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It isn't out of the ordinary for chef Patrick O'Connell, proprietor of the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va., to meet home cooks who have amassed a restaurant-worthy collection of kitchen gear, including high-end chefs knives and water ovens for sous-vide cooking. But the tool he turns to most often is one that he says often flies under their radar: a fine mesh conical strainer called a chinoise.

"You never consider when you work in a professional kitchen that a home cook might not have such a tool," he says. "We use it constantly."

Melissa Golden for The Wall Street Journal

A chinoise

Mr. O'Connell, who didn't attend culinary school, first encountered the chinoise during his time training at L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls, Va. "It was standard procedure to reach above your head to the pot rack, grab a mesh conical strainer and drop whatever you were working on through it," he says.

Mr. O'Connell prefers professional models like those sold at Bridge Kitchenware, a store where Julia Child shopped that is now located in Madison, N.J. There, a Paderno 9.5" reinforced bouillon conical strainer costs about $90.

A fine, strong mesh makes restaurant-grade models tougher than budget varieties available at home-goods chain stores, he says. "You don't want to poke holes in it" accidentally while pressing lumpy sauces through, he says.

Bridge Kitchenware's owner Steven Bridge says that's unlikely to happen with the Italian-made Paderno strainer, which is reinforced with crisscrossed stainless-steel supports. The finer mesh and cone shape moves liquids through faster while screening out even tiny lumps, Mr. Bridge says.

A chinoise works for sweet and savory dishes alike, from soups to stocks, from custard sauce to fruit purée for sorbet. "There's nothing that won't benefit from being passed through," Mr. O'Connell says.

In each case, the strained liquid gains a smoother, lighter texture, and often, a glossy sheen, he says. A seasonal vegetable soup might go through many times, once after puréeing and again after each addition of cream or spices. "If the home cook makes an asparagus soup, the flavors can be every bit as good as ours, but without this they'll never get the texture," he says.

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