Hey all, just thought I’d share something I found last night… probably nothing new to those of you that have been making sake for years, but I figure it’s still worth sharing.
I looked up the melting point of fiberglass mosquito screen, significantly higher than 212… much finer mesh than cheese cloth… so I gave it a whirl.
It worked GREAT! Hardly any of the steamed rice stuck to the screen. It’s cheap, cleans easy, and can be reused!
So long, $1/yard cheese cloth!
Nice find! I’ll have to see if I can pick some of that up this fall.
Is this a particular type of screen, as in brand or model? I’m only familiar with the type that seems, uh, plasticky, and wonder if it leaves any kind of off residues or flavors. I’m assuming you didn’t run into any problems like this (otherwise, you’d have mentioned it or not made the recommendation).
How did it stand up to stretching and such? Could this be used as a bag for pressing as well?
Next time I go to Lowe’s I will get a picture of the label for the screen I used. I soaked the screen in boiling water before I used it in place of the cheese cloth to make sure no residues or particulate contaminants came off. I have noticed no difference in flavor of the cooked rice since switching to the screen. It does seem quite a bit more coarse to use for pressing; though the thought has crossed my mind. In particular, using screen, and then sequentially finer straining media. The only disadvantage I can see for using the screen as strainer material would be that it isn’t made into a bag already.
edit:
The fiberglass screen did not stretch noticably at all.
