# What appliance would you pick for sauce making???



## emandeli (Jan 28, 2010)

I'm looking into saving for one appliance that will get the best use in our home for making apple sauce, pear sauce, tomato sauce, and hopefully something that I can help get rid of small seeds in berries for jam. Our kids hate blackberry seeds so something that can separate seeds would be fantastic but definitely not required. We like making soups, pureeing some cooked items like vegetables to add to muffins and sauces (hidden veggies haha!), and would like to reduce the time in peeling apples for apple sauce each year. We make a bunch since our kids love it. 

I've heard several suggestions-sauce strainer like Victorio strainer, Vitamix because it can blend peel I think, Kitchenaid because you can get an attachment for it (and others), etc. Can you let me know what you would pick (or provide feedback on what you like, don't like, wouldn't pick, etc) ?

Much appreciated!


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Victorio, with the additional screens and spirals, it can and will do nearly all things.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I'm not going to "vote" as there are a lot of reasons behind each choice - and you need to see what fits for you. 

This is my feelings on the options - and what works for me. BTW - I LOVE kitchen attachments and canning gadgets. 

First off - if I was younger and starting out (knowing what I know) and expected this to be a life style, I'd buy an high end motorized base that could handle a wide assortment of attachments -food mill, grain grinder, meat grinder, etc. And then I'd get a good mixer that didn't need to be used for any of that! While I love my KA, I don't feel it has what it takes to be a real workhorse if you are talking significant quantities, and not just a canner load here and there. 

I'm basing this on if you purchase retail, however, if you can find really great deals at rummage sales or auctions or thrift shops - go for it! 

1. KA - this is great if you also need a mixer, but if you don't need the mixer, it's a rather expensive base for attachments. I have one and lots of attachments and love it. This will separate the peals and most seeds, but not the really little ones. You will end up with some pulp as it fits through the strainer. I find it best if you cook the fruit/veggie first before processing. You will have to stop and scrape the strainer from time to time, but since it's in one end and out the other - you can really process quite a bit easily. 

2. Vitamix. This pulverizes peal, seeds and all. You don't end up with any pulp or seeds, it is all mixed in. Can handle fresh produce - I'd love to have one but can't reconcile with the cost yet (but not for processing). One of the best ways to "hide" veggies without loosing nutrients. Because you have to empty it, it would take longer to do big batches. I would not want to do 50 quarts of tomatoes with one, but I've done that with the KA. 

3. Hand Crank. I prefer this for smaller batches (like fruit for one batch of jam), but it takes a lot longer and they are just as much a pain to clean as the other versions. Time is one thing I am usually short of, so when I've got a big batch, I opt for something with a motor. 

4. Depends if you are talking the one piece units, or the motorized bases (like mentioned above). 

5. Food Mill or Sieve - Not sure what you mean here, as the "food mill" is what the above (other than Vita-mix) are. The only difference is the method of applying power to the process.


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

Food Mill

I've used the KA attachment and it works basically the same as the Victorio in that it automatically spits out what it deems as waste. Plus the KA attachment only has one size strainer. A food mill requires manually removing the peel and seeds that won't go through the disk so you have less waste IME plus it comes with multiple disks so you can choose the texture of the finished product. 

I won't use the Vitamix for this, I want some texture in my sauce.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Each thing is different and depends on your tastes. We have the old cone strainer with the wooden pestle, a juicer with the water p[an on the bottom and a big pot on top for the fruit/veg. A motorized unit/base with mixer, meat grinder/sausage stuffer, grain grinder, juicer. It is old and huge, works good but only used on huge jobs. I find myself using a good knife for most things as we like more texture to things. We do use the juicer a lot for jellies and juice when canning it, although we like juice better not heated for daily use....James


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I can't believe I didn't know that there was an attachment for the KA! I use mine for everything under the sun and have the meat grinder and sausage maker attachments. I've been using the old cone strainer with a wooden pestle, but honestly that's a lot of work and I end up making our sauce with all the skins and seeds in it and blend with a hand blender in the pot. I was about to get a Victorio, guess I don't have to! Thanks for the poll and info.


