Yes, we were talking recently about food mills. That search term should work for you.

Bees, I have a manually operated Vittorio strainer that I bought back between 1984 and 1987 and love it. In fact, I have a second one I bought several years ago in case the original ever broke down. I just do tomatoes and apples although I also have a berry screen and one other that I found in a thrift shop. I liked mine so much, I bought one for my sister as well. Easy to use, easy to clean. This is just my opinion.

Madonna

although this not a grinder, it is a colander and I have been using this for years ...

We first bought a Victorio for making applesauce, but ended up using it more for making tomato juice (squeezer - grinder, as you say.) Victorio has a lot of plastic. We have a couple extra screens bought when I came across an incredible sale. I know I've used one of them but can't even remember what I used it for.

We now also have an old Squeezo (all metal, if I remember correctly) and it looks to me like the parts are probably interchangeable with the Victorio.

I never felt like it would be an advantage to have bought the electrified one. Cranking by hand is not hard.

Are there some other brands you are coming across?

A food mill is all metal and most come with discs with different sized holes. They are good for tomatoes, pomegranate arils, and can help you make boysenberry jam that is almost seedless - one or two get through. Oxo and Cuisinart are a couple of brands, but there are more. You turn a handle - no motor to burn out.

Thanks for the responses so far folks.. I did try under the search term food mil too, and still came up with really old threads, the newest around 2014. I do have problems with the search around here sometimes. Even trying to find newer threads via web search isn't working.


I have used my food mill in the past on occasion- but it's a small mill and it takes forever to do even a small batch of tomatoes. And it doesn't catch all the seeds. I don't currently own a chinois, but for me those are kind of a messy fuss for tomato saucing. Both great tools for some things, but fall short for me if I need to do a lot of tomatoes. I did try using a juicer once, lol- and while it really strained the seeds and skins, it also was a nope for sauce.


So far as brands... and keep in mind I'm looking on Amazon since that's where I got a gift card...
There's a cheap red one-piece thing from a few makers that looks like junk and a PITA to clean.
A KitchenAid attachment- but it looks rather awkward for use, and not so awesome for cleaning.
A good handful of more expensive pro electric ones that are probably overkill for the couple to few bushels I might process in a year. I'm comfortable using a hand crank.


Norpro, Victorio, Weston, and Paderno all look like the kind of sauce makers I'm talking about, that look good for use and ease of cleaning... but also can range from around 50-150 bucks depending on the brand and if it's the plastic or stainless steel kinds. Like I can get a Victorio plastic one with the accessory kits (all screens and a motor for if I don't want to use the hand-crank) for the same price as a stainless Paderno or Weston with no accessories- 150 bucks.


I likely would use the extra screens- I make a lot of salsas and flavored sauces for canning, and a pumpkin puree screen would be wonderful for the years I make squash flour. Not sure about the berry screen, my wild blackberries have pretty big seeds. We got some other fruits on the property too like apples, stone fruits, and grapes that the different screen options would be handy for. And of course I'd be able to have really fine strained tomato sauce for straight canning.


It's very helpful to hear positive things about the plastic versions. I was concerned they might be chintzy.

Sorry. I wasn't in a position to do a search, yesterday. Here is the recent thread. I don't know if this will be as helpful to you, given the additional info about other fruits and accessories for them. It's a recent thread, but mostly talking about older fixed screen Foley mills, primarily for tomatoes. I have one that's designed more for pureeing sauces by hand that has discs for ever smaller lumps, rather than fruits and seeds.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5843960/do-i-need-a-food-mill#n=17

It was Annie's Squeeze I could not think of. Obviously all metal would be preferred but that runs 200 with attachments. Then again, some plastics end up more durable than some metal parts being cheap 'pot' metal and not so strong as appears. Room temp/warm produce will not react with plastics.

Victorio with attachments, no motor, is 105. Seems a good choice. Could always add the motor later. Often small cheap motors are noisy. Hand crank a few times a year might be just fine.

Thanks for the additional comment folks... man, that Squeezo looks like a tank.. also does not seem to be on Amazon, and out of my price range :(

It is starting to sound like the Victorio will be the good choice. And if I skip the motor, leaves me with a few bucks left over to maybe get something else too.

I purchased the Kitchenaid grinder/strainer attachment and found it does an excellent job. I agree it looks somewhat awkward but after watching some YouTube videos on how to use I took a chance. It is a lot of pieces but goes together easily. It does IMHO a great job. Every piece but one can go into the DW although I rarely find a need to do that with tomatoes or chilies. If I grinderd meat I would want to run it through the DW. I put the waste bowl on top on an upside down mixing bowl to elevate it above the juice/pulp bowl. That keeps the waste from accidentally going into your juice bowl (one concern I read in the reviews). I also run the waste bowl contents through the strainer one more time and extract additional juice. When I used it the first time after straining tomatoes - I put the waste through a food mill to see what I could extract - it was a couple of tablespoons and a fair amount of work. Next time I ran it again through the strainer and extracted about the same amount with no effort. I have used a food mill for years and have found this attachment a game changer.. I actually bought it for straining chili sauce but found it was great for tomatoes. I have not tired the many other uses that many suggest. Worth a try IMHO.

Yes, I have the Squeezo, it was a hand me down from my Mother. I bought another one at the on-line auction for $22 so I could have extra screens. They are all metal and work great for tomato sauce, apple sauce, but the tiny seeds in raspberries make it through sometimes.

I love it. Elery has a plastic Victorio which was cheaper but not as well made. It sits in the garage and we use the Squeezo. For small jobs I have a hand cranked Foley food mill, but that's used for things like potatoes for gnocchi.

Annie

Like Kim G, I’ve always used the grinding / strainer attachment for my kitchenaid mixer. It seems to do a great job- but it might not be an option if you don’t have one of the mixers at start with.

10 best food mills reviews:

https://www.foodsharkmarfa.com/best-food-mill/

Thanks for the suggestion list, but I'm not really looking for a food mill. I have one.

I do have a KitchenAid already... but kind of leery still of that grinder/strainer attachment. Good thing I still have plenty of time before harvest season to think about it.

The KA grinder strainer attachment has pretty much the same pieces as the manual ones mentioned early in the thread. All but one can go into the DW. Check out some YouTube videos on how it does together and works. Enjoy!

Do you have an Aldi's nearby? i saw they had a food mill for $10 on sale.. their stuff it usually pretty decent and worth a shot if you have a store around you.

A friend gifted me with part of her tomato abundance last fall. I mean multiple 5 gallon buckets. A neighbor had mentioned her Vittorio in the past. I ended borrowing hers for a couple of days. I loved it. It took a bit of cranking but I liked the results. And the lack of waste. As far as applesauce I use my Vitamix - I like silky smooth applesauce and chunkier tomatoes.

Speaking of waste, this is what I had left over after about 62 pounds of tomatoes the last time I canned and juiced any. And .. it's sideways because Houzz can't get things correct. Anyway .. you can see the result.

Wanted to give an update. Ordered the Victorio without the motor- there were only a couple left at the hundred bucks price, so I took it. It's lovely, and I want to grind stuff, lol. I got a last bag of whole tomatoes in the freezer, and a couple of winter squashes and pumpkins on the table that could use for some testing.

And due to a sale.. a couple containers of strawberries in the fridge I can test out too.