What perforated kitchen implement is used for soaking leaves, etc.?
July 6, 2009 12:34 PM Subscribe
What perforated kitchen implement is used for soaking leaves, etc.?
I would like to extract one or more compounds from some leaves via simply soaking them in the appropriate solvent. To achieve a higher concentration, I would like to have a mesh of some sort to weigh down the leaves while they soak, that I might pour over the mesh the least amount of solvent. What would this kitchen implement be called?
Wire mesh would not be food safe and could be chemically reactive, though I am not terribly worried about that factor. This just seems like something that would already exist, but I do not know the name for it. "Reverse colander" does not quite cut it, and this item would have to be flat — possibly it would have to contain the leaves and liquid as well, rather than being some kind of weighted disk resting atop them.
I would like to extract one or more compounds from some leaves via simply soaking them in the appropriate solvent. To achieve a higher concentration, I would like to have a mesh of some sort to weigh down the leaves while they soak, that I might pour over the mesh the least amount of solvent. What would this kitchen implement be called?
Wire mesh would not be food safe and could be chemically reactive, though I am not terribly worried about that factor. This just seems like something that would already exist, but I do not know the name for it. "Reverse colander" does not quite cut it, and this item would have to be flat — possibly it would have to contain the leaves and liquid as well, rather than being some kind of weighted disk resting atop them.
Seconding tea ball. They make them in various sizes.
Or just make a small bag out of some cheesecloth. Cooks do that with spices all the time. I've even see people make a big bag out of cheesecloth for when you're making soup stock -- you pour all the vegetables and bones and scraps and etc. into the bag and dunk the whole thing into the pot of water and let it all simmer away, and then instead of having to pour the soup through a strainer, you just lift out the bag and all the bones and vegetable scrap googe is lifted right out along with it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:44 PM on July 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
Or just make a small bag out of some cheesecloth. Cooks do that with spices all the time. I've even see people make a big bag out of cheesecloth for when you're making soup stock -- you pour all the vegetables and bones and scraps and etc. into the bag and dunk the whole thing into the pot of water and let it all simmer away, and then instead of having to pour the soup through a strainer, you just lift out the bag and all the bones and vegetable scrap googe is lifted right out along with it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:44 PM on July 6, 2009 [1 favorite]
Another approach is to pack a suitably small nonreactive (e.g., glass) container with the leaves and pour just enough solvent to cover them. Given enough time as much as is going to leach out will leach out. If you like you could choose a jar small enough so that it is filled completely with the leaves and solvent, then shake it from time to time to speed things up. Set it on top of a washing machine or dryer for steady, automated shaking. Once you think it's ready, pour through a strainer or pack the leaves in cheesecloth or a tea ball ahead of time.
posted by jedicus at 12:46 PM on July 6, 2009
posted by jedicus at 12:46 PM on July 6, 2009
Best answer: How about a French press, like you might use to make coffee?
posted by bcwinters at 12:53 PM on July 6, 2009
posted by bcwinters at 12:53 PM on July 6, 2009
It depends on the solvent, the temperature, etc., but you can't go wrong with a glass French Press for most extraction.
Like in perfumerie, there are all sorts of extraction techniques (d’enfleurages à froid, à chaud, à température ambiante, à huile [cold extraction, hot extraction, room temperature extraction, oil extraction, etc.], and each has its own setup.
posted by foooooogasm at 12:57 PM on July 6, 2009
Like in perfumerie, there are all sorts of extraction techniques (d’enfleurages à froid, à chaud, à température ambiante, à huile [cold extraction, hot extraction, room temperature extraction, oil extraction, etc.], and each has its own setup.
posted by foooooogasm at 12:57 PM on July 6, 2009
Alton Brown takes a metal steamer, turns it upside-down, and weighs it down with a rock.
posted by pluckemin at 1:00 PM on July 6, 2009
posted by pluckemin at 1:00 PM on July 6, 2009
Maybe a cafetière?
posted by lucidium at 3:48 PM
Oh duh. Why didn't I think of that? FTW, definitely.
posted by orme at 1:09 PM on July 6, 2009
posted by lucidium at 3:48 PM
Oh duh. Why didn't I think of that? FTW, definitely.
posted by orme at 1:09 PM on July 6, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone, this French press thing looks like exactly what I need. I read Perfume many, many years back and noted the wide variety of extraction methods, but a general soak seemed most appropriate, and the scientific literature I could dig up for similar compounds suggested a straightforward soak.
Yes, this is a madcap, ill-advised science project.
posted by adipocere at 1:58 PM on July 6, 2009
Yes, this is a madcap, ill-advised science project.
posted by adipocere at 1:58 PM on July 6, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you need it flatter, would a cooking spider be flat enough? If necessary you could snip the handle off.
posted by jedicus at 12:38 PM on July 6, 2009