Not feeling the love for my new Victorio strainer
 

I bought a new Victorio strainer in the spring, mainly for dealing with grapes, but I thought I would try it for tomatoes.

I grew Costoluto Genovese, hoping to make wonderful sauce, knowing that they are tricky to peel, I trusted that my strainer would take care of them, and put up with the horrible BER that they succumbed to all for the sake of some wonderful sauce.

When there was a glut of tomatoes and I unable to keep up with them, I did as I always do with all the extras, and froze them in 1 gallon freezer bags.

My usual modus operandi is to run each tomato under the tap until the skin splits to remove it, then to leave them in colanders with bowls underneath to collect water as they thawed. This time, I left them in their bags to warm up slowly in a huge cooler.

Today was the day, and the new strainer was washed, dried and assembled. The tomatoes were mostly thawed, and I tried it out. It jammed. I peeled a bag of tomatoes (what a pain). Victorio liked them peeled and gave me no trouble. However, I thought it really should do its job, and I fed it some with peels on. Not too bad, but after a while it jammed. I put it into reverse as the instructions say to do and things wobbled and creaked and juice leaked from where it shouldn't. It got going again and then the unthinkable happened and it exploded! A slight exaggeration, but it does have a very tight spring which sprang :x.

Major clean-up and re-assembly was needed. A pile more tomatoes were processed before it exploded again necessitating a major kitchen clean-up Grrrrr :cry:!

I peeled the few remaining tomatoes and tossed them in the sauce. I think I will go back to my old method because quite frankly it is less exhausting and requires less cleaning.

BTW my strainer seemed particularly bothered with the Costoluto, some of which were rather woody!

I wonder if it will work any better with grapes .....

Linda

I equate these types of strainers to the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment.
I know a lot of people here have them but a good motor operated one is by far better.
As fanatical as some folks are about tomatoes and such it has amazed me more folks dont have them.
Even at $10 a month in 5 years a person could save up $600 for a very nice tomato processor.
Even then this is more than a good one costs.

Not trying to insult anyone that has bought them at all.
I just know how many years (34) I messed with a little hand crank meat grinder.:(

I've never tried putting thawed/frozen RAW tomatoes in mine. I've always cooked them (unpeeled) first and it works like a charm.

Oh Worth! I bought a hand-crank meat grinder to grind chicken bones for da dawgs. I was 15 years younger then and it was exhausting! I splurged on a Tasin meat grinder that will do chicken (and rabbit) bones which has been well worth it.

For tomatoes, it's only once a year......

Linda

Patihum,

Interesting! Sounds as if this baby is particular about texture. So you cook the tomatoes, cool them down for the strainer then heat them up again to can them? Sounds like a lot of effort, but it might be worth it if it doesn't jam!

I processed 9 x 1 gallon bags. Not sure what that weighed.

Linda

[QUOTE=Labradors2;592794]Oh Worth! I bought a hand-crank meat grinder to grind chicken bones for da dawgs. I was 15 years younger then and it was exhausting! I splurged on a Tasin meat grinder that will do chicken (and rabbit) bones which has been well worth it.

For tomatoes, it's only once a year......

Linda[/QUOTE]

Exactly why I can justify buying one I dont even care for processed tomatoes.
I cant even think of the last time I even ate one fresh or cooked without the addition of peppers outside the garden and even then I will put a fresh pepper and tomato in my mouth at the same time.
Portable instant salsa cruda.:lol:

Linda, have you tried a food mill? You cook all your sauce ingredients first, skin on, then ladel it into the food mill. 5 or 6 turns and all the sauce is through, skins left behind. Just pop the disk out, rinse, pop back in, so no clogging. I got a cheap one at Bed Bath, And Beyond, it was around $20. Its been 6 or 7 years, going strong, very easy to assemble and use. The disks go inside with the convex surface facing up and out.

I'll be right back with a photo.

OK, here you go:

I have had my Victorio strainer for many years and it works very well, but I do cook the tomatoes first. If I am making juice I don't peel the tomatoes first. I quarter them and through in the pot to cook before processing through the strainer. I have 4 different cones and 2 spirals. If I am making some thing I want more texture, I peel some of the tomatoes and cook before putting through the salsa cone. For the grapes, you need the shorter spiral because the seeds will jam the longer spiral.

If you are thinking about applesauce, it isn't necessary to peel or core the apples before cooking. Makes it so easy.

