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The Best Food Mills for Making Smooth Purées With Ease

The OXO Good Grips Food Mills can purée baby food, soups, canned sauces, and more

Best food mills collaged against yellow background

The Spruce Eats / Amelia Manley

Before food processors were commonplace on kitchen countertops, many home cooks relied on a decidedly lower-tech device for making fruit and vegetable purées: the food mill. The gadget is perfect for making homemade baby food from scratch, wholesome sauces, smooth vegetable soups, and more. A food mill combines a large sieve with a crank-turned mechanism that forces food through the holes to create an evenly textured purée. If you’re thinking that’s exactly what a food processor or blender is for, think again—the food mill has a special ability neither of those machines has.

“The reason you would have a food mill over an immersion blender or food processor is that it removes seeds, skins, and pits,” says Marisa McClellan, cookbook author and creator of the website Food in Jars.

An avid canner, McClellan turns to one of her five food mills to puree tomatoes and apples in bulk. It takes away a lot of the tedium involved with these home cooking projects, including peeling, skinning, and seeding fruits and vegetables. She adds that using a food mill provides another significant benefit: “Your texture will be very uniform and a lot closer to a product that’s store-bought,” she says. 

Best Overall

OXO Good Grips Food Mill

Amazon OXO Good Grips Food Mill

Amazon

What We Like
  • Fits up to 11-inch-diameter pots and bowls

  • Easy to disassemble

  • Compact design for storage

What We Don't Like
  • Lacks ultrafine disc for berries

For most home cooks, this well-designed model is the only one you’ll ever need. Oxo's Food Mill is very easy to assemble and disassemble. The clever design includes legs that snap out for resting your mill securely over various sizes of bowls, lifting the mill up and away from the food you’re processing. When you’re done, those legs flip in for easy storage. A stainless steel bowl makes it suitable for hot or cold foods, and it doesn’t pick up stains from ingredients like tomatoes or beets.

The food mill includes three different grinding discs, so you can choose the exact texture you want: smooth, chunky, coarse, or something in between. As with most Oxo products, the ergonomic design on the crank and handle makes it a pleasure to turn and hold. “This is a really great food mill for whenever you do a single batch of something, say 12 pounds or less,” says McClellan. 

Capacity: 2.3 quarts | Material: Stainless steel | Weight: 3.25 pounds | Dimensions: 14.75 x 10.25 x 7.25 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes | What’s Included: Three grinding discs

Best Budget

Mirro Stainless Steel Food Mill

Mirro-foley-stainless-steel-healthy-food-mill

Amazon

What We Like
  • Can be used with hot and cold food

  • Non-slip hooks for easy placement

  • Can be disassembled for thorough cleaning

What We Don't Like
  • Doesn’t include additional discs

The Foley Manufacturing Company is the original creator of the food mill. Since the 1920s, it has been a go-to brand for housewares, but the food mill was especially innovative for its ability to efficiently sift flour. Its original purpose was to replace bulky flour sifters, the food mill is capable of much more. Over the years, the design has changed and food mills have more features, but this Foley food mill takes it back to the basics—it’s a simple tool that mashes and strains food.

“This food mill is a nice option because it's sturdy and comes in multiple sizes. It’s great for someone who cans jam or applesauce, makes a lot of tomato sauce, or cooks larger portions for a family,” says Anne Danahy, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist, recipe developer, and author of the cookbook “The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Two”. “It has hooks on the side to fit securely over a bowl or pot, and its stainless steel construction makes it dishwasher-safe.”

Some reviewers have noticed metal shavings when using this food mill, but this is easy to prevent. The crank should only be turned clockwise—turning it in the other direction dulls the blade, resulting in the metal shavings.

This food mill also comes in a 3.5-quart version for processing a larger capacity of food.

Capacity: 2 quarts | Material: Stainless steel | Weight: 1.85 pounds | Dimensions: 13.87 x 8.37 x 18.62 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes | What’s Included: One grinding disc

Best for Baby Food

OXO Tot Mash Maker Baby Food Mill

oxo-tot-mash-maker-baby-food-mill

Amazon

There are many baby food makers out there, but all you need is a simple food mill to yield creamy baby food with a consistency similar to those at the store. This one is small, compact, and travel-friendly. It doesn’t require a power source or batteries, so you can use it on the go. 

While most food mills have a bottomless bowl, which requires a secondary bowl or pot to collect the milled food, this one stores the food in the same component. You can mill the food using the easy-turn handle and feed your baby directly from the wide-mouth container with the included spoon. It may only yield one or two servings per use, but any leftover food can be stored in the same container with the lid that it comes with.

