Velox Tomato Press and Strainer

This thing needs more stars! Absolutely LOVE this press. It works well and is very easy to use and clean.My wife and I have a good sized garden so we get a lot of tomatoes on a daily basis. We had about 7 lbs sitting on the counter ready for canning when my wife decided she wanted to puree them instead. The first 2.5 lbs she did by hand w/ the blender for making into tomato soup. Worked okay, but no way to get the skins out, which turn into red sticks. The next day, this press came in the mail.I set up this press, washed, cored, diced and simmered 4.5 lbs of tomatoes into hot mush. The tomatoes then got scooped into the press while I cranked away. The top funnel held two heaping cups of tomatoes. As I cranked, it very quickly and efficiently separated the pulp from the skins and seeds. There did seem to be some pulp left on the skins so I ran them through four more times, getting approximately 1 additional cup of puree.In the end, the entire press process (5 times through) took less than 15 minutes (probably closer to 10). I was literally left with bare tomato skins and seeds (that went to the chickens). A few seeds worked their way through (maybe a half dozen total), but that's it. You can always can the puree, but my wife wanted to freeze the puree as she figured she'd use it over the next few months. My only real complaint was that the chute where the seeds and skins come out should be about an inch longer as it's tight having both the inluded collection bowl and the skins bowl sitting under their respective chutes.While there appeared to be no instructions for clean up, it was easy to figure out. The handle comes out, the white chute comes off, and the press drum inside pops out for further disassembly down to an empty barrel, 2-piece "axel" shaft and spring. Very well thought out design, in my opinion.Already have another gardener friend buying one of these!

This little guy gets 5 stars because it delivers on what it's supposed to do, no more, no less. It's sturdier than it looks in the pictures and seems like it will hold up well. I processed 22 lbs of tomatoes on my first use without a hitch. That said, there are some things I didn't see mentioned in the comments that might be useful for prospective buyers and first-time users.1. Some people say they partially cook the tomatoes first, or at least scald them to loosen the skins. While I can see where that might make them softer and easier to press, I really wanted to avoid this step, as it's one reason I bought the thing in the first place. The good news is you don't have to blanch, pre-cook, or skin them at all. The bad news is you will have to crank a bit harder, so if you're concerned the extra elbow grease might be too much, try a few raw ones first.2. Veteran cooks know that plum or Roma tomatoes make the best sauce because they have more pulp and less water. However, they also have thicker, tougher skins, which makes them harder to push down through the strainer. After the first few, I tried trimming off the stem end and quartering the rest. This made it easier for the internal drum to grab the fruit and direct it down against the strainer. For larger tomatoes, I cut them into as many as 8-10 chunks, which made it easier still. The extra time spent doing this was minimal and it more than paid off in the amount of effort needed to push them through. If you have a helper, they can cut the next batch while you're cranking.3. I have a smooth granite countertop and the suction mechanism worked very well. This made it easy to set up the device next to the sink and aim the spout to eject the juice and pulp into a bowl in the sink, which meant I could process more tomatoes without having to empty the container as often. It also cut down on the mess somewhat. I used the little plastic bowl provided under the other spout to catch the skin & seeds.4. Many have noted that you need to run the stuff through the press several times to extract all the pulp. The first time you'll mostly get tomato juice, but it will thicken considerably as you run the "waste" through again and again. Fortunately, subsequent passes go through fast and easy.5. After trying a wooden spoon and then a spatula to push the tomatoes through, I wound up just using my fingers.6. Don't expect a thick puree, even with Romas and multiple passes. You're going to have to cook this down, a lot. But you were going to do that anyway, right? You want fast food, open a jar. But obviously, the more water you squeeze out of the tomatoes first, the less you'll have to cook down.7. I didn't find it especially hard to figure out how to take it apart for cleaning, even though the "instructions" are practically non-existent. The trick is to remove the white drum and take the end cap off to expose the rod & spring inside. Once you pull that out, it's very easy to clean. Still, maybe someone will post a video since some people seem to find this problematic.It took a little over 2 hours to process these 22 pounds. It should go a bit faster next time now that I have the hang of it.

we use this for tomato juicing making tomato sauce. very cheap and works like a pro machine. So simple to use we just cut tomatoes and feed to machine no need to pre cook. id buy again in a heartbeat. it does stick to counter with a semi wet rubber first. it will confuse you cleaning at first but after you get onto it will be fine, easy to clean. I purchased this after watching in a video, this Italian use it for making sauce. get it, you will love it

Works well. I suggest that the extractor exit be extended a bit but a low profile dish should do the trick. Worth the price. The tomato juice is much sweeter when pressed and seeds removed!!!

I would not buy this product. Cheap and small. Not even able to get a decent size bowl under it to catch the juice or the peels. Peels get inside handle gear/spring. Pain to clean out. Drips everywhere and makes a huge mess.