If you want to make sure your cheesecake, ice cream, pudding, quiche filling or pumpkin pie has a smooth, uniform texture, use a fine-meshed sieve or a fine chinois to strain the custard before cooking.

Using a super-fine chinois will even remove the white, string-like chalaza from the mixture. Inside the egg, the chalaza acts as a seatbelt for the yolk, preventing it from bobbing all over the developing chick; cooked in a recipe, the chalaza becomes a rubbery piece of protein that often goes unnoticed but prevents the finished dish from achieving its nirvana of smoothness.