Quote:
Originally Posted by TomNJ
I wish I had a solution for you both, but I have never had any problems with my Victorio 250. The only advice I can offer is:
1. Remove the stems from the tomatoes.
2. Cut the tomatoes into pieces that can be squished through the hopper hole (about the size of half a paste tomato).
3. Be sure the large red plastic screw is fully seated on the shaft under the spring (rotate the screw). If not, assembly and cranking will be difficult.
4. Avoid pushing the small end of the tamper too deeply into the hopper hole while cranking, as it can hit the screw and cranking stops.
I fill my hopper to the brim and continuously squish the tomato pieces through the hole with the small end of the tamper while cranking. I have never had a screen clog to the point of hard cranking or juice flow stops. The large-holed salsa screen will "clog" in the sense that pieces of tomato skin will catch on the holes, and if not cleaned after about 10-15 lbs may allow some skin to get into the juice, but juice flow is not interupted. I have run over 40 lbs of tomatoes through the small-holed tomato screen without cleaning or problems.
All I can suggest is recheck the assembly carefully, especially #3 above.
TomNJ
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Tom,
Thanks for taking the time to make all these suggestions.
1. I removed stems and cores from all tomatoes.
2. I cut the tomatoes in pieces small enough to fall through the hole after originally cutting about the size you mention.
3. I understand that the screw has a metal piece inside that fits around the shaft- I even watched the video on their website which gives much more detailed instructions than the manual.
4. Since the directions stressed NOT to push the tomatoes with the tamper but merely to use it to guide them to the hole, I was really careful about this, pushing only when needed to keep tomatoes going through to the screw.
5. The directions and the customer relations rep I spoke with both said to fill the hopper no more than 1/2 full, so I complied with this.
6. I only have the screen that came with the mill- the one designed for tomatoes and apples.
After reading how this works for you, I'm even more confused as to what causes the juice and pulp to just stop coming out and the cranking be as difficult as when it's empty. I couldn't face it again today, two days in a row, so I loaded up the dehydrator instead with the ripest fruits.
To add insult to injury, I bought an electric roasting pan and filled that and my crockpot with the puree and left them to slow cook all night, only to find this am that the sides of the roasting pan are so burnt that I'll have to attack it with baking soda or something to try to clean it.
The puree tastes fine, as the burning happened after the level of puree lowered.
Kath