Food mill options
 

So I have way to many tomatoes and need to start canning them tonight. I just bought a oxo food mill and wanted opinions on weather to use it or wait and buy a Victoro. Also curious if the 250 model is still the same quality as there are several bad reviews on Amazon. Here is what I bought.
[ATTACH]50783[/ATTACH]

And why I need it :yes:
[ATTACH]50784[/ATTACH]

Oh and if I do use it would I use the disc with the smallest holes or?

What you going to do with the squash?
The Vuctorio works really well, don't know about the one you have.

The one you have is similar to the one I started with and quickly abandoned. It'll work, but it'll take a hell of a lot longer and require much more manual cranking. So far I'm very happy with my newer model Victorio.

get a victorio ( or similar brand)right away. That thing takes the joy out of canning and makes it a hateful experience.

Agree. The food mill is ok for small batches of stuff but any of the Victorio/Roma processors will leave it in the dust when it comes to ease of use for large batch processing.

Dave

[QUOTE=Father'sDaughter;485643]So far I'm very happy with my newer model Victorio.[/QUOTE]

Did you get the motor as well? I keep debating it...

I bought the Victorio VKP250 with the motor. This will be my 1st year for sauce making and canning. Everything I read pointed to this.
I haven't used it yet, but I am going to THIS WEEKEND with some 'storebought maters' to try it out.

[QUOTE=luigiwu;485654]Did you get the motor as well? I keep debating it...[/QUOTE]


No, I didn't. Somewhere I have a generic motor I bought for my hand crank pasta machine before I bought my Kitchenaid with a pasta attachment. I need to dig it out and see if it's the same as the one they sell for the Victorio.

You hand mill purchased is excellent. You only have a few tomatoes. Just organize your area and don't be afraid of a little bit of cranking. Here is my one year's effort. To give you encouragement. [URL]http://durgan.org/2011/[/URL] All detailed here.
Preserves to date 2014
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?WUPPJ[/URL] 15 October 2014 Cranberry Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BNQMB[/URL] 27 September 2014 Concord Grape Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TLUOH[/URL] 21 September 2014 Pumpkin Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XGPAG[/URL] 20 September 2014 Apple Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RGIAR[/URL] 16 September 2014 Tomato Cucumber Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KDVQT[/URL] 7 September 2014 Vegetable Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HYPCT[/URL] 3 September 2014 Tomato Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RFQUV[/URL] 2 September 2014 Tomato Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OPEHN[/URL] 1 September 2014 Pear Juicing.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AKDTN[/URL] 29 August 2014 Elderberry Juice.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LYSXF[/URL] 25 August 2014 Tomato Cucumber Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ZJWVZ[/URL] 24 August 2014 Tomato Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?YEKDK[/URL] 19 August 2014 Cucumber Juice.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?YCVZV[/URL] 17 August 2014 Tomato Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ZQHOP[/URL] 15 August 2014 Beans Cucumber Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TLFGK[/URL] 12 August 2014 Sugar Beet Fruit Leather
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QXHNH[/URL] 10 August 2014 Vegetable Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?AGNPW[/URL] 6 August 2014 Cucumber Tomato Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?NZKIF[/URL] 4 August 2014 Blueberry Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?UDKNV[/URL] 5 August 2014 Cherry Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SWHUT[/URL] 2 August 2014 Vegetable Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MJGFJ[/URL] 31 July 2014 Corn Preservation
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OKFOS[/URL] 30 July 2014 Blueberry Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?CQSLE[/URL] 29 July 2014 Sweet Cherry Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ANQXT[/URL] 28 July 2014 European Gooseberry Juicing.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SATFZ[/URL] 27 July 2014 Blueberry Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?PLEUN[/URL] 26 July 2014 Vegetable Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LTKEO[/URL] 24 July 2014 Vegetable Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LBPGV[/URL] 22 July 2014 Carrots processed for juice.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?GJWDW[/URL] 22 July 2014 American Gooseberry
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ACKRG[/URL] 21 July 2014 Black Currant.
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?IDDLX[/URL] 15 July 2014 Black Currant Juice
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KEZMR[/URL] 15 July 2014 Cucumbers Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?GXPHS[/URL] 13 July 2014 Black Currants
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LDKQB[/URL] 10 July 2014 Garden Vegetable Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EIGDL[/URL] 7 July 2014 Haskap Juice[URL="http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TDBCB"]
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TDBCB[/URL] 5 July 2014 Purslane Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?PQOEH[/URL] 1 July 2014 Garden Produce Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?GOJJG[/URL] 24 June 2014 Juicing Greens
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VEZPS[/URL] 19 June 2014 Vegetable Juicing
[URL]http://www.durgan.org/URL/?GAGAB[/URL] 4 June 2014 Juicing Garden Vegetables
[IMG]http://www.durgan.org/2014/July%202014/1%20July%202014%20Garden%20Produce%20Juicing/HTML/dsc_0051%2029%20june%202014%20russian%20blue%20potatoes_std.jpg[/IMG]

With the Food Mill use the largest disk that removes all the seeds. By habit now I usually start with the smallest, but if smaller than necessary it makes more unnecessary work.