Capacity: 115 milliliters | Material: Stainless steel and plastic | Weight: 0.58 pounds | Dimensions: ‎3.9 x 6.3 x 9.1 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes | What’s Included: Built-in stainless steel blade

Best With Handle

Cuisinart Stainless Steel Food Mill

Cuisinart-stainless-steel-food-mill

Amazon

What We Like
  • Affordable

  • Stainless steel won’t stain or hold odors

  • Dishwasher safe

What We Don't Like
  • Not adjustable for different bowl sizes

If you’re going to be milling purees, you’ll probably want a comfy handle, and this ergonomic design delivers. It’s built for smooth and easy turning to put less pressure on your hand and arm as you mill through pounds of produce. The handle and knob are covered in grippy no-stick silicone.

The food mill includes the typical three grating discs for mashed potatoes, salsa, or silky smooth vegetable soups. Two looped metal hooks allow you to rest the food mill on the rim of a bowl so that it stays in place. When you’re all done with your project, simply put it in the dishwasher for no-fuss cleanup. Cuisinart is known for its quality, and this food mill reflects the brand’s reputation. The durable design and quality materials will stand the test of time.

Capacity: 2.3 quarts | Material: Stainless steel | Weight: 1.43 pounds | Dimensions: 14.8 x 10 x 3.7 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes | What’s Included: Three cutting discs

Best Splurge

Rösle Food Mill

Amazon Rösle Stainless Steel Food Mill

Amazon

What We Like
  • Large capacity

  • No seams that collect food

  • Sturdy and durable

What We Don't Like
  • No coarse grind disc included

If you want to invest in an upgraded food mill, look no further than this beauty from Rösle, which Fine Cooking calls "the Cadillac of home food mills." Its gleaming appearance is just the beginning of what sets it apart from less expensive models. The sleek, elegant design goes beyond the appearance. This food mill’s solid, single-piece construction leaves no welding seams for food to get stuck in. It’s unusually spacious and reassuringly heavy.

The crank turns so smoothly you can mill longer with less exertion. It’s designed with very little space between the blade and the sieve, which speeds up milling and reduces the effort required. It’s sold with only two discs, but others are for sale separately. It works so well that even the tiniest seeds—like those in raspberries—don’t pass through the sieve as food is processed.  

Capacity: 3.25 quarts | Material: Stainless steel | Weight: 3 pounds | Dimensions: 17.5 x 9.25 x 7.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Some parts | What’s Included: Two sieve discs

Best Stainless Steel

RSVP International Endurance Food Mill

RSVP International Endurance Food Mill

Courtesy of Amazon

What We Like
  • Stainless steel allows hot and cold use

  • Hooks rest securely on catchment bowl

  • Comfortable handle and crank

What We Don't Like
  • Requires deep bowl to stay above purée

This sturdy food is made from durable stainless steel. The crank mechanism is easy to turn, and its wooden handle is both attractive and pleasant to hold. It includes three interchangeable stainless steel discs, so you can choose whether your purées are fine, medium, or coarse.

It will turn out apple sauce, tomato sauce, fruit purées, and soups just as well as more expensive food mills. Its construction is durable and, with proper care, will serve your kitchen for years. The looped metal pot rests don’t adjust, but they are designed to anchor to just one side of a bowl or pot, so you can certainly use them to hold your food mill up out of your purée. Hand washing is recommended to keep the wood details looking good over the long haul. 

Capacity: 2.5 quarts | Material: Stainless steel | Weight: 1 pound | Dimensions: 15.5 x 8 x 4.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Some parts | What’s Included: Three grinding discs

Final Verdict

The Oxo Good Grips Food Mill is a great all-purpose food mill that makes for easy use and cleaning. If you’re planning on puréeing large quantities on a regular basis, check out the Rösle Food Mill. It may be an investment piece, but will last you years on end and always delivers smooth effortless results.

What to Look for in a Food Mill

Mill Capacity

Keep in mind the amount of food you'll want to process at one time. Busy parents might prefer a tiny capacity that travels easily to make fresh purées for little eaters. Home canners preparing to process pounds of fruits and vegetables will want a large device—just note that these take more effort to crank and space to store. Midsize devices may be better for fresh sauces for small families.

