A friend of mine asked me to explain a ricer. A good question!
Actually, the full name is a potato ricer. It is a tool that is used for smashing potatoes (and other foods, why limit yourself?) into pieces a little smaller than the size of a grain of rice. Thus the name 'ricer'. I believe its origin is for lefse, the Scandinavian potato pancakes that my father-in-law loves so very much. Another good use for it is to cook vegetables and other foods until they are fairly soft and make baby food. Don't forget applesauce, too!
I, of course, figured out that it is sort of like a garlic press except that it can do a whole bulb at once. It does require some strength to use it that way, but you end up with lots of garlic. Warning about using it this way: crush your garlic under a knife first and make sure you have a sturdy metal ricer. It is worth the effort for that!
Cooks Illustrated in May suggested using a sturdy metal sieve and a stiff rubber spatula as a ricer if you don't have the real thing. I can't see why this wouldn't work. However, they did have a recommendation in case you'd like to purchase one; the RSVP International Classic Kitchen Basics Potato Ricer available from http://www.cheftools.com for $11.99. They also recommended the Bethany Housewares Heavy-Duty Potato Ricer available from http://www.target.com for $16.99, but not as highly.
For another view with other links, see the Wikipedia article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_ricer
I really like this commentary on ricers from a UK magazine back in 1997:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-for-mash-get-mechanised-1241031.html
