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I have a plan to can, freeze and otherwise preserve a whole lot of food next summer and fall. I realize that there's still some time to go until I'm ready to start stewing, chopping, pickling and jamming, but I've already started to think in terms of equipment. I've got my eye on a couple of different models of pressure canners and I've been stockpiling jars (much to my fiance's chagrin). I have a goal to can 35-40 quarts of tomatoes and as I ponder the logistics of such an undertaking, I start to consider different helpers. I already have a food mill, which will be helpful when it comes to sauce. However it can be slow going and so when I spotted this European Tomato Press, I began to wonder if it wouldn't be a helpful gadget to possess. I don't want to plunk 35 bucks for something that will just end up on the Goodwill pile, so I'm turning to you guys, the helpful and informed Slashfood readers.
Do any of you have experience with this tool? Do you love it or hate it? Also, if you're the type who does a lot of canning each summer and fall, do you have any particularly helpful tips that you've learned over the years (I've canned lots of jams and butters over the years, but nothing else)?
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2-09-2009 @7:28PM Doctor Memory said... If you've got a kitchenaid stand mixer, they sell a grinder attachment that's done quite well by me when breaking down tomatoes for sauce. The hopper is smaller than the thing in the picture, but I think that's more than made up for by the much, much larger receptacle bowl.
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2-09-2009 @9:12PM John said... When I make sauce, I just wash the tomatoes, cut them into random chunks and toss them into a bit 8 QT pot. This is skins, seeds, core everything but the dirt. Then the cooking starts. When it looks reasonable I run the whole lot through a foodmill. I have a folly from the bad old days. This removes the seeds and skins and makes a very nice sauce.
Here's another use for a folly that I do too:
http://www.slashfood.com/2008/11/04/a-foley-food-mill-makes-homemade-applesauce-a-breeze/
What you will find tricky is when I fill an 8 QT pot I get around 4 QT's of sauce, more or less. That takes an hour or two for me. Then there is the water bath canning to follow. I have heard from some that freezing doesn't keep the taste right.
So you do the math, your kitchen will be screaming hot, there will be a huge mess of skins and seeds, jars sitting everywhere. I love it! But I've never done more that 8 to 10 QT's 40 is a whole different level. I'm sure it's not a linear scale: )
If you can work outside with a turkey fryer propane rig that might be a big help. The trick will to keep the sauce from burning and to get an enamel pot instead or the aluminum that comes with the fryer. I do freezer corn that way, toss the ears into a 7 gallon tub with a couple of frozen gallon milk jugs to cool down, but that's another story.
Also, you'll need a couple of bushels of tomatoes. I plant around a dozen plants in the garden and end up with around 8 QT of sauce. So you'll need to get a reasonable source that won't charge an arm and a leg.
Maybe 8 QT a week for 5 weeks? That might be reasonable rather that a big "sauce storm day".
Either way, have fun!
John
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2-09-2009 @9:39PM doodoolemonque said... Honestly, I just don't worry about the skins and seeds. I throw it all in and am very happy with the sauce I make. It may not be the best sauce in the world, but I can't imagine it would so much better that it would make the extra work worthwhile. Like John, my reduction is roughly half, but that does depend on the tomatoes and their moisture content.
So, I guess I'm no help in answering your questions about your device, because, again like John, I'm just cutting out the core and any green and whacking my tomatoes into chunks and then it all becomes gravy.
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2-09-2009 @11:04PM Adam Fields said... I had the idea of using a food processor with the dough blade to smash the tomatoes to bits (the metal blade will nick the seeds and make the puree bitter), then running the puree through the food mill to remove the seeds and larger bits of skin. This works really well, and is MUCH faster than the food mill alone.
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2-10-2009 @1:48AM Lorenzo said... My experience with food mills goes back about 40 years, since my mom uses one to make tomato sauce, to accommodate my dad's distaste for seeds and skin. The kind my mom used, and that I keep coming back to, is like this Oxo. However, for large quantities of tomatoes (sometimes 12 pounds for a batch of sauce I'm going to freeze), I picked up a large version from a restaurant supply store that can take six pounds of tomatoes at a shot. I have also used the food mill attachment for my KitchenAid. The limitation there is that I have to chop the tomatoes up to make them fit.
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2-10-2009 @1:53AM Lorenzo said... Link didn't come out in that last comment of mine. The food mill pictured in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_mill
is the sort I'm talking about. I had one of a style similar to the one you reference, but I find I prefer the style that keeps processing the tomato pulp until you choose to remove it.
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2-10-2009 @10:05AM alisa said... I have and use the tomato press shown in the photo on your post and it is GREAT. My husband and I get about 30lbs of tomatoes at the end of the summer, process them through the press and then freeze the pulp in small gladlock containers. We defrost as we need it and it is a lot easier than the canning process. The tomato press works great, you just have to run the skins/pulp/etc few it a couple times to get all that tomato-y goodness out. It's cheap too, which is nice. I think this year we may explore using it to juice other things.
Also, you may want to take some of the tomatoes, cut them in half, sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil and bake on a sheet in an oven at 250 degrees for a few hours until you get effectively a "sun dried" tomato. Take the cooked tomatoes, place in one of your jars and fill with olive oil. This will keep in the fridge for a month and the tomatoes become sweet and caramelized and amazingly better than the sundried crap you buy in the store.
http://theripetomato.wordpress.com/
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2-10-2009 @11:01AM Sally said... I used to have a Vittorio Strainer, which was very similar to the tomato press in the picture. I loved it and made quarts and quarts of tomato sauce each summer. Like Alisa, I ran the skins/pulp/seeds through a few times.
Making the tomato sauce was an all-day process, but the results were so worth it!
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