WTB Tomato Mill

[zeuspaul]

b54red, that's the one I would buy if I had to do it again. Mine is just too big. It hurts my back trying to get it out of the pantry. I tried over kill but I think I went too far. If processing raw I feed two or three times to get most of the pulp.

I process similar to you except I don't discard any *water*. I tasted the *water* and it had a lot of flavor so I leave it in and boil it out. It can be done over night in a slow oven in a stainless pan. Or slowly on a thermostatically controlled electric burner. I only stir about once an hour, never in the oven.

[taboule]

Thanks Bill for sharing your experience with this machine.

One of the reviewers said >> The manufacturer says to not run the skins through the machine a second time.

Anybody knows why? Is it because the second hand pulp is too dry, and all these makers advise against running the machine dry?The tomatoes act as a lubricant.

Got busy with work today and didn't have a chance to follow through with my research. I work in an open space, it wouldn't look good if people overhear me talking on the phone about tomato presses.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by zeuspaul

b54red, that's the one I would buy if I had to do it again. Mine is just too big. It hurts my back trying to get it out of the pantry. I tried over kill but I think I went too far. If processing raw I feed two or three times to get most of the pulp.

I process similar to you except I don't discard any *water*. I tasted the *water* and it had a lot of flavor so I leave it in and boil it out. It can be done over night in a slow oven in a stainless pan. Or slowly on a thermostatically controlled electric burner. I only stir about once an hour, never in the oven.

I found that wasting a little tomato water is far preferable to cooking them down slow because the flavor is far less fresh when I do that. Since I have plenty of tomatoes it is no big deal most years. I usually give away far more tomatoes than we process and the space saving alone is worth throwing out the water. It also makes for a much thicker sauce which is a real plus when making things like a good marinara sauce.

My wife thought the same as you since the water tasted good she thought it would be better to slowly cook it down until she compared the taste of the two different methods. Like me she found the sauce with the water drained off much fresher and better tasting and also much stronger tasting. Try it on a batch and I think you will agree but it will mean far less bags of tomatoes to put in the freezer. We found that the extra work of doing more batches in order to fill up the space allotted for tomatoes in our freezer really paid off because we found that we didn't need nearly as many packs of frozen tomatoes since they were far more concentrated. Now we have more room for peas and butter beans put up fresh.

Bill

[Gardeneer]

I don't do a lot of canning but when I do, I have a quick method to make sauce (spaghetti sauce consistency ).

== Cut them to pieces ...(core , optional)
== Place in a pot and lightly smash w/ potato masher.
== Get the Juice out ( for drinking, cooking ), as much as you like.
== Boil/cook the meaty part, until it gets soft.
== Use a stick blender and puree it. (you can use a conventional blender)
== Sieve through a rice colander ( get the skin, pulp, most seed out).
== By now you should have a spaghetti consistence sauce.
== Use BWB method , Jar .. ( add some vinegar, to lower pH)
I don't add anything else at this time. Instead when I open the jar for use, then add whatever herbs spices that I want. This way the flavor of herbs/spices are more fresh.

This way you conserve time and energy to boil and reduce to given consistency.

Gardenee

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I don't do a lot of canning but when I do, I have a quick method to make sauce (spaghetti sauce consistency ).

== Cut them to pieces ...(core , optional)
== Place in a pot and lightly smash w/ potato masher.
== Get the Juice out ( for drinking, cooking ), as much as you like.
== Boil/cook the meaty part, until it gets soft.
== Use a stick blender and puree it. (you can use a conventional blender)
== Sieve through a rice colander ( get the skin, pulp, most seed out).
== By now you should have a spaghetti consistence sauce.
== Use BWB method , Jar .. ( add some vinegar, to lower pH)
I don't add anything else at this time. Instead when I open the jar for use, then add whatever herbs spices that I want. This way the flavor of herbs/spices are more fresh.

This way you conserve time and energy to boil and reduce to given consistency.

Gardenee

I dont do a lot of canning but when I do.
Im thinking of the beer commercial.
Helpful hint on lowering ph of tomatoes for canning.
If you don't want the nasty vinegar taste use citric acid.
1/2 tsp per quart.
It doesn't change the flavor.
One 7.5 oz bottle will do 77 quarts.
Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I dont do a lot of canning but when I do.
Im thinking of the beer commercial.
Helpful hint on lowering ph of tomatoes for canning.
If you don't want the nasty vinegar taste use citric acid.
1/2 tsp per quart.
It doesn't change the flavor.
One 7.5 oz bottle will do 77 quarts.
Worth

Probably I jar less than 10 quarts of tomato sauce. This year I will try to jar some whole Juliets.