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## Kristinemomof3 (Sep 17, 2012)

I'm not going to vote either. I will tell you what I have and what all I use. I have a vitamix-I love that it pulverizes things, I use it for pureeing tomatoes and we use it for shakes, smoothies and stuff like that. I have a KA Mixer that I use as a mixer and I use the grating attachment main for sauerkraut. I use my KA food processor to chop up tomatoes, onions, peppers for my salsa and also for a lot of other things. For applesauce, we like it chunky, so I use an apple peeler/corer/slicer http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2kk0ig13v4_e I'm on my second one (probably 2 years old) in 18 years and recently found a brand new one at Goodwill that I picked up for an extra. I also use it to slice apples to dehydrate. I do have a cone strainer that I use for anything that has a lot of seeds and needs to be strained, but really haven't used it much and got it at GW as well. Really I use our Mixer, Vitamix and Food processor about equally since they really all do different jobs.


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## kkbinco (Jun 11, 2010)

I use a Victorio w/ extra screens and motor options.


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## emandeli (Jan 28, 2010)

Bumping up!


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## xix (Dec 22, 2006)

I use my vitamix for making applesauce - I do slice and peel but then I run the peels through on their own to process longer and the apples as well then I heat to hot enough and can. 

When I've done tomato sauce in the vitamix before canning it turns orange, a really bright orange, which seems a little strange. Next time I may blend before cooking them down and see if that helps. Last time I roasted the tomatoes and veggies and then blended. I really don't want to peel or seed tomatoes so I keep looking for easy solutions.  

But I love my blender and use it for lots of things but so far applesauce has been the most successful with. I have yet to do a seasoned tomato sauce that I like.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I have a Vitamix, a KitchenAid, and a Squeezo food mill. I love them all for various purposes. But when it comes to making sauces, nothing beats my Champion juicer. I've used it for over 20 years and it's still going strong. It separates the skins and seeds out, just like a hand crank food mill, but it's much faster and easier. I have an attachment for the KA to do this and it's a joke.


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## mpennington (Dec 15, 2012)

I have a Vitamix, a KitchenAid, with all the attachments, an Oxo food mill with three screens, an apple peeler, corer and slicer, and an Italian tomato press. 

The tomato press works best to remove tomato seeds and peel, but I've decided I like my marinara sauce blended in the vita mix, peels, seeds and all.

I like the apple peeler, corer and slicer for apples. It doesn't work with our pears though. They are huge (a pound each) and have very tough, heavy peels. Nothing works but a hand peeler and knife. After I hand peel and core the pears, I cook them, then run through the Vitamix for pear butter, or through the mill for sauce.

I agree with CJ about the KA fruit strainer. It hasn't worked for me and I don't think the motor would stand up to very heavy use. I have the professional 6 and it does a good job as a mixer but feel the term "professional" is just a name not a definition. If I had to purchase a mixer again, I would buy differently.

If I had to pick one appliance only for sauce, it would be the Vitamix hands down. It will puree, chop, powder, make a soft serve ice cream using frozen fruit, knead dough, and even make hot soup. I've had mine for 12 years and it's still going strong with daily heavy duty use.


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

I'm stuck on my Victorio for jams and sauces. Got all 3 screens too. Til death do us part. Any sauce worth making is worth 'cranking' for.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I didn't vote, but I have a Victorio with all the screens, which is what I use most for big batches and certain fruits.

I also have an older mixer unit (Oster Kitchen Center) that has an attachment like the one for the KA, and it works great, but has a very small hopper and no fruit screens, so I use it mostly for smaller batches of stuff.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

VitaMix for tomato sauce. I love not bothering to peel and deseed the tomatoes - just wash and throw them in. Works well for apple & pear sauce, too. 

Food mill/sieve for getting rid of blackberry seeds.


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

I can't vote either as I only have two of the choices. So I cannot choose as I've not used all of them. We use the Victorio and have all the screens and are very happy with the results.


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