Customer Reviews

Velox Tomato Press / Tomato Strainer - Made in Italy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this tomato press to replace a similar one I got years ago which finally just wore out. Be aware that the actual color of the press is RED not the white as in the photo. The square bowl that comes with this particular press is handy for catching the offloaded tomato remnants. A comment about these type of presses making only "tomato soup" which is sort of true, the pressed tomato stuff that comes out of the chute is sort of soup-like but makes a great base for spaghetti sauce, salsa, and pizza sauce. I usually add a can of tomato paste to thicken the sauce up. Secondly I saw one reviewer's comments about the left over tomato stuff being a waste, well, I learned years ago to just keep putting that material back in the hopper and re-pressing it. I recently did about 10 pounds of tomatoes from my garden and got 4 huge containers of sauce with only seeds, a stem or three, and bits of skin left over. My wife was amazed at how little is left after you keep re-pressing.
The only down side to these presses is the squisher part which is inside is tough to clean. All in all though a great way to make a sauce base for the money and a great use of my garden tomatoes.

My mother-in-law purchased this same machine almost 10 years ago during a trip to Italy. Every year since, it has been used by 3 families during tomato canning season, each processing on average around 3 bushels of tomatoes. I've always hated waiting for my turn to use the machine, so I decided to try to buy one very similar to hers, given the positive experience over the years. Imagine how pleased I was to see the identical machine offered on Amazon! I've ordered mine and can hardly wait to receive it. The suction grip is strong, especially on my granite countertop. I've also used it successfully on laminate and glass surfaces. I agree that some mopping up is needed in between grinding. I just place a dish towel around the base and nothing leaks off the counter. Once you get the hang of putting together all of the little bits of the grinder in the middle, you'll appreciate what a marvel of design this machine really is. Just be careful during cleaning to hand wash and dry all the parts and to assemble it back right away to avoid losing any pieces. That has been my only fear, but in almost ten years of use, that has not happened. It should give you many years of heavy-duty use.

I am buying my second Velox tomato press before my old one wears out or breaks some part. I have made spaghetti sauce from scratch to can for more than a decade, canning dozens of quarts a season. I would not want to do without my Velox tomato press. Repressing a couple of times gets just about everything. I am always looking for equipment that does not use electricity. This is nearly perfect. The only complaint I have is that there is some oozing from the handle area, but wiping between press batches takes care of that.

This press does exactly what they say it will do, effectively removing the peels and seeds from tomatoes. I put the refuse pan back through one extra time to remove more juice, but I found that doing it more than that forced too many seeds into the sauce. Once you figure out how to disassemble and clean it, it is easy to work with and to store. It sure beats the food mill I was using before. I put up five gallons (40 pints) of sauce this year and the Velox worked perfectly throughout.

I have an older model of this tomato press and it is my go to tool whenever I need to mill anything. The design is so efficient and it completely disassembles for cleaning and I can put it in the dishwasher. Mine is over 20 years old (and I paid a pretty penny at that time too) but it has withstood the test of time. If for any reason mine were to break I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I've tried those other mills that you crank around the bowl and would never consider replacing my Velox with one of those. Lately I've been using it for making ketchup. Yum.

Assemblies EASY, and, once you know how it dis-assembles, clean up is super easy.

With fresh tomatoes, I cut them up into pieces and drop them in, stems, skins, and all... Works great! A few tinsie-winsie seeds will pass thru the strainer, but the vast majority are processed-out.

I pass the 'refuse' thru another two or three times to get that little extra out..

BTW - its great for those who love their salsa creamy and smooth.. Drop your CHUNKY salsa into this mill, and out comes smooth salsa with perfect body & texture for your chips!! a food processor makes it too runny and thin, IMHO..

Timeliness of arrival much appreciated! Overall looks, very appealing. Performance: eventually, the machine does what it is supposed to do but it takes two people to handle it: one to hold the collection bowl in place and one to press the juice. Every tomato batch has to go tree-four times through the machine in order for all the juice to be pressed out. Cleaning: not very easy and the white plastic is already permmanently stained. Did not know that this is a product made of plastic.

ONE year, we actually had an abundance of tomatoes from our garden and I was overwhelmed. I've never felt comfortable canning anything (especially tomatoes!) and I have ample freezer space so I bought this to process excess tomatoes so I could bag and freeze as sauce. Although the manual doesn't suggest it, I was dissatisfied by the watery nature of the resultant product, so common sense (and a hatred of waste) drove me to throw all of the rejected materials (peelings, etc.) back into the hopper. I found the magic number to be THREE times total processing and the results are perfect. I never bought canned tomato sauce again. No tomatoes this year because of a sever drought but I bought the same unit I had for a family member in another state who has excess tomatoes. I looked at all the competing products being sold nowadays (when I bought mine, I didn't see many choices) but I was concerned about negative reviews. So I went with the safe choice: the same unit I use myself.

This works great for making sauce, not so much salsa. Did not come with instructions and seems impossible to really get clean.