[QUOTE=Tracydr;485637]What you going to do with the squash?
The Vuctorio works really well, don't know about the one you have.[/QUOTE]
Throw it at anyone with their windows down? :twisted: but seriously idk, I planted 4 plants and I get so many squash per week it is ridiculous. We have already gave away numerous bags to family/friends/neighbors and they are getting tired of it as well. I think the rest will likely go to the local homeless shelters.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to get the Victorio. I'm leaning toward getting a 200 model off eBay since I would prefer an old model made of cast aluminum and apparently the salsa screen fits the old models as well and is available online at parts shed.

I use a plastic Victorio. This is the third season and it is still in perfect condition. I boil the tomatoes down for a half hour before milling them. I use a potato masher initially to get enough juice in the base of the pot.
Hand cranking the soft, boiled tomatoes is not an issue. It takes me about 15 minutes for 25 lbs. and most of that time is dumping the juice from a low sided container (the only kind that will fit below the discharge chute), into a cooking pot.
I do the same with blackberries but only heat them through enough to get the juice flowing.

I would rather not have to boil down as I will mainly be using it for salsa and had planned on just flash boiling/halving then processing. I find the less I cook down my salsa the better it taste and the flash boil is mainly just to sterilize and loosen the skins. My old way was to do this then remove peels and try to squeeze out all the seeds which took forever. I tried making some w/o removing seeds/peels and it had an odd bitterness that was quite off-putting.

I found a Victorio at a Master Gardener rummage sale for $5 and will be trying it out this summer. As far as squash, lots of things you can do with it. I like to shred and dehydrate to save space. Use all winter in whatever is cooking on the stove/in the oven. I also make the tomatoes n zucchini and the pineapple zucchini in the Ball Blue Book for winter cooking. Zucchini is one of my favorite foods. Oh and slice in half, scoop out innards, blanch briefly and stuff with grains, meat, etc a la stuffed peppers.

[QUOTE]I would rather not have to boil down as I will mainly be using it for salsa and had planned on just flash boiling/halving then processing.[/QUOTE]

If you are planning to use the Victorio to make salsa then I think you may be disappointed in the results - unless you like pureed salsa. We prefer a chunkier salsa in our house and even using the Victorio salsa screen makes it far too pureed for our tastes. We prefer just canning the tomatoes plain in whole, halves or quarters (depending on the fruit size) and then making the salsa [U]after [/U]opening the jar of tomatoes. Even canning them using the crushed tomatoes instructions produces better salsa consistency.

The Victorio is great for making tomato sauces and tomato juice or V8 juice for canning but anything you want some real texture in is over-processed in it IMO.

Dave

PS: and forget about running raw, unheated tomatoes through it. That makes a real mess all over the kitchen with juicy squirts many feet away.

You've already got lots of opinions but here's one more - get the Victorio. I bought the same OXO food mill and returned it after one miserable use. I rarely return things but that one just didn't cut it with tomatoes. I hand crank my Victorio for Sauce and will try it for salsa this year.

I normally do the salsa in my food processor but I roast the vegetables first, then peel and process. I'm hoping that the Victoria will make this process a little easier because peeling is a pain (but the salsa is sooooooooooo good!).

Actually I do prefer my salsa pureed, that is why I thought a food mill might save me some time. I don't really like salsa chunky as I like to dip a chip and the salsa stick to it, restaurant style. Plus it is easier to add to all sorts of dishes IMO. To each his own. As an aside I was looking at the Roma food mill which is much cheaper and appears to be the same thing? I read some old GW post saying as much. I am going to order it if that is the case. Plus I will be making tomato sauces and ketchup as well as a lot of other things.

I have the old style victorio. I found mine at goodwill for a whopping 5.00. It was the style made before the plant burned down. It has the heavy metal auger. I use it all the time during canning season. I make bushels of applesauce and make bushels of tomatoes and vegetables into juice. I also have the very old squeezo brand too and I still like the victorio one the best.

I put my tomatoes through the Victorio raw. I cut out the core, give them a squeeze over a scrap bowl to get rid of some of the gel and seeds. cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size, and run them through. Works just fine.

[QUOTE]I put my tomatoes through the Victorio raw. I cut out the core, give them a squeeze over a scrap bowl to get rid of some of the gel and seeds. cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size, and run them through. Works just fine.[/QUOTE]

Ok but that is a great deal more work and more time consuming vs. just washing them, throw them all in a pot heating until soft (10 mins). and then running them through the mill. No coring, no gel or seed removal, and no cutting required.

