WTB Tomato Mill

[taboule]

I'd like to cut back on the labor in making sauce going forward, seriously looking at one of these:

http://www.tomatomilling.com/product_detail_6350.aspx

or this:
http://www.tomatomilling.com/product...3844_2948.aspx

I like getting a bit more than I need, and also enjoy nice hardware. Any first hand opinions or preferences between the two makes?

I ate some my first tomatoes yesterday, Bloody Butcher and Black Krim. Also have a couple of Sakharni Pudovichok (thanks Marsha) of impressive size, ready to be savored. Others that are ready for picking are: Thessaloniki, Carbon, Cherokee Purple.

Off to the races, wishing a good season to all.

[Worth1]

Get the second one if you can wait.
It has a 1 hp motor.

I always felt this was the way to go if you can afford it.

I am so happy with my 1 1/2 hp meat grinder.
It took all of the work out of an otherwise very labor intensive process.
Worth

[Durgan]

I only juice the tomatoes. I find they are easy labourwise to process. Probably amongst the easiest of all the vegetables, since there is so little gross fiber. I find the hand cranked food mills work fine. But having recently purchased the motor driven Victorio I expect even more efficiency and ease of operation. I looked at those two expensive mills, but felt I could not justify the expense.

Both those expensive machines look almost perfect.

Here is a shot of my 2014 effort. I have no ripe tomatoes yet for 2015.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HYPCT 3 September 2014 Tomato Juice
Thirty pounds of tomatoes were processed into eleven liters of tomato juice.The jars were pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for preservation. The only addition to the pot was one liter of water to facilitate cooking. Annotated pictures depict the process.

[zeuspaul]

I like the first one because it has a splash guard. If you get the second one you will need to cover the screen with foil or fabricate something to prevent splatter. I have a similar one and they definitely splatter. I wonder about the HP rating of the second one because one HP equals 745 watts and they indicate 570 watts which would be .75 HP.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by zeuspaul

I like the first one because it has a splash guard. If you get the second one you will need to cover the screen with foil or fabricate something to prevent splatter. I have a similar one and they definitely splatter. I wonder about the HP rating of the second one because one HP equals 745 watts and they indicate 570 watts which would be .75 HP.

They are Italian horses.
Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

They are Italian horses.
Worth

LOL

[Durgan]

It would also be nice if the voltage was indicated. One lists 110V but the other no mention of voltage. Europe is 220 volts.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Durgan

It would also be nice if the voltage was indicated. One lists 110V but the other no mention of voltage. Europe is 220 volts.

Stuff made for over here runs at 110 120.
Worth

[taboule]

Thanks all for your comments.

Zeuspaul, thanks for pointing out the splash guard. It may be the deciding factor for me, I looked at others including these

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/docu...spec_sheet.pdf

I think every machine should have it, just a better design to keep the kitchen cleaner -and DW happier.

Worth, the extra horsepower is what's luring me, I hear you. They also come in 1.5HP but as pointed out, it may be an over statement considering the wattage (and amperage) which are truer specs of power.

Durgan, I always enjoy seeing your well documented processes to preserve these wonderful vegies. Very inspiring. Still it's too much work for me. Besides, I love nice equipment so this is a perfect excuse (as if I needed one.)

I also quickly thought about getting one of these

http://www.amazon.com/TRE-SPADE-Big-...TXAG9S9PM7W3HH

and hooking it to a (real) 1HP motor that I already have. Take off the handle, fit in a large pulley and mount it on a small bench type platform, like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5XyfKph_3o

It would make a serious production machine. One drawback: it wouldn't be something to use in the kitchen due to size. I also would have to really bring down the RPM to 120 or so from 1750, but I enjoy this type of tinkering.

[Slg Garden]

Or get a Vitamix. I blend my tomatoes complete with skins and seeds. Super easy. And it makes margaritas too

[madddawg]

You all got it all wrong. here is my set up. It cost me a little less then $50
Sorry about the blurry pics lense must be dirty.



I got tired of hand cranking that sucker so I put my drill on it. Works great! There wasn't enough threads that held the handle on so I took it to a welding shop and the welded an extension on for me.




I just have to make sure I have my 2 batteries charged.

[Worth1]

The company has a phone number I would give them a call and ask about the horse power and splash guard.
It took a very long time to decide on my meat grinder the deciding factor was horse power and a reverse switch.
I have had to use the reverse switch a few times already.
I noticed at least one of the tomato mills has the reverse switch also if not both.
Almost $600 is a lot to fork out for anything make sure you get what you need.
Those phone calls will tell you what kind of company you are dealing with.
Worth

[zeuspaul]

I have an OMCAN Big 45 which is rated 0.45 HP. There is no way I can keep up with this thing. Compared to my Kitchen Aid I would guess it is at least ten times faster. The hopper is bigger and so is the opening that the tomatoes pass through. It eats them as fast as I can feed them.

The first link is 0.6 HP which is a higher HP rating than mine and is rated at 800 pounds of tomatoes per hour.

[taboule]

More good input thanks.

Slg Garden: I've been using a food processor, hand cranking isn't my thing. What I missed to mention is a most important requirement: no skin nor seeds.

maddawg: quick and dirty and easy to rig up.

Worth: Yes as I get closer I intend to call and get a feel for these guys before I fork up any money. One of the machines has a meat grinder attachment.

Lastly Zeuspaul: I agree that anything around 1/2 hp is probably enough for me, and less expensive (although I'm of the"big is better" philosophy). I smiled when I read the 800#/hr spec, I haven't grown that many tomatoes in a whole season yet.

[b54red]

We bought this one about 5 or 6 years ago and love it. I do not recommend processing raw tomatoes because too much pulp is lost. In order to get very thick puree we cut up the tomatoes and remove the stem and main core if there is one. We usually cut the larger tomatoes into 4 chunks and the small ones in half and it only takes a few minutes to fill our 4 gallon sauce pot. Then we cook them down until they are soft and strain off most of the water then process them leaving us with a very nice thick puree with no seeds or stems. We usually put up some without straining off the excess water for soup. It only takes a couple of minutes to strain the whole pot of cooked tomatoes. We have had no trouble with this machine so far and quickly fill our freezer with enough tomatoes for the whole year.

http://www.amazon.com/Villaware-2121.../dp/B0001G6QO2

Bill