# Looking for a good vegetable & fruit strainer



## tkrabec (Mar 12, 2003)

After spending several hours this morning blanching then peeling tomatoes, cutting them up and finally several hours just letting that simmer before canning 5 Quarts of sauce there has to be a better way. 

I've got a kitchen aid stand up mixer and I'm not sure if I want an attachment for that or a hand powered one. 

I'm looking for recommendations on what you've all used and liked.

-- Tim


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

I do like the Kitchen Aid attachemt. I also have a old Oster. And Have a Squezzo strainer,never used it(got a deal at a garage sale). The Kitchen aid is great, easy even my Grand baby -3 yrs helped me can tomatoes.


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

I think the folks at America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated) rated the Kitchenaid attachment the winner when they did a comparison.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

please never peel tomatoes again unless you like them whole for sause and salsa I love my victoro hand cranked strainer it makes live so much easyer no seeds or peels or blanching . just nice smooth sause .I use it for apple butter also but I have to steam them some .I suppose a motorized one would be nice but so far i'v never been able to afford a kitchen aid . I got a squezzo they are very much the same on ebay like new real cheep to give to a friend areal time saver for pumpkin pie and you can get screens that will work with grapes too


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

Tim,
For sauce, I would just cut the stem part out, then pulverize the skin, seeds, pulp, etc. in a blender or food processor. 
It's quicker and easier.
You retain the nutrients that would be in the skin and seeds.
Because of added mass (skin), the sauce thickens just a bit faster.

I would do the same thing for juice, just wouldn't simmer it, only heat to proper temp for processing.

I am more than a bit jealous that you already have tomatoes!


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## tkrabec (Mar 12, 2003)

Marilyn said:


> Tim,
> For sauce, I would just cut the stem part out, then pulverize the skin, seeds, pulp, etc. in a blender or food processor.
> It's quicker and easier.
> You retain the nutrients that would be in the skin and seeds.
> ...


Living in FL allows us to grow in "winter" but these are from a friend. I culled his green house. he was going to let it go fallow, but he is going to regrow this summer


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Just me, but my favorite is the Victorio
http://www.kitchenemporium.com/Victorio-Food-VegetableTomato-Strainer-_p_1284.html

I have 2 of them. You can get 3 different screens and 2 different augers for the unit. It separates the skins/seeds from the pulp. Yeah you have to crank it but, I prefer to participate in what I'm making. I've used this thing for about 15 years, for literally dozens of bushels of fruit and hundreds of jars of jam. Personally I wouldn't bother with any thing else. I bought it from Lehman's. With the 3 screens and 2 augers it was about $60 at the time. I think today, it would still run under $100.


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

I bit the bullet and bought myself a VitaMix last year after watching my friend can applesauce, tomato sauce, etc. Just wash, core and whiz things up in it til as smooth as you wish. I do squeeze out the gel and seeds as much as possible out of tomatoes so that they cook up faster, but she leaves hers in. Then put in a pan, heat til ready to put in jars and you're done. SO much faster and easier. If I had a Vitorio strainer, I'd have used it, but this was a good deal for me.


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## tkrabec (Mar 12, 2003)

Jan in CO said:


> I bit the bullet and bought myself a VitaMix last year after watching my friend can applesauce, tomato sauce, etc. Just wash, core and whiz things up in it til as smooth as you wish. I do squeeze out the gel and seeds as much as possible out of tomatoes so that they cook up faster, but she leaves hers in. Then put in a pan, heat til ready to put in jars and you're done. SO much faster and easier. If I had a Vitorio strainer, I'd have used it, but this was a good deal for me.


Wow Vitorio pricing looks awesome, hand power, but that is cool


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## Osiris (Jun 9, 2010)

Just a note about the Victorio. There is a slight learning curve as to what screen and what auger to use for what fruit. They have recommendations, but you'll have to work up your own system. I marked everything right on the inside of the top of the box. ie. black raspberries: short auger, med screen - 3 times. Applesauce: long auger fine screen 4-5 times. I run the fruit through the thing several times to get the most out of the seeds and skins. There does come a point like with grapes where if you run it through too many times, everything will stop in the auger and you have to take it off and clean it - but that just means you're done. It's a great machine that's well worth the investment. To me, the cranking it isn't a chore. Think of it as a fancy meat grinder. 

For applesauce, just wash em, cut em up and cook em down a bit and pour em into the hopper and crank. Spits out the seeds skins, stems at the other end and the sauce comes down the chute. I use Cortland apples for sauce and the skins give it a nice pink color. By the third or fourth time, you're squeezing out all the pectin from the skins. After using this, you'll laugh at a Foley food mill.


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## tkrabec (Mar 12, 2003)

Thanks all, now I've got some budgeting & thinking.


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## perennial (Aug 23, 2004)

I have the kitchen aid attachment and love it. I use it for pasta sauce with raw tomatoes, cooked apples for applesauce and more. I am curious for the person who uses a food processor, what about all the seeds in the tomatoes, do they end up floating around your sauce?


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

Another KitchenAid strainer devotee. I've used the same attachment through three mixers over about 30 years and it just keeps on going. The dog got ahold of the wooden pusher and chewed the top off, but the part that goes in the food is still fine. Otherwise it's like brand new. First year I had it I had 100 tomato plants. I took the kids' wooden wagon out in the garden and pulled it behind me in the rows, and every day I picked and put up about a bushel. I canned until borderline exhaustion. If it hadn't been for the ability of the KitchenAid attachment to just keep cranking it through, I think I would have gone insane.

Did you know that a fast route to thick tomato sauce and tomato paste is to pour your freshly strained pulp into a clean muslin pillowcase and hang it by a kitchen cupboard door? You can take the drainings and either add some back to get the perfect consistency, or you can dump the extras on acid loving plants like azaleas. It's a heckuva lot faster than trying to cook it down and risk scorching.

That year I made sauce, paste, chili, spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, stewed tomatoes....


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