[Photograph: Chef'n]  If you've watched enough food shows,
you've probably seen chefs using a tamis—a drum-like sifter that
can be used for puréeing berries, smoothing mashed potatoes, or
getting the lumps out of flour. That's what the Sift'n Sieve
($17.99) from Chef'n is, but instead of being made entirely of
metal it combines a plastic rim with metal mesh.  A small
scraper is attached to the handle and can be used to persuade
berry pulp to squeeze itself through the mesh. I thought the
scraper was a little small—I preferred using a plastic bench
scraper instead. But still, it's nice that it's included for
those who might not have a suitable scraper.  I used the Sift'n
Sieve for sifting flour, puréeing berries (while leaving the
seeds behind), and for sifting sugar I'd pulverized into
powdered sugar. It would also be useful for straining yogurt to
make a Greek-style product. In the past, I've always used a
typical bowl-shaped strainer instead of a flat one, but this
would be faster since there's more surface