Disc Options

Food mills typically come with interchangeable discs with holes of varying sizes for puréeing different foods. If you want to make seed-free jams and berry sauces, look for a mill with an ultra-fine disc (1 to 1.5 millimeters). A fine disc (2 millimeters) will remove both skin and seeds from cooked tomatoes and create creamy soups and silky purées. A medium disc (3 millimeters) smoothly mashes many vegetables and fruits, and a coarser disc works for chunkier sauces and soups.

Handle Components

A top-crank food mill should have an easy-to-turn handle, usually with a stabilizing crossbar at the top and a blade at its base that moves the food in the mill’s bowl. The flatter that blade, the more efficiently it will push food through the grinding disc instead of just spinning it in the bowl. While that blade compresses the food, the crossbar keeps pressure on the grinding disc to leave skin and seeds behind.

Sturdy Base

Whether electric or manual, resting or clamped to a counter or bowl, you'll want a sturdy base to keep the food mill steady. Food mills that rest on bowls typically have feet, hooks, or other supports that keep them above the resulting purée. Some may only rest on specific bowl or pot sizes and lips, so it’s worth setting everything up and testing the stability before adding cooked food.

FAQs

How do you use a food mill?

For most manual top-crank food mills, place cooked food into the mill’s bowl and turn the handle so that the blade sweeps through the food, separating skin and seeds and sending purée through the grinding disc. Unless the manufacturer’s instructions say otherwise, insert the removable disc so that the convex part faces up. Food mills almost always work best if you first cook the food until it is soft. If it still jams up, try reversing the direction you’re spinning the crank every few turns.

Electric food mills can work in the same way by toggling a switch or pushing a button. Continuous feed food mills, either manual or electric, work similarly, but may have parts designed and arranged differently so that they can handle high volumes.

How do you process tomatoes in a food mill?

Unless the food mill’s manual says differently, start with cooked tomatoes that are softened and cool enough to handle. Set up the food mill with your desired grinding disc size along with a bowl or pot to capture the purée. Work the tomatoes through in batches until the remaining skin and seeds are quite dry, emptying the collected scraps into the compost as needed to keep the blade turning smoothly.

Does a food mill remove tomato seeds and skin?

Food mills are designed to remove both skin and seeds, but how efficiently they do so depends on the grinding disc size. Discs with holes larger than 2 millimeters will likely let some tomato seeds through, but will give you a chunkier sauce. Ultra-fine discs will produce a thinner purée free of seeds.

Can you use a food mill for canning?

For an avid canner, a food mill is worth its storage space with the rest of your canning prep supplies. It quickly turns cooked-until-soft fruit, including tomatoes, into a smooth sauce, removing seeds and peels along the way. You may want to make room for it in your daily-use kitchen space, as it can also be used to mash potatoes, cream soups, and purée baby food. Choose a model with a large capacity when prepping multiple batches of tomato sauce, applesauce, or berry jam for canning.

How do you clean a food mill?

To keep a food mill working smoothly, scrape scraps from the mill’s bowl as needed between batches. Once you’re finished using the food mill, immediately take it apart and rinse any remaining food to make it easier to wash completely clean later. Some or all parts are likely dishwasher safe (check the manufacturer’s instructions), but hand washing may keep them functioning well for longer.

How We Researched

To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the best food mills on the market, evaluating their key features—such as ease of use, material, and performance—in addition to reviews from customers and other trusted sources. We carefully compared the key components of an excellent food mill, from handle design to the quality of puree it produced. We then used this research to assign a star rating from one to five (five being the best; one being the worst) to certain products on the list.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Joy Manning is a food writer and recipe developer. Her work has appeared in many publications, including The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Washington Post. She’s the Author of "Almost Meatless" and "Stuff Every Cook Should Know." For this article, she interviewed Marisa McClellan, cookbook author and creator of the website Food in Jars.

Julie Laing, who updated this piece, has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years and published her first cookbook, "The Complete Guide to Pickling," in 2020. She’s an avid canner, filling up hundreds of jars with tomato sauce, jam, applesauce, and more homegrown goodies every year. Julie teaches others how to do the same in workshops and on her food blog, Twice as Tasty.

Lacey Muinos, who updated this article, has been with Dotdash since 2019. She started writing for Verywell Fit and has since written for Simply Recipes and The Spruce Eats. Her role involves conducting interviews with experts like dermatologists and dietitians, scouring scientific journals for relevant studies, and fact-checking all information in her writing.

Sources

Additional reporting by
Julie Laing
Julie Laing The Spruce Eats
Julie Laing has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years and currently specializes in pickling, preserving, sourdough baking, and generally making good food from scratch year-round. She published her first cookbook, The Complete Guide to Pickling, in 2020.
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