Dave

If you have a meat grinder you can run just about anything through it including tomatoes.
Just pick tbe size grinding plate you want and go to town.
But making sauce without seeds is a different critter.
Seeds in fresh salsa good seeds in cooked suace very bad.:no:
Bad sauce bad bad sauce.:lol:
The word for chunky salsa is salsa crudo.
Worth

[QUOTE=digsdirt;485940]Ok but that is a great deal more work and more time consuming vs. just washing them, throw them all in a pot heating until soft (10 mins). and then running them through the mill. No coring, no gel or seed removal, and no cutting required.



Dave[/QUOTE]


Personally, I prefer to cook them down as little as possible before canning as my goal is purée, not finished sauce.

After I run them through the mill, I put them in a large container in the fridge over night so the liquid separates out from the pulp and then gets siphoned out before the thick pulp goes into the pot for a very short heating time.

This drastically cuts down on the cooking time needed to produce a nice, thick tomato purée for canning. I have Brokenbar (Mary) to thank for this tip. It's amazing how thick of a purée you can get while still keeping most of that fresh tomato flavor. As that is also the goal for salsa, I'm guessing this method is perfect for making it as well.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;485723]Throw it at anyone with their windows down? :twisted: but seriously idk, I planted 4 plants and I get so many squash per week it is ridiculous. We have already gave away numerous bags to family/friends/neighbors and they are getting tired of it as well. I think the rest will likely go to the local homeless shelters.[/QUOTE]

Some types of squash freeze well. Not that the homeless wouldn't enjoy it, but you could cut it or slice it and try freezing a bag or two to see how it works...depending on how much you like squash. I wonder if you could make zucchini bread with yellow squash? Nothing is ripe yet, here. I could sure go for some zucchini bread....:)

"I wonder if you could make zucchini bread with yellow squash?"

Sure you can. No little flecks of green of course.

[QUOTE=TexasTim;485775]I use a plastic Victorio. This is the third season and it is still in perfect condition. I boil the tomatoes down for a half hour before milling them. I use a potato masher initially to get enough juice in the base of the pot.
Hand cranking the soft, boiled tomatoes is not an issue. It takes me about 15 minutes for 25 lbs. and most of that time is dumping the juice from a low sided container (the only kind that will fit below the discharge chute), into a cooking pot.
I do the same with blackberries but only heat them through enough to get the juice flowing.[/QUOTE]


I put the Victorio on the corner of my counter with the discharge chute hanging over the edge. A deep pot on a stool catches the good stuff, so I don't have to dump frequently. I also rigged up a splash guard so raw tomatoes don't squirt all over the place. I use a curved baguette pan we have, but a flexible cutting board could probably be used.

[QUOTE=Bipetual;485961]Some types of squash freeze well. Not that the homeless wouldn't enjoy it, but you could cut it or slice it and try freezing a bag or two to see how it works...depending on how much you like squash. I wonder if you could make zucchini bread with yellow squash? Nothing is ripe yet, here. I could sure go for some zucchini bread....:)[/QUOTE]

The only way I really like it is fried, I grew it b/c my wife likes to saute it with other veggies but she can only eat so much. Thanks for the suggestions, I may try to make some zuch/squash bread although I am not much of a baker :no: My mother-in-law does have a deep freezer so I could try freezing a few and if they do well I will store some for winter.

Anyone have a Roma food mill? Is it equal to a Victorio? If I order it today it will be here Saturday and I can start processing my maters.

Food mill options
 

My mother slices up, blanches then freezes a ton of summer squash and zucchini every year. She purées it into soups over the winter as she and my dad eat a lot of vegetable soup.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;486001]The only way I really like it is fried, I grew it b/c my wife likes to saute it with other veggies but she can only eat so much. Thanks for the suggestions, I may try to make some zuch/squash bread although I am not much of a baker :no: My mother-in-law does have a deep freezer so I could try freezing a few and if they do well I will store some for winter.

Anyone have a Roma food mill? Is it equal to a Victorio? If I order it today it will be here Saturday and I can start processing my maters.[/QUOTE]
Fried squash rules. :yes:
Worth

I can't tell you if they compare or not. I have the squeezo and the victorio and the victorio wins hands down... mostly due to the size of the auger. The roma one will have a much smaller auger, but it is plastic so it may work better than the squeezo one. If you don't like it send it back or return it if you get a roma one. I know they are less expensive, but the difference in price often reflects a difference in performance. You may not know or care if you haven't used a victorio one, but I will say am sure it will be waaaaay better than the hand crank food mill.