I know it’s toward the end of harvest season for most of you but as I was processing my most recent batch of sauce tomatoes, I thought it would be worth sharing with this group as an alternative to many of the options I see in this sub.
I grew up blanching and canning tomatoes and those hot, sweaty memories are seared into me. We would buy in bulk and the whole family would spend an entire weekend canning all our tomatoes for the year.
These days (thanks to my mom’s recommendation!) I use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer along with the meat grinder and vegetable strainer attachments to skin and deseed my tomatoes before putting them into bags or jars to freeze. It takes just a couple minutes to set up, plus washing and slicing the tomatoes, and just a couple more minutes to clean up. It’s so easy to do that I will process tomatoes about once a week instead of saving them up to do all at once.
The attachments take out all the seeds and skin, no need to blanch, with just beautiful tomato juice left behind. You can then freeze or can the juice as is, boil it down, or even let it sit for a few days to separate out the water. It’s a bit of an upfront investment for the attachments if you don’t already have them, but it’s been a total game changer for me. Let me know if you have questions! I’ll try to link a video of it in action.
by nondescript0605
6 Comments
[Here’s a video](https://www.reddit.com/u/nondescript0605/s/7nHlZBMxMS) of the process in action (sorry for the poor quality – it is hard to video with one hand while loading the tomatoes!)
That looks great! Ive been blanching them and its been a pain. Also then if i mash em by hand its a good bit of effort but using the blender creates more dishes so i love this idea !!!
I can not even fathom what life would be like without my tomato mill. Upgraded to a 3/4 hp one a couple years ago that makes quick work of it. I processed 3 gallons of puree yesterday.
I keep a couple food grade buckets in my chest freezer and fill them up throughout the season, then do a big sauce weekend later in the fall.
I have this same attachment for my kitchen aid. We did like 4 gallons of mostly cherry tomatoes and San Marzanos mixed and it took us like 40 minutes max. It was AMAZING.
I just got one of these and I’ve been using the heck out of it!
I roast all my tomatoes on a a baking sheet with green pepper, onions, olive oil and salt (reduces water by half or more), then run them through this strainer and freeze in 4 cup containers.
My goal is 50 containers this year and I’m already 3/4 of the way there.
I wanted to ask someone who already used one of these – do you run the waste through a few more times to get all the pulp or does it mash the seeds and push through the bits? I’ve been doing it once with the waste, but I’m ever so tempted to run it through another 3 or 4 times.
I can’t wait to try it out for black raspberry jam (my favorite – but it’s so seedy and I usually use a hand mill which takes forever).
https://preview.redd.it/3spsy5dj6mqd1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10f7a4ba7e680316fa4fa68cb959d16716a8f917
This is a great alternative aswell for those who don’t have or can’t afford a kitchen aid!
Great idea op, I’m harvesting lots of tomatoes in the next week!