Victorio Food Strainer and Sauce Maker

[antichevarieta]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

In another thread here where sauce making is being discussed, Brokenbar posted that to get rid of excess water in the tomatoes, she runs them through the food mill, then let the purée sit (I think she said overnight) and the pulp separates from the liquid. In case the link doesn't work, the thread is called "Lets-talk-sauce!" and it's in the General Discussion section - http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=29521

I know I'll be trying it next year as I prefer to cook the tomatoes as little as possible before canning, but I still want the final purée to be as thick as possible.

being a "quasi " italian AND a tomato grower..i can tell you that i definitely DO NOT recommend you run the tomatoes through the mill before you cook them. I tried this one year on a small sample.....it does not work...you will never be able to cook down the sauce to get it thick enough.

[TomNJ]

I have been running raw tomatoes through my Victorio mill for years and boiling them down for sauce with no problems.

TomNJ/VA

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

I have been running raw tomatoes through my Victorio mill for years and boiling them down for sauce with no problems.

TomNJ/VA

Same here - raw tomatoes through the Victorio, then cooked. Starting with dry tomatoes helps, as does coring them and giving them a good squeeze first. This leaves me with purée that needs minimal cooking down compared to when I used to cook them first in order to run them through a foley mill. I think letting them separate will cut the cooking tome even more.

Mom always cooked them first because she used a foley mill, and then she'd have to cook the purée down even more to thicken it. Someday I'll have to ask her or dad how how their mothers and grandmothers did it back in Italy. I never gave it much thought before now! I'm guessing they probably canned whole tomatoes and crushed them as they used them.

[antichevarieta]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

I have been running raw tomatoes through my Victorio mill for years and boiling them down for sauce with no problems.

TomNJ/VA

how long does it take you to boil down the sauce? i cannot imagine it would be very thick...but to each his own...in boca al lupo!

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by antichevarieta

how long does it take you to boil down the sauce? i cannot imagine it would be very thick...but to each his own...in boca al lupo!

It varies with the size of the batch, the type of tomatoes, and the stove I use. I usually expect about two hours for salsa and maybe three hours for a large batch of thick sauce. During the boil down I am washing, peeling, and chopping the other ingredients, such as garlic, onions, and peppers, as well as washing the canning jars and cleaning the kitchen. I can make the sauce as thick as I want by just continuing the boil down, even to ketchup thickness.

If I want a short cooked, fresher tasting marinara sauce I use more paste tomatoes, squeeze out some gel, and let them drain a bit before milling.

TomNJ/VA

[Got Worms?]

Since I didn't use a Victorio, but a Kitchenaid, it's quite possible that the Kitchenaid along with the wrong tomatoes left way too much juice (read water) in the processed material to reduce in a reasonable amount of time (It took over 5 hours), all the way down to the consistency of ketchup.

Now, I know that there's more ways than one to skin a cat, and I wasn't trying to pit catskinners against one another, either; just lookingI for a little help,

In all fairness, this thread is about Victorio machines, and my apologies for the distraction. They do say: "be careful what you wish for." "but, they should also say: "And be careful where you wish it. ....I should have started another thread.

Sorry everyone.

[coronabarb]

Charlie, no need to apologize. Nothing wrong with discussing any kind of machines in this thread.

[antichevarieta]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

It varies with the size of the batch, the type of tomatoes, and the stove I use. I usually expect about two hours for salsa and maybe three hours for a large batch of thick sauce. During the boil down I am washing, peeling, and chopping the other ingredients, such as garlic, onions, and peppers, as well as washing the canning jars and cleaning the kitchen. I can make the sauce as thick as I want by just continuing the boil down, even to ketchup thickness.

If I want a short cooked, fresher tasting marinara sauce I use more paste tomatoes, squeeze out some gel, and let them drain a bit before milling.

TomNJ/VA

like i say..to each his own..but that is a long amount of cooking time.
i just did 55 kilos with a friend...we cut them, cooked them down for about 45 minutes to an hour while ladeling off all the excess liquid..ran through our passata machine (10 minutes)...then boiled quickly (5 minutes) to place them in glass jars to preserve them.
this is how the italians do it...at least the ones I know here in Parma.
Our sauce is very rich and thick...and Italians do not put anything in their passata when preserving it.
It is used as a sauce itself for pasta, pizza, etc..or as a base for other recipes. In boca al lupo

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by antichevarieta

like i say..to each his own..but that is a long amount of cooking time.
i just did 55 kilos with a friend...we cut them, cooked them down for about 45 minutes to an hour while ladeling off all the excess liquid..ran through our passata machine (10 minutes)...then boiled quickly (5 minutes) to place them in glass jars to preserve them.
this is how the italians do it...at least the ones I know here in Parma.
Our sauce is very rich and thick...and Italians do not put anything in their passata when preserving it.
It is used as a sauce itself for pasta, pizza, etc..or as a base for other recipes. In boca al lupo

Yes, to each his own when it comes to canning tomatoes. My take is that while people will approach it differently, if the end product is one they are happy with, that's all that matter!

