A bowl-shaped strainer of tightly woven stainless wire on a handle, with mesh fine enough to hold back seeds, curds and lumps while a liquid passes through. It turns a cooked custard or purée silky, strains a stock clear of fine particles, sifts flour, icing sugar and cocoa, drains tiny grains such as quinoa that would fall through a colander, and dusts a cake with sugar. The conical professional form is the chinois.
It is a finer tool than a general sieve or colander, which are for draining rather than refining. Press solids through with the back of a ladle to extract the most from a berry sauce; tap the rim rather than scrape when sifting dry ingredients.