I have one I bought because at our previous house we planted 8 apple trees and had so many apples I had to make applesauce every year just to use them up. I haven't used the mill since we moved. Haven't canned anything either.

Food mills work and don't need electricity. I like my Vita-Mix better. It was a gift but I'm sure it was at least five times the price. And it needs electricity and it's loud. It also does a much better job on sauces and purees than anything else on the planet. You've never seen such perfection in sauce consistency! And it'll emulsify so well there's no unemulsifying that would dare to step in. (Other power blenders, like BlendTec do too, but not food mills).

With a mill you have to run it through each of the disks, and back stir and clear the holes, then capture all the goodness clinging to disk one (scrape scrape scrape) before you go to the next smaller holes and do it again. It's a fiddly, unfun mess. It works really really well (though I just cook down the apples in cider for applesauce and don't need to puree them). For hand tools, there's nothing like a mill. But if you've ever drilled a hole in wood with a standard hand drill then used an electric drill gun, it's like that. FWOAM!! You might like a Vita-Mix a lot, especially with some shooter's ear protectors for when you really crank it up.

I haven't even looked at my mill since I got the Vita-Mix.

I have a hand crank Foley food mill....no different discs and no clearing holes....just put stuff in it and crank. Good for apple sauce or raspberry sauce without seeds, or puree of peaches....or I suppose carrots but I have never used it for that.
However most of the time I can get away using a $15 stick blender for making puree of stuff. But it only works with fairly liquid stuff

Interesting. I looked it up. The Foley has a kind of wide mesh rather than the changeable disks with different sized holes that give you different textures. It looks like it's less likely to get clogged, though it's less versatile. Looks well made. My mill has adjustable feet which will also sit on the rim of a bowl, which is convenient. Still nothing like a high power blender, though. :)

I only use my Mouli food mill for applesauce.

Thank you. I remember my dad saying what you say about the clogs, plllog, but my kids say it doesn't happen with theirs.

I'm still thinking....

Just some more information:

https://www.amazon.com/ospublishing/story/8877169b-1ec2-43c1-b007-0a4f7de5b057/ref=sxin_4_osp20-8877169b_cov?pd_rd_w=tPpz9&pf_rd_p=e1262d27-368d-44f1-a337-220e1af8b014&pf_rd_r=1MNYZGDM8AZE3977Y14X&pd_rd_r=2142f92a-c595-414e-a669-2e3d9d55a194&pd_rd_wg=bBVz6&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&ascsubtag=8877169b-1ec2-43c1-b007-0a4f7de5b057&linkCode=oas&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.8877169b-1ec2-43c1-b007-0a4f7de5b057&tag=bestcont06-20&qid=1577720771&cv_ct_cx=food+mill+stainless+steel

"Food mills may not be as versatile as a blender or food processor, but they work better to remove skin and seeds, something neither a blender or food processor can do."

What do they use if for.? I only use mine once a year for Concord grapes. Mine is a fixed plate. Maybe different sized plates have more uses for different veg. I'm guessing like a potato ricer.

Stick blender, juicer, commercial blender, cuisinart, are my go-to for just about all saucing.

The kids use it for tomato sauce, Apple sauce, and mashed potatoes. My aunt used hers for tomato sauce and always said my dad worked a lot harder on his sauces than she did On hers because he was bullheaded and wouldn't use his food mill.

I have a Foley food mill, and I find it easy to use. I use it only for processing my Habanero sauce, but it is pretty essential for this task. It removed skins and seeds from the chilies, and it has a scraper at the bottom that cleans the bottom while it is processing. You can see it in this picture:

So with the multiple disks, you do the large holes for the skins and seeds, the medium to break down the pulp, and the fine to smooth the sauce, though if you want to really liquify by hand (no blender) you might want to put it through an ultrafine chinois as well. Difference between tomato sauce and tomato soup. ;)

I have a Moulinex Food Mill, stainless with 3 discs. I use it every year to make seedless jam. It's pretty easy to use and makes a much tastier fruit spread than jelly. Usually, I make triple-berry jam with strawberries, boysenberries and raspberries, so there would be lots of seeds if I didn't remove them.

I use the Cuisinart for most everything else, like making applesauce, but I only make that infrequently if someone gives me a bunch of apples. I leave the peels on and just quarter to remove the core, so wouldn't go to the trouble of using the mill to make it.

Can't think of any other use that I wouldn't prefer the Cuisinart.

Thanks, Olychick! When I was making raspberry jam this Summer, I didn't think of the mill. I would have figured the seeds were too small, so I used a sieve. The mill would be so much better!

I have a hand cranked Foley that I use for smaller batches of things like apple sauce, and it makes the smoothest mashed potatoes for gnocchi. I have a big Squeezo that I use for tomato sauce, apple sauce, big batch canning. I don't use either one very often, although the Squeezo gets used a lot during canning season, but each has its function and I do use them both.

Annie

It seems like I should consider a food mill. I surely won't use it every Sunday like my aunt did, but I see lots of possibilities. Thank you all. This has been very helpful.

If you get one, be sure it's stainless steel. My first one was reactive metal and the foods I needed it for were acidic.