Pomegranates and Villaware

15 years ago

Got the following email from a poster here, but felt it was important enough to be posted direct to the HARVEST forum. It reads as follows:

nanahanna wrote:

>[This message originated at GardenWeb]

>
>Hi Ken! I have harvested about 40 poms off my bush and am getting ready to use the Villaware thingy to get the juice out. Can you give any advice on how to go about it? Do I break them apart and try to just squeeze the fleshy berry parts and try not to get any of the "pith" in there?

>
>Thanks!

>Nanahanna

My reply to the question:

Hi,

The hard outer skin is removed. The pith is quite thin. The seeds (to my recollection) are almost as big as grape seeds, but I may be wrong. If they are, you first need to use the OPTIONAL grape spiral which is shorter in length compared to the regular auger. The shorter length red auger prevents big seeds from jamming the conical strainers, as the waste gets pushed out less of a distance to the end of the strainer. In any event, the optional berry screen or maybe even the standard screen strainer can be used, but I am not sure which. I would expect that the regular strainer that comes with the machine would allow a slight amount of pith through, but most would get pushed out the end as waste, along with the seeds. The optional berry screen should keep out all pith. Also, because of the larger amount of waste issue, you could try running the waste through a second time, but allow its juices (out the side of the strainer) to go into a separate bowl where you can taste test it to see if its of the same quality and flavor.

In the future, it would be more beneficial to everyone if you post a question like this in the HARVEST forum directly, as doing a private and personal reply to a very good question limits the solution/answer to just you alone. I have taken the liberty of capturing your initial post and have created a new thread for any further info from others on the recently, very popular, Pomegranates and extracting their juice.

Ken

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Comments (4)

nanahanna
15 years ago
Ken, thanks for posting this here! I have another question about the VillaWare...I am having trouble getting the plastic "Squirt Guard Shute" on the screen...I am afraid I am going to break it! When I push really hard it just pops off. I may have to wait until my husband gets home and see if he can get in on for me...arthritis in my hands keeps me from doing some jobs like this! Thanks!

Nanahanna
ksrogers
Original Author
15 years ago
It 'clips' on the outside at the outer ring/flange edge of the stainers but out the body of the unit. The spatter shield actually comes in direct contact with the aluminium housing of the body of the unit, and is a nice snug fit. It must only go on one way, so that when your cranking shaft is in front of you (strainers out the back), the shute points down a bit and out to the left. The plastic of the shield is flexable ebough to clip on, but if you try to attach it directly over the holes in the screens, it will not stay put and will fall off like you said.

Check out the link below, as if yuou look close enough, you can see that the bottom right edge of the red shield is a little further back beyond the strainers mounting flange. It does snap on well, and I even cut open just a little wider slot in that area, so I could tilt the shute up or down slightly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Similar unit with red spatter guard
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I had an older Back To Basics, and it ddin't have the O ring shaft seal at the cranking end. It also had the older wing nuts on the screens. Right now, there are so many varables thata bout all you can do is ask and find out who the strainers are attached, what kind of mounting, clamp, or suction cup, shaft seal (O ring), and fully wrapped around spatter shield. There should also be clear plastic conical shaped tube that snaps on the open end of the strainers, to allow the waste to fall out further, and not mix into the extracted pulp and juices. My current one is the VillaWare brand, and they have stopped making that name. I bought mine from Johnnies many years ago, but the link below shows the older models with wing nut screens and no waste extention tube. You need to find someone at the place your buying it from to describe the most important details I have mentioned already. With all the links and photos I have given you, I am sure you will know a lot more about these than most people. My very old Victorio was sold many years ago, and I keep the Back To Basics (has the older wing nuts) one just for emergencies should mine fail (hasn't yet!). I also bought the motor unit a few years ago, and found its almost the exact same one used on those pasta rolling machines. For tomatoes, I simply cut them into big pieces to fit into the hopper. To get a thicker sauce, I also dig out most of the seeds and liquid before they get run through. This reduces cooking time and the sauce is quite thick even at the beginning. I use the optional berry screen for red raspberries and also the 1/4 inch holed one for making a minced tomato for salsas. The nice thing is even though the minced tomatoe sare bigger pieces their skins still get pushed out the end. Here is a link that might be useful: Johnnies Seeds food straner
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nanahanna
15 years ago
OK, I think I have in on the right way now! What a sticky mess! I have pom juice all over me! LOL. But, I'm only half way through with squeezing them and I already have almost 4 cups of juice! Yaaaay! I posted this on the other thread in the Tomato forum by mistake!
Nanahanna
ksrogers
Original Author
15 years ago
Yup, this is the place to be for the true and simple solutions. Yes, it can get messy. If so, and its from the spatter guard area, you can either cover over the open area and catch bowl with plastic wrap or foil. There is usually clear plastic 'cone' that snaps onto the smaller open end of the conical strainers, and there you put the waste bowl, and you can also cover that area too with plastic wrap. This will help some. If its in the hopper (top) area, where you get spatter there, you break the poms into smaller pieces. One way to reduce the juice spatter while breakingtem apart is to put the peeled poms one at a time in a zipper bag and tear apart chunks through the plastic bag. Then open it, and pour the stuff into the hopper/funnel on top. Time to make some nice and unique pomegranate jelly, or even add some cranberry juice and and make it as a mix of the two. Very good and healthy. Wish I could grow those things here in Z6.

Pomegranates and Villaware

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Pomegranates and Villaware

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