Using a food mill, you just get puree (basically).

I use mine only for jam to remove skin and/or seeds, purees for jellies and syrups, fruit butters, and "saucy" stuff like that.

I like my salsa with some texture, so it is DH's job to chop since he is a whiz with a knife. I have tried using a food processor, but I found I had to drain the onions and peppers for quite a while, otherwise they made the salsa way too runny. Or the pieces were too big/too small in the same batch. I am food processor challenged though, and usually pulse for three or four nanoseconds more than I should :-)

I don't mind tomato seeds in my salsa, but I do peel the tomatoes if the skin is tough. No need to use a food mill if you are okay with the seeds being in. I use my food mill more for chilies than for tomatoes, however, and it does a great job of removing both skins and seeds, neither of which I was in the chilies. Tomatoes are easy enough to peel after being blanched, but chilies are a bit more difficult - at least for me.

Do you put chilies in your salsa?

I'd have to say it depends on the food mill you use and the texture you want in your salsa.

With the Victorio and using the salsa screen it can be a big time saver but the texture of the end result is more "bits" not chunks. Best I can describe it is a very coarse, rough textured sauce.But if you have no objections to that texture then you can just trow all the ingredients into the pot, cook for the called for time, and then run it all through the mill, reheat and fill the jars. Seeds and skins are gone and the bits of onions, peppers, and tomatoes are all mixed together.

Dave

This is my first year using a food mill that I purchased with some Christmas money and today was my first day making sauce with it... AMAZING! It seriously saves a ton of time. I was worried about a mess to clean up afterwards but that too was less then the old way.

I have not used the salsa screen I purchased but to be honest - I dont care if its only tiny bits/pieces of tomato instead of chunks since it is saving me HOURS and HOURS of time. I did think about just cutting up one or two large tomatoes to add 'chunk' to my salsa but then again I am into saving time - a mom with young children does not have time to waste!

This is my first year using a food mill that I purchased with some Christmas money and today was my first day making sauce with it... AMAZING! It seriously saves a ton of time. I was worried about a mess to clean up afterwards but that too was less then the old way.

I have not used the salsa screen I purchased but to be honest - I dont care if its only tiny bits/pieces of tomato instead of chunks since it is saving me HOURS and HOURS of time. I did think about just cutting up one or two large tomatoes to add 'chunk' to my salsa but then again I am into saving time - a mom with young children does not have time to waste!

I prefer to use my food processor to rough chop everything.... makes it much easier to just get the veggies ready and push the pulse button.

I use an alligator, aka Vidalia Chop Wizard. Large screen for the tomatoes. Small screen for peppers and onions.

Thanks, everyone. I don't mind the "bits" texture when I eat or make fresh salsa, but I'm not sure how that would be canned. It does get very juicy... I bet that would be challenging.

(yes I do use chiles to the person that asked that question!)

I think for me it will be more about better planning of the tomato varieties I plant. Because to the person that said HOURS, that is no exaggeration. The day I canned my salsa, I started the process at 9:30am and I wasn't ready to start cooking everything until 2:00pm. Most of that time was peeling, chopping, and draining tomatoes. Ugh!

Luckily the end result is delicious!

How are you doing the chopping/prepping Lucille? That is an awfully long time for the prep work. Sounds like a tool issue rather than a type of tomato issue to me.

And the Victorio salsa cans with no problems assuming you just drain them some first. Salsa is supposed to be soupy/sloshy when canned anyway.

Dave

Dave - I have the pumpkin screen (0.116i inch holes instead of 0.234 inch), would that work for salsa if I just threw a few chunks of tomatoes in too? It does take a long time to prep 9lbs of tomatoes for a batch of Annie's salsa, though I don't know about 4-5 hours.

Sorry to get OT, but would the pumpkin screen be good for zucchini relish or piccalilli (I already chopped the veggies for the pickle relish but have lots more veggies to use)?

lucille - if Tigerellas are that small, can you just peel them and throw them in whole? What are they, the size of cherry tomatoes?

would the pumpkin screen be good for zucchini relish or piccalilli

Not IMO. Too fine. Relishes are normally made with a food grinder using the medium blade to get the right texture, not a tomato mill regardless of the screen used. Big difference between a grinder that cuts the food up and a mill that just smashes.

Dave

What about the salsa, again if there are a few chunks thrown in? Or would you use the pumpkin screen only for a sauce? I'm not planning on canning grated pumpkin ;-) but do have tomatoes coming in now.

I just wanted to update you with my first experience using the Salsa screen on my food mill - it was very disappointing. First, there were hardly any pieces, it really was just like the sauce screen but instead it let threw all the tomato seeds! Even if you dont mind eating a million tomato seeds with your salsa you would have to cook down the 'sauce' that came out since there is still so much water in it.

I am not sure what type of tomatoes you are using but this year I was able to grow some seeds I received from my Amish neighbors, I think they called them Pink Ladies. They are huge and really solid so instead of doing the boiling then peeling route I just cut them in half or quarters then sliced off the top&bottom then peeled the skin off like you would a potato with a knife!! It saved a ton of time. I did it in the sink and then would rinse off most of the tomato seeds and jell sack - then I diced them for my Annie's Salsa.

Last year I didnt have these nice tomatoes, just roma and beefsteak so I would freeze them then after they were frozen the skins just peel right off under hot water. I would then dice them, while frozen, and let them drain in a large strainer.

So, best of luck with your Salsa... Every time I make it I say "never again" but then when it is done I am so happy!

I have one and got it specifically because I got into ketchup, chili sauce and tomato sauces. It is fantastic for that. If you don't mind your salsa ending up like chili sauce, then it is great for that too. But it changed my whole life when it came to tomato based sauces, I absolutely love having it. a But I peel and chop my tomatoes for salsa, I like it chunky and don't mind the seeds.

I was wondering if the Victorio would be good for seedless tomato jam (tomato screen or pumpkin screen)? I hate blanching and peeling tomatoes, by the time I'm done with that I'm too lazy to take the seeds out.

Yes! I have a Victorio and it is amazing... saves so much time!! All I have to do is rinse and cup the tomatoes in half/quarters then turn the handle. I have been able to make sauce and ketchup. It is really amazing how all the seeds and skins are separated. Totally worth the money :) I would two day ship one off Amazon too (you can sign of to try 'Prime' free for one month then cancel before the trial ends, I did that for my cultivator those weeds were killing me...).

Dave- here's my methodology and tool list for salsa:

9 x 13 pan for roasting tomatoes and peppers (I prefer this to boiling)
Large tub of Ice water
Cutting board and knife
Compost bin
Strainer and bowl to catch juice

First thing (after washing everything) was to roast the tomatoes and peppers under the broiler in the oven. I waited until the skins visibly cracked, then put in the ice water.

Then, I'd grab a tomato from the ice water, peel it, and put it on my cutting board to chop. After coring, I'd usually quarter the tomato, then pull all the seeds and "goop" out into the compost. Then chop with a knife and put in a 4 cup measuring cup.

Once the measuring cup was full I dumped the contents into a mesh strainer over a bowl to drain the tomatoes and catch the juice.

I thought about using a food processor to reduce labor, but I wasn't sure how to get the measuring right. If I put tomatoes in the processor whole, how do I know when I've gotten to 8 cups? That's why I did everything by hand.

from a foodmill newbie......my( NCHP recipe) spaghetti sauce ended up with lots of tiny white comma- shaped things after going thru a food mill. i used the middle screen. from what's leftover, it seems the seeds and most of the skins are getting shredded. seeds and skins don't bother us, but shredded seeds?
the 1st batch of sauce was quite good. should i be using the finest screen ?