutting plates) 1.5mm 2.5 mm and 4mm, the disks are 12 sided
(dodecagon) and fit into the base of the mill that is likewise shaped
The mill bowl diameter is 31 cm, is 25cm high and weighs 1.4 kg and has a flow rate of 1 –
1.5 kg per minute, there is a bar that fits across the bowl holding the handle, this presses
via a spring into the discs, you get a constant pressure that allows for a smooth, efficient
milling process with superb results, the large wood turning handle is easy and comfortable
to grip, everything fits into the bowl for easy storage
Handy hint, Assembling the Mill
The Moulin No 3 is a sturdy well manufactured piece of kit, the spring that presses the
turning blade to the discs is necessarily strong, you need to choose a pan that the Mill bowl
will fit / sit onto comfortably, my large sauce pan is ideal, it also has a pouring lip, so even
better after the event so to speak. Once in place you have two hands with which to
assemble, drop in the disk, domed side up, place the handle stem into the hole in the centre
of the disk, using both hands, firmly depress the spring and twist the holding bar into the
lugs at either side of the bowl, voila
Why use a Mill
My first experience of using a mill was at the La Cucina Caldesi Cook School in Marylebone.
Making Gnocchi, I was given a mill, expecting a riser or masher I asked the reason, simple
they said, it’s the best tool for the job, the result was rather good, so was my gnocchi! As
the day progressed we made several tomato based sauces and each time a mill was used,
discussing this and paying attention to what was produced, it was clear that by pushing
through a mill, the process was more subtle than say a blender, the process was simple and
easy, more importantly the sauces were excellent.
Does size matter!!
Actually, yes, living in a small flat I researched the availability of smaller mills, varying
materials etc. the simple fact of the matter is, a food mill is a tool, it performs in a certain
way to transform cooked foods into puree’s. To mash to strain and to do so effectively, you
need a large bowl to take the cooked food, preferably in one action, not in batches, the
large bowl can accommodate the cooked food easily, eliminating the risk of food spilling
out during the milling process. Holding firmly with one hand, the turning of the handle is
made easier by virtue of its size, the whole process is simple, the leverage provided by a
large handle lends to a simple smooth action
How does the Moulin No 3 Perform
A Tomato sauce was an obvious choice as a start, cooking some ripe tomatoes down, it was
a simple matter of pouring into the mill bowl, the ease of one action is obvious
It is at this point the benefit of a large bowl comes into its own, the Moulin 3 weighs 1.4kg,
light enough to handle with ease but ideal in terms of kinetics, holding the bowl with one
hand an easy milling action is possible, no sliding around, no fancy balancing techniques,
simply turn the handle.
The discs are robust, the milling action superb, this results in a perfect Tomato sauce
To summarise
Research lead me to the Moulin No 3, to compromise on size, material etc. would have been
a mistake, I now use it regularly, my North Atlantic Prawn Pilaf benefits from the efficient
way the Moulin pushes out every drop of liquid from the sauce made from the shells, simply
superb.
After use the Moulin is easy to clean, breaking down you simply scrape the skins etc. from
the disk and inside of the bowl, you rinse, wash and wipe dry, the tin-plated material lends
itself to easy cleaning, the fact that all the component’s fit into the bowl for storage is a
plus, less chance an item going walk about so to speak. As I said at the beginning, with a
small kitchen new items to be added need to be useful, practical and a benefit to the
cooking process, the Moulin ticks all the boxes
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