Max recommended pH for canning is 4.6, I think. Most tomatoes are more acidic than that ( avge 4.2 ?) . But for safety it is better to get it down around <=3.9.
Yeah, a bit of citric acid, or acetic acid (vinegar) can do it. I love vinegar. So less than a TBS per quart will do. Add 1/2 TBS of sugar (if you want) to hide the sour taste of vinegar. Adding a lot of solids (garlic, Celery ..etc) make pH control complicated. So I don't add anything. Just pure tomato.

ON THE TOPIC:
My $15 stick blender is my tool in lieu of mills and those huge Oaster type blenders. I have one Braun brand that is 30 years old and still going.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

It seems cooking the tomatoes with the seeds in would make the suace bitter.
I guess it would depend on how long they were cooked.
I have just recently discovered why I dont like canned enchilada suace.
Almost all of it has vinegar as an ingredient.
Worth

[Father'sDaughter]

My go-to method after great success with it last year --

Core the tomatoes and give them a squeeze over a waste bucket/bowl to eliminate some seeds and gel. (Or, over a cup if saving seeds.)

Chop into halves or quarters depending on size of tomato.

Run through tomato mill (I use a Vittorio).

Place pulp in a large container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pulp will have separated from water -- siphon out water (I used a large turkey baster).

(The two steps above were recommendations from Brokenbar.)

Pour pulp into pot and heat just to boiling.

Jar and process in a water bath.

The quarts I used this technique on have an incredibly thick consistency. I prefer to cook as little as possible when canning.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

My go-to method after great success with it last year --

Core the tomatoes and give them a squeeze over a waste bucket/bowl to eliminate some seeds and gel. (Or, over a cup if saving seeds.)

Chop into halves or quarters depending on size of tomato.

Run through tomato mill (I use a Vittorio).

Place pulp in a large container, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pulp will have separated from water -- siphon out water (I used a large turkey baster).

(The two steps above were recommendations from Brokenbar.)

Pour pulp into pot and heat just to boiling.

Jar and process in a water bath.

The quarts I used this technique on have an incredibly thick consistency. I prefer to cook as little as possible when canning.

That is also a good technique (Refrigerating) to get the juice out, so you won't have to keep simmering to reduce.

[AdrianaG]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

My $15 stick blender is my tool in lieu of mills and those huge Oaster type blenders. I have one Braun brand that is 30 years old and still going.

Gardeneer

I love my Braun stick blender. Be sure to baby It. The company no longer sells in the U.S. I needed another one for a second home and rather than switch to another brand I bought a used one on EBay.

[taboule]

I ended up buying this one
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/elec.../91518901.html

Brand name Reber, made in Italy. Smaller than what I originally intended but enough for my needs based on reading and your input. A bit less $$ and easier for petite DW to move around -gotta keep everyone happy. Worth: I know that "big is better", just had to compromise on this one ;>)

Ready to make sauce.
mill-1.jpg

[Worth1]

It looks good to me.
Far nicer than most people have.
Worth

[Worth1]

I have done some research and looked at the spec sheet for your tomato squeezer.
I looked at amps and watts.
You machine isn't 1/3 HP it is 1/2 HP.
They are being conservative.
Also the stainless steel is 1810 which is about the best you can buy for processing food.
If you want to test it put a magnet on it, it shouldn't stick.
The other housing is tinned and this is the part you need to be careful with.
Just as the instructions said wash and dry completely.
You may even want to spray it with some food grade mineral oil before storing, this is what I do with tinned products.
Home depot sells a product called CRC-2-26 it is food grade and works great.
It is in the electrical department.
Or you can go to the grocery store and get the mineral oil from the pharmacy section.
It is thicker but works the same and cost a lot less.
Norton honing oil is mineral oil and meets US pharmacopeia standards for purity.
None of this stuff will impart a taste to your food.
I use these oils exclusively on all my food processing equipment.


Worth

[taboule]

Thanks Worth, all true and why I bought it. It's a professional tool, compares to others costing over ~$100 more.

None of the other machines had a SS body/neck, that would cost a fortune, and not needed if one is careful and clean. I have plenty of food grade oil around from my knifemaking days.

Doing more harvesting today to get a big batch and will start milling tomorrow -or today if temptation gets the best of me

[Carriehelene]

Originally Posted by taboule

I ended up buying this one
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/elec.../91518901.html

Brand name Reber, made in Italy. Smaller than what I originally intended but enough for my needs based on reading and your input. A bit less $$ and easier for petite DW to move around -gotta keep everyone happy. Worth: I know that "big is better", just had to compromise on this one ;>)

Ready to make sauce.
Attachment 52316

Did you try it yet? If so, how did you like it? If not, jeez, hurry up already