Yes they are well worth it and there are many discussions here on them with recommendations on brands, prices, special sales, and sources.

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'food mill'

I have the older Vittorio but it isn't made any longer under that name. Post a link to the one you are considering and we can tell you if there are any better/less expensive ones.

Dave

I got one last summer and wouldn't do tomatoes without it. I got mine from ultimate nourishment and they have a package that has the extra strainers and they offer free shipping. I was satisfied with my purchase from them. It's very easy to use and you can go through a pot of tomatoes in a relatively short time.

But there have been tons of discussions on here about them, so do some research if you want more info.

Elaine

Here is a link that might be useful: ultimate nourishment

If you have a kitchen aide stand mixer, look into their attachment. It's very easy and works perfectly.

Thanks for the information everyone. Vall3fam it looks like the one from ultimate nourishment is a better deal. I'll keep shopping and see what I come up with. Thanks

Not only can these Villaware/Roma/Weston food strainers do tomatoes well, but with the optional screens and shorter grape auger, you can extact berry juices and grape juices from fruits with small seeds. I plan to use the berry screen to make seedless red raspberry jam. There is also a salsa screen for making minced tomato bits which are also skinless. I usually run the seed/skin waste through a second time to get the rest of te pulp out of it. Look back in the threads here for many photos and links for these machines. The latest models have twist on conical strainers that are held in place by a single small thumb screw. The older ones used big wing nuts. Because these have been greatly improved in recent years, the newer ones also can have an optional motor attachment, and don't leak from the cranking shaft anymore. The site mentioned above also has the complete assortment of strainers and the short auger.

Here is a link that might be useful: Food strainer

gardenfool,

Check out the link below for another option: a food mill, sometimes called a Foley because that used to be the popular brand.

I've seen the augur-style ones like you are talking about in action, and for the kind of canning I do --- small-to-medium batches --- I prefer the Foley-style mill, as I find it easier to clean, set up (it just sits over a bowl or pot) and store.

I bought a plastic Melitta one at a thrift store for $3, and when I decided I really liked it I got a stainless steel one from Amazon for about $39 (though I think the one I got is the MIU one that now seems to go for $60).

It has several screens so I can also use it for berries, which is great --- it is perfect for a batch of jam and cleans up quick.

If I did bushels of tomatoes at a time I would probably want an augur-style one, but I do lots of smaller batches from my garden so this works for me. It holds two quarts, and I rarely do a batch bigger than about a gallon so I only have to fill it twice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Food Mills at Amazon

I find the Foley will continually clog up with tomato skins and they need to be dug out as they just will not dissolve or mash up through the strainer holes. The Foley my be fine for apple sauce and a few other smaller batch things, but for getting all the goodness from a tomato, you can't beat the efficiency of the Villaware/Roma Food strainers. You are also not limited to just tomatoes, as you can also extract the pulp and juices from seedy things like raspberries and blackberries for jelly and jam aking. A foley, usually has only one screen hole size, and it can clog up with the smaller berry seeds. The link below is for Amazon and they have a seller offering the basic machine for $48.40. Only issue is its a suction cup type base on this model, but does come with a screw clamp as well. eBay also offers these at times. The Foleys I saw all seemed to be either tinned metal or are priced at about the same or higher than a Roma machine. I used to grow over 200 tomato plants and these were arriving in bushels. I had the motor attachment too and would strain a bushel in less than 10 minutes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon price for the food strainer

Also watch for them at Garage Sales, 2nd hand stores, etc.
Especially this time of year when most people aren't thinking about canning (just us 'freaks' that hang out here...LOL).
I picked mine up for $5.00. Love it!

Deanna

gardenfool,

My Foley-style mill has three screens of different sizes and one of the reasons I love it is that it makes creating seed-free berry pulp so easily. With tomatoes, it needs to be cleaned out about every second time it gets filled up, which usually means once in the middle of a big batch of sauce. And it's SO fast and easy to clean! But my batches are rarely bigger than 2 gallons. If I did bushels and bushels of toms at one sitting, I might want somethign like Ken has that can be motorized.

Every time this subject comes up it's kind of traditional for me to say that I like my Foley-style mill and for Ken to say what he doesn't like about Foleys and that he loves his augur-style one.

Don't mind us, we can't help ourselves. ;-) The truth is, as I said above, we all have our faves. The main thing is to end up with yummy tomato sauce!

Z

Yes, I agree. I base my selction on speed and efficiency mostly as I have not had much of anything positive to say about Foleys. My parents had two sizes of them and they were mostly tin plated brass and tend to leave a bit of black residue as the acids in foods will loosen the tin coatings. We also had a very old Victorio strainer, which was the original design of the newer rervised Roma and Weston products. Many put their name on these, and some are even made in China, but even for that, all have stainless steel sieves. Stainless steel Foleys are heavy and might work a bit better regarding high acid and coatings wearing off, but if you take into account the way the Foley handles waste vs. the Villaware, I am sure that you would be more than impressed. The Foley has no easy means to remove waste buildup as you have to dig or scoop it out of the screens every few batches. The Villaware/Roma has been designed so that all waste gets pushed out the end and there is no need to stop to clean out blocked screen holes. Zabby and I come from different schools of thought. Here in the US these devices tend to be a little cheaper, compared to Canada. The motor unit these can use is the exact same motor used for most of the roller type pasta machines. A higher ended machine with integrated motor is over $100, but these are meant for those who are always doing many bushels of tomatos at a time.

One year I cut the top core out of the tomatoe, put them in my big electric roaster pan, no water, squished a few to start the liquid running, after they had cooked a while, I took my stick blender to them . Blended them up real well, strained a bit of the juice in a kitchen strainer, didn't find any seeds or peels, best juice I ever made.
Lindag

It all depends on the type of tomatoes. Some will give more watery liquid than others. Some have lots of tiny seeds, while others can have few seeds. The Oxheart type is very meaty and has very little liquid and seeds, so it wouldn't be well suited for a tomato juice. Once heated the tomato seeds do give off a litte bitterness and skins can remain as tiny rolled up twigs. A stick blender on these would need quite a lot of time to get them all to a smooth texture. If its canned, it needs to be brought to a boil and citric acid has to be added.