I was gifted this brand new Squeezo strainer on BuyNothing in 2017. I really love it!
This is how I set up for smaller batches.
I did grow a few tomatoes this year but we use a lot of spaghetti sauce, ketchup, and I love homemade tomato soup as a comfort food. The few tomatoes I put in would not cover a year’s worth.
We got a Market Share at a local organic farm store last year when we didn’t have a garden at all. They had offered seconds tomatoes so I ordered two 20# boxes for Monday pickup. I planned to make a lot of spaghetti sauce. We had run out months ago.
On Tuesday morning I went out and made a huge harvest. I got 2 more meals worth of sugar pod peas, 2 huge bowls of oversize cukes and summer squash for the hens, 16 medium storage onions and nearly 4# of tomatoes for the spaghetti sauce.
Our farm store had also announced the tropical storm that had come through last week had damaged a local orchard’s peach crop. They would be offering IPM peach seconds in 20# boxes, first come first serve. We went up on Saturday to try to get some but they were all gone.
I had to pick up the tomatoes on Monday and was able to get there right after a delivery of the peaches and snagged a box. They would have to be processed and put in the freezer first thing on Tuesday morning.
I got the peas ready to blanch and started on the peaches. I use a solution of 1000 mg Vit C and lemon juice in filtered water for freezing peaches. They are halved, bad bits cut away, and put in quart freezer boxes. Then I fill with the solution. I got 9 quarts for the freezer. But several peaches got eaten first! They were very good.
My helper friend arrived and helped with the peaches, then we got the peas done and into the freezer. Next we started blanching, peeling, and seeding tomatoes. It had been 2 years since I’d made sauce and I’d completely forgotten about the Squeezo! I didn’t remember it until I read my last notes about making sauce. It would have saved a lot of work if I’d read them first…
We got the tomatoes done and he had to leave. I got the Squeezo out and started processing the tomatoes. (Forgive the messy photos, it was very hot and humid and I was getting pretty tired.) The above photo shows the pot of tomatoes I started with.
This shows the residue after the first pass through. I had to dump the sauce bowl as it had risen to within 1” of the top. What’s in the bowl was the end of the first pass.
The 2nd pass left this much residue and I got this much sauce.
The 3rd pass, and the residue is much reduced and the bowl half full.
The 4th and last pass left just over a large spoonful, perhaps a cup, of residue and there was a half bowl of sauce.
The 3 pots of tomatoes netted me this huge stockpot of sauce. If I had processed the tomatoes for use with the Squeezo, I would have had to have another stockpot to hold it all.
Some notes on using the Squeezo:
Most important! ONLY use really ripe tomatoes! Or at least cut away unripe parts. The unripe parts plug the screen quickly. This means taking it off and cleaning it often. You don’t need to seed or skin the tomatoes, but taking the skin off keeps the screen cleaner.
I had to clean the screen often on the first pot. The second pot didn’t have many not quite ripe tomatoes in it, so I only had to do it 2 or 3 times. The 3rd pot I only did it once.
Use the wooden plunger carefully. It fits precisely in the funnel hole and with tomatoes in there, creates suction. Too much pressure and the juice squirts out the screen holes. Too much juice in the funnel and the plunger sprays it when going into the hole. But the plunger speeds things up when used judiciously.
Keep the screen relatively clean. Otherwise you do a lot of turning of the handle for nothing.
It’s definitely worth it to send the material through multiple times.
Clean it thoroughly! You need a long handled, small bristled brush for cleaning the screen well.
Once it’s completely dry, wipe down the parts with oil (I use coconut) to prevent rust in storage and to facilitate material moving through the machine. I wrap the whole thing in plastic bags once oiled to contain the mess.
Make sure the clamp has enough “meat” to hold the machine steady.
Take care in the tightening of the screen onto the machine each time. The pressure should be equal on both sides to prevent leaking.
Make sure the chute is well under the screen, up to the machine, or it won’t catch all the material.
I’ve found this machine to be easy to use, easy to clean (except the screen) and it sure gets the most out of the tomatoes.
The peppers and onions for the 4 batches of spaghetti sauce
I finally got the sauce going mid afternoon but it didn’t cook down enough. So I will have to cook it more on Wednesday and then can it.