As for not putting anything in, this is true as well for all my Calabrian relatives -- pure tomatoes, but some (like my mother and her mother) would tuck a few raw basil leaves in the bottom of each jar before filling them (probably goes against safe canning protocols, but it's how it was always done). All the other seasonings, etc. get added when it's used. The reason is that they will cook different sauces depending on the dish. For example, on pizza it just gets a pinch of salt and does not get cooked at all before being ladled onto the dough (it will cook in the oven, after all). For straight pasta it's a quick sauce with some garlic, basil and salt (a pinch of crushed peppers was optional). For a Sunday dinner sauce, it gets started early in the morning and meatballs, sausages, and/or chunks of beef and pork are braised in the sauce for hours. Italians are not a one tomato-sauce-fits-all culture, and when they start with a jar of plain tomato purée, they can create whatever they want.

Back to strainers - I do have questions specifically for any Victorio users. As I said, I started with a foley mill so the tomatoes had to get cooked first. When I bought my Victorio I did a lot of research because even the book that came with it didn't specify if the tomatoes should be raw or cooked. I never came up with a definitive answer. For those of you using a Victorio - do you cook before or after? If you cook before, do you peel the tomatoes first? And do you let them cool down before running them through?

I initially did a small a test run with a few cooked tomatoes. I had a lot of difficulty getting them through the Vctorio, and the softened skins just clogged up the tube. When I did the rest of them raw, they just sailed right through and the skins easily tumbled out of the end. That's why I've decided to go with raw and try the overnight separation method. While I personally don't think it makes a difference in the end product

[Patti1957]

My Victorio Strainer instruction Manual says "For best results, use fresh, ripe, uncooked tomatoes. Wash and cut into quarters".

[TomNJ]

I always mill my tomatoes raw, and use different screens according to what kind of product I am making and how many tomatoes I am processing. The finer the holes in the screen, the more tomatoes I can process before the screen eventually clogs. The fine-holed tomato screen is great for making large quantities of a smooth sauce with no skin or seeds. For a slightly chunker sauce with some seeds I use the pumpkin screen with larger holes, but it requires cleaning after about 25 pounds of tomatoes. The salsa screen has the largest holes (1/4") for a nice chunky sauce or salsa, but needs cleaning after about 15 pounds of tomatoes.

The reason for the cleaning is that skin pieces stick to the holes and clog them. Continued milling causes some small skin pieces to enter the sauce. Not a big deal, but neither is cleaning the screen - just scrape it with the back of a knife under running water. I keep two salsa screens so I can just swap screens and continue with large batches. Some skin always gets through with the salsa screen, but not enough to adversely affect the salsa.

I love my Victorio mill - I have been using it for five years now without any problems, and it saves me hours of work compared to blanch & chill skin removal. It's easy to clean too, just rinse the parts under hot running water. Wonderful machine!

TomNJ/VA

[ScottinAtlanta]

Mine has arrived - just in time for green tomato relish!

[aclum]

Hi,

Anticipating a bumper crop this year, I thought I might finally "bite the bullet" and buy a motor for my Villa Ware Victorio 200 Food Strainer. I was a bit shocked to find out that the model no. 200 that I have was discontinued over 20 years ago!! (Seems like only yesterday that I bought it.......).

It turns out that the current Victorio motors don't work with the older 200 models. I really don't want to buy a new food/mill strainer because there's nothing wrong with what I have now and I'd probably have to buy all new accessories (the various screens and different size red spindle thing) if I got the new model Victorio. So I'm wondering if anyone knows of some sort of after market or DIY set up that can be used as a motor for the older Villa Ware/Victorio No 200 food mills.

Thanks!
Anne

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by aclum

Hi,

Anticipating a bumper crop this year, I thought I might finally "bite the bullet" and buy a motor for my Villa Ware Victorio 200 Food Strainer. I was a bit shocked to find out that the model no. 200 that I have was discontinued over 20 years ago!! (Seems like only yesterday that I bought it.......).

It turns out that the current Victorio motors don't work with the older 200 models. I really don't want to buy a new food/mill strainer because there's nothing wrong with what I have now and I'd probably have to buy all new accessories (the various screens and different size red spindle thing) if I got the new model Victorio. So I'm wondering if anyone knows of some sort of after market or DIY set up that can be used as a motor for the older Villa Ware/Victorio No 200 food mills.

Thanks!
Anne

Go to this link and go down some you will find your motor there I think.
But I may be wrong.
There is this same problem with the pasta machines the older ones you have to buy a plate the motor attaches to.
If this is the case with your machine you might be able to get the part alone.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.aWw&cad=rja

Worth

[aclum]

YEAH WORTH!!!

I suspected you'd be able to help me out . You seem to have lots of posts with photos of old (and new) kitchen equipment and motors in general . I'd been to the site before but somehow missed this listing for a motor that works with the VillaWare 200:
-----------------------------------------
01-0101
Roma Motor Attachment
This powerful 2-speed electric motor will make quick work of the biggest job--whether it's canning a whole tomato harvest or preparing pasta for a family feast! The motor features a momentary "ON" button that is perfect for use with our ravioli making attachments. Dimensions: 9-1/4" x 5" x 6-1/2" Connects easily to both the Roma Food Strainer/Sauce Maker and the Weston Brand Pasta Machine. Motor Attachment-Pasta/Food Strainer Weston Brand Dual-Purpose Electric Motor Also fits the Villaware V200. food strainer. Made in China
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THANK YOU!

Anne