For any KitchenAid owners with the Fruit and Vegetable Strainer attachment, I’d love your input on how it works for making tomato sauce.

I’ve read a few posts in the past where people said it worked well but after watching the only youtube video demonstrating it, it seem suited more for tomato juice / soup than sauce.

I already have the pre-requite grinder attachment but am wondering if the Strainer addition is worth it. We do @ 30 liters/quarts every fall.

TIA,

Bill

I'll order it today.

Bill

Yes, I’ve read your previous posts on the food mills and know you really like the Villaware type. I already have a manual no name mill that suffices for the amount of jams we do.

Regarding watery tomato sauce, we’re growing heirloom paste varieties so the sauce shouldn’t need too much cooking down.

I tried to order the strainer and larger feed attachments yesterday from Amazon but apparently they are not allowed (I assume by KitchenAid) to ship these to Canada. Go figure. Anyhow, I did find sources here but they only sell the strainer as part of a combo pack. I’d need to buy it along with the grinder and shredder attachments. I already have the grinder and am not interested in the shredder. None of them offer the larger feeder attachment. If I can’t find a reputable dealer in the US that will ship one up north for a reasonable price, I’ll have to bite the bullet and get the combo pack. I guess I could always use one grinder for meats and the other for tomatoes. As for the shredder, I guess it would make an interesting hood ornament LOL.

All the best,

Bill

With constant use the motor heats up. After about thirty minutes of use mine started dripping motor oil into the sauce. I think the screen is a bit too close to the screw. I run the tomatoes through several times and only end up with seeds. The skins also get pushed through the mesh after a few passes. However the final passes are the most work for the machine.

I upgraded to a dedicated tomato squeezer. It is much faster than the Kitchenaid and the machine does not struggle. The first pass leaves a wetter waste product than the Kitchenaid. However after several passes the final waste is just about as dry as the Kitchenaid waste after several passes thhrough the Kitchenaid.

I have a 1/2 HP model which is a bit big and heavy. I should have opted for one of the 1/4 HP models which run about $300. A google search for tomato squeezer seems to work better than tomato strainer if one is looking for a dedicated machine.

I canned a little under thirty quarts (about fifty quarts before boiling down) in my first canning session this year. I'll probably do about eighty by the time the season is over. I have to can more because my son has taken a liking to the sauce. And now I make my own ketchup. I dedicate an entire day to making sauce. Speed in the squeezing process is a big help.

Zeuspaul