How to use a Kitchenaid fruit and vegetable strainer for tomatoes

16 years ago

Can anyone tell me how to use the kitchenaid fruit and vegetable strainer to process tomatoes and make tomato sauce? I just purchased the attachment for my mixer and the instructions are very poor, in my opinion. Do I cook the tomatoes first?? How to I make sauce out of the tomatoes? Any suggestions are much appreciated!

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macybaby

16 years ago

I have the KA strainer. I wash the tomatoes good, cut them into small enough pieces to fit (half or quarters) and cut off bad spots, I do not core them. I usually wash them all, then cut them all, then run them through the machine.

I run the "remains" back through the mill and that removes quite a bit more wet stuff - what I am left it is quite dry.

Even though my Romas will fit down the tube whole, whole tomatoes often spurt when they get popped, and I don't like wearing tomatoe guts (or cleaning them off the walls). So I cut almost all tomatoes at least in half even when they are small. I did not cut the cherry tomatoes I ran through, and I didn't have too many spurts from them.

I usually let the juice set overnight (in fridge) so it separates and I can eliminate some of the simmering by not dumping it all in the kettle. Mostly I do this as I don't have enough time left in the day to simmer them after I get that far.

I've got 15 quarts (down from 20) simmering on the stove right now almost ready to can up. I'm going to let it get down to about 13 and then can up 7 quarts and then simmer it down even more to make some nice thick ketchup. These almost all Roma and Italia tomatoes - so the juice started out quite thick to begin with. First time I've grown them and it sure is a difference!

The KA is a mess to clean - I found the best way is to use the spray nossle on the garden hose to get enough pressure to blow the stuff out of the sieve (which is what I have in my summer kitchen - lots of water pressure) But that is after running 45 quarts of cut up tomatoes through the machine.

Two years ago, when I first got the attachment, I tried cooking the tomatoes first, and decided it didn't make that much of a difference in the final result, but did take a lot more time and required more clean up. Last year I got blight and no tomato crop :(

I'll add - this is a rather messy operation, you will occasionally have something spurt and be cleaning tomato off the surrounding surfaces. Another reason I love my summer kitchen, I don't have to be that worried about the mess.

Cathy

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
16 years ago
Can't speak directly to the Kitchen Aid but assuming it works like all the other tomato food mills the just wash, remove stems, and trim off bruised or discolored portions and put directly into non-reactive pan. Heat until the fruit is softened in texture - about 10-15 mins. stirring so it doesn't stick.

Then run the heated mixture through your food mill to remove skins and seeds and into the catch bowl below.

Simmer the resulting juice in large-diameter saucepan until sauce reaches desired consistency. Boil until volume is reduced by about one-third for thin sauce, or by one-half for thick sauce.

If you plan to can it the add the required bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars. Fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.

Alternative - try cutting your tomatoes into small enough pieces to fit into the hopper hole - looks to be fairly small on the Kitchen Aid) and running your tomatoes through the food mill without cooking first. You can do this but it takes more work, makes more mess, and you don't get as much juice or meat from the tomatoes so results in less sauce.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Tomato Sauce
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aaustin6253
10 years ago
That gets it to sauce? How do I take it from there to paste? I want to make tomato paste.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
10 years ago

how-to-make-tomato-paste-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn
digdirt2
10 years ago
"That gets it to sauce? How do I take it from there to paste? I want to make tomato paste."

The juicing methods discussed above get it to the juice stage, not the sauce stage. It has to cook down for several hours to get rid of most of the water before you have sauce. It helps to let it sit in the fridge overnight to separate and then skim off all the watery liquid that forms on top.

Making tomato paste out of tomato sauce then is just a matter of cooking the sauce down even more until it thickens to paste consistency. You can boil it down or roast it down, stirring both frequently to keep it from burning. But plan on several hours of additional coking either way.

Once it reaches the consistency you want you add the bottled lemon juice or citric acid required, fill the 1/2 or 1/4 pint jars with the paste and process it in a BWB for 45 min.

Dave
Laura Shepler
10 years ago
Macybaby, Cathy- Have you ever had trouble with your KA strainer sending out almost pure liquid along with the pulp and seeds? My "waste" has been so runny that it drips down the outside of the housing, dropping seeds into my juice collecting bowl. I've tried cooking the tomatoes, not cooking the tomatoes, quartering them, and even food processing them before running them through the strainer. Do you have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,

Laura