Quote:
Originally Posted by TomNJ
Hi Kath,
I am so happy your Victorio is working properly. The cranking will be hard if the screw is dry as it is lubricated by the tomato juice. I squish the tomatoes hard into the hole even before cranking to get the juice flowing, and then continue to push them vigorously until done. I've never been one for reading instructions. 
I milled a small batch of just 8 lbs of raw tomatoes the other day and timed it. Assembly of the mill took just over one minute, the milling took three minutes, and cleaning the mill with hot water four minutes. When disassembling the mill, the screen will have a lot of pulp and skin stuck to it. I gentle rub my finger over the screen to remove only the pulp into the juice bowl - if you rub too hard, some skin will come off. Then remove the screen (gripping it with a paper towel helps) and scrape the skins off with the back edge of a knife, then brush it clean under running water.
I think once you get some practice with the machine, you'll agree it's the easiest way to skin tomatoes.
TomNJ |
Hi, again!
I really appreciate your tips and support, Tom- they were the key to my successful approach yesterday and the session went very smoothly and quickly, with 5 more quarts of finished product as a result. Unfortunately, I'm a stickler for directions because I'm always a bit concerned about breaking things.
It's certainly the fastest way to skin tomatoes especially when you factor in the time needed to remove the seeds as well...I will aspire to the times you noted!
I used to can tomato pieces to add to soups and stews, but it really is quite time consuming, so since I invested in a dehydrator this year, I'm drying tomato pieces (with skin & some seeds) to see if that will work acceptably and cut down on the number of jars needed and extra canning time.
Thanks again,
Kath