I have been straining raw tomatoes of all kinds, including Costoluto Genovese, through my Victorio for 10 years and never had a problem - it works like a charm. I just wash , trim, and quarter each raw tomato, drop them in the shoot and crank. I processed almost 700 pounds last year and almost 400 pounds this year.

Are you sure you used the right screw and screen for tomatoes? - not the same as those used for grapes. I can see where the grape screw and screen could build up pressure with tomatoes. Also check to make sure you assembled it correctly.

TomNJVA

I have an older Victorio that I have used on frozen/thawed tomatoes. If you don't wait until they are completely thawed, it does jam (guess how I know:twisted: ). It is OK but tends to leak around the gasket sometimes. Would love to have a motor driven one, but can't quite justify the cost.

I bought a Victoria two years ago. It is sitting in the corner. I find my manual food mill much more convenient. The Victoria leaked all over the place. I bought the motor attachment which was poorly made and eventually the coupling wore off. I bought a new coupling and haven't used it since. IMO it is as [B]piece of junk[/B]. Oh Yes I modified the clamp system to fit on my typical counter top. This was expensive and worked well for what it is worth.

I wash, core, and quarter maters, then purée in a blender. Pour the pureed contents into a food mill to strain bits of skin and seeds. It's lickity split juice!

I bought a Victorio strainer years ago, it went to the garbage the same year!

wow. I love my victorio strainer. I have never had it "explode". I had a squeezo first but I picked up a victorio at Goodwill for a couple bucks. I use it every year.

Thanks for all the comments. I've heard that the new Victorio's aren't as good as the old ones, which could be the reason for all the glowing comments, of which there are many, and the reason that I bought one. It's also interesting that some people cook their tomatoes first and find it easier.

Linda

I bought a special spiral for the grapes, but used the one that came with the strainer for the tomatoes.

Good to know it will do apples too - for when we have another glut :)

Linda

Linda, I bought one several years ago and was disappointed in its performance when straining thawed raw tomatoes. It does go much more smoothly using cooked tomatoes.

kath

[QUOTE=Labradors2;592870]Thanks for all the comments. I've heard that the new Victorio's aren't as good as the old ones, which could be the reason for all the glowing comments, of which there are many, and the reason that I bought one. It's also interesting that some people cook their tomatoes first and find it easier.

Linda[/QUOTE]

You know there may be truth to that... mine is really old. the original Victorio plant burned to the ground several years ago and another company picked it up and is remanufacturing them.. if I recall correctly. I don't think it is actually "victorio" anymore, just their name.

I have an old Victorio from the early 80's I inherited from my Grandmother. It's a quality piece of equipment. I've used it with Tomatoes, Apples, Berries, etc. and it always does a top notch job. I've never put anything frozen through it but I bet it wouldn't like it.

When I read the reply by TomNJ, that's was what came to my mind while reading the initial post. I have the Back To Basics Food Mill (same as the Victorio) and here's what I've learned over the last 9 years.

1. If you cut the raw tomatoes up into smaller pieces, then the skins will not be so quick to clog up the little holes in the strainer.

2. If you freeze raw tomatoes, then they will tend to clog up the screen hole faster.

3. For me, about 8 quarts of raw, uncooked, unfrozen tomato chunks can be done and then simply remove the strainer screen and clean out the pieces of skin that are clogging the screen holes.

4. If you skin the tomatoes first, and then make sure there are only small pieces of "core" material left, you can process about 50 quarts of chunks before having to clean out the screen.

5. It works the same for apples. I made 18 pints of applesauce this year.

6. I run the skins back thru to make sure I get all the good stuff. I can then save the seeds if I want to. I used to do this for Wintersown and would send Trudi a couple of pounds of mixed seeds each year.

7. The apple/tomato screen won't properly do grapes, and vice-versa. The tomato screen will actually grind up grape seeds. This is because the seeds of the grapes are round and the clearance thru the squeeze area is not enough to let the round seeds thru without crunching.

So, if you want an inexpensive device that will do the job, but requires a little more upkeep, then you save on the initial money spent. I personally think the manufacturer intends that the tomatoes be skinned first. Then there is little or nothing to clog the screen holes.

Interesting. I bought one earlier this year and have used it a few times. I've run unpeeled, raw, frozen tomatoes through it with no issues, but I only made probably 4-5 cups of tomatoes. My struggle was disassembly until I figured out how it should be taken apart.

Wow! I want an OLD Victorio like Randall's!

Ted. Thanks for all the info. You saved me some aggro because I bought a grape spiral, but not a grape screen so I guess I will need to get one before attempting to run grapes through it.

It seems logical that cutting tomatoes in small pieces would prevent jam ups. Good point. I was wondering if scraping the guck from around the screen would also prevent jams. It seemed to stop the liquid from oozing out of the side I thought.

Marianne, I too panicked when at first I couldn't get the spiral out of the screen, then I discovered that simply wiggling it did the trick to free it up. Phew!

Linda

It took some looking but the new ones are made in Taiwan.
This doesn't mean it is bad just sad.:(
Parboiling the tomatoes will give you a better product anyway.
[URL]http://victorio.info/food-strainer-use-video.html[/URL]

[url]http://www.victorioproducts.com/products/food-strainer/4-piece-accessory-kit[/url]

Also why on earth they call it a spiral is beyond me.:lol:
It is more accurately an Archimedes screw.:roll:

Worth

I choose to use raw tomatoes with the skins still on to do my juice. The price I pay for that is that I have to clean up the screen a bit more often. For me, it is just a part of the procedure that I developed that gives me the product I prefer.

I do that cleanup more often and that means I don't have to boil anything until I have my raw juice.

I am only making juice in the mid to late summer, so I can use my garden hose (right outside the kitchen door) to blast the screen clean in about 20 seconds.

I like the aroma of freshly squeezed tomatoes and use this as a quality check just before I apply the heat to the pots and begin reducing the water from the juice.

I remove the screen and the big red plastic screw and any tomato skins/meat under the feed area of the food mill. This is put aside for later use. After blasting things clean, I feed everything that falls out of the food mill back into the mill to make sure nothing is wasted. I guess I've decided that this is the price for producing a good product which will be delicious January and February come around.

I've often thought that I would have to clean out the screen even if I had an electric model that would eliminate my having to work out on the hand crank to get the juice. I also have decided that while I can easily afford one of the 250 dollar plus models, I'm not sure I would use it enough to justify the expense. I make tomato juice and applesauce during a short time period each year. What would the electric model being doing during the rest of the time except what the non-electric model is doing at the same time?

So, that's my cut on it. My $57 Back To Basics Food Mill, with its manual crank fills my needs. It also allows me to feel like I have a more "hands on" feeling about the making of my tomato juice or applesauce.

BTW, if you can make applesauce, you're only a couple of ingredients and a couple of steps away from "Apple Butter". Yes, it's easy/smeazy.

Have a good one.

I bought one last year and used it a lot, but what I find is faster for me when making salsa is to just halve my maters and put them cut side down in a roasting pan/dish and broil for 5-10 min on the top rack. The skin comes off easily after. Then it all goes into the food processor. I don't really use tomato juice and for me the victorio made way to much juice, even when I was saving seeds. Roasting keeps most of the good stuff in the mater and is less work for me. I like the taste of jalapenos done the same way.

I tried using an Italian tomato press. I hated it and gave it away.

I found a masticating juicer worked great. They are also called Slow Juicers. They have high pulp juice, which means it made tomato sauce. I chopped up the tomatoes, threw them in my Fagor Slow Platino Juicer, and got sauce.

No cooking, no pushing, and no straining.

I finally broke down and used the Victorio to process some Concord-type grapes. I had bought a grape spiral and was all set. I also put hubby in charge, in case I was assembling it wrong ;)

We prepped the grapes and I cooked them first, since the Victorio seems to prefer things to be mushy. At first it was a cinch to feed a big bowlful of grapes through, then the difficulties began with some clogging. After clearing the blockage, hubby eventually put another big bowlful through before he had some major difficulty, so he didn't re-feed the skins and seeds.

He discovered that a small washer had disappeared (hopefully with the seeds). It's lack caused the handle to go in too far, and maybe also caused the handle to fall out frequently too. He has now obtained several spares.

We canned 15 jars of grape syrup :)

Linda

WOW I need to upgrade!! I use one of these:

[IMG]http://d2ydh70d4b5xgv.cloudfront.net/images/9/c/vintage-canning-sieve-w-pestle-fruit-tomato-juicer-strainer-colander-3-pieces-741ee53e771f25091126dbd34d9c39b1.jpg[/IMG]

Maybe not Spike. There's not much to go wrong there! :lol:

Linda

And a lot to like! Won't drip on the counter (if you put a bowl in the right place :lol:)