This blog post will guide you through how to use a food mill for tomatoes. You’ll be able to make your own smooth tomato sauce, soup or ketchup with this handy kitchen appliance that’s surprisingly easy to use!
If you enjoy making tomato sauce at home, I’m sure you’ve had to take off the skins and seeds. A food mill does all that work for you and leaves your sauce smooth and tasty!
We’re going to show you how easy it is with this blog post. Read on for more information about why a food mill is great for tomatoes and other fruits or vegetables too!
See also:
What is a food mill
A food mill (sometimes called a ‘sauce maker’) is an appliance that consists of several parts: a bowl, colander, or strainer with holes in it, and three pieces of interchangeable perforated discs.
The largest disc lets you mash soft foods like cooked vegetables; the smallest disc lets you purée fruits for baby food or soup; and the middle size disc filters out seeds when making jelly or applesauce.
To use the mill, just put the ingredients in the bowl, secure them with one of the perforated discs, and turn the handle. Food mills are usually dishwasher safe, so they’re easy to clean after use.
How to use a Food mill for tomatoes
When you are planning to purchase a food mill for tomatoes then it is important that you use the product for the first time once. If you know someone who has used this product before then you can purchase your hands on his/her one, learn how to use it and experience the taste of home-made puree.
Here are some steps which will help you how to use a food mill for tomatoes properly to make your sauces
1) When you open your grinder for the first time, check whether all parts are there or not. You may have received different quantities of screws, blades etc. So if something is missing then contact the customer service immediately.
2) Now take out certain quantity of fresh tomatoes from refrigerator. To check the quality of your grinder, put 1-2 tomatoes in to it. If it can grind properly without making any noise then you are ready to go for next step else try to change blades or screws which are available. Take 2-3 medium sized tomatoes and cut them into pieces.
3) Now take out a bowl from kitchen cabinet and place your tomato pieces in it. Cover this bowl with another container so that the smell of tomatoes will not spread everywhere in kitchen.
4) After that take one container out from refrigerator, cover it tightly with lid and keep it on working platform before opening the lid just look inside through small hole so that you can check whether your coriander seeds are nicely crushed or not if they are not crushed then you will be able to see pieces of coriander seeds in your paste, if this thing is there then grind the same batch again.
5) Now put these crushed coriander seeds into another container which was kept before on working platform and cover it tightly with lid once done.
6) Take out garlic cloves from refrigerator keep them for few minutes on gas so that they can be soft enough to crush.
7) Put garlic cloves one by one in to grinder jar so that all pieces are properly crushed. If they are not crushed properly then take out those pieces which are not crushed and give it a try again because if garlic won’t get crushed properly then paste will also not be formed
8) Now take the second bowl from refrigerator and put the tomato pieces in it.
9) Now take a big size deep pan add little oil in it and heat it over medium flame, when you see smoke coming from oil then reduce flame to low and pour puree into hot oil.
10) If you want that your puree should be thick then continuously stir this at low flame after 5-6 minutes puree will start boiling, keep stirring occasionally till all water evaporates.
11) Once water content totally evaporated then increase the flame back to medium so that puree comes in contact with bottom of pan and starts getting roasted from its own water or you can say from its own fat or from sugar which is present in tomatoes.
12) Keep on stirring continuously until tomatoes turn into deep red color and puree start leaving oil then turn off the flame.
Your sauces is now ready.
What Food Mill Can Do
Food mills can also be utilized as sieves due to their fine holes which strain out unwanted chunks of food from liquid foods, leaving more pure liquid behind. They are usually hand-operated but can be fitted on top of pots or bowls for faster processing of food.
There are various kinds of food mills available in the market for different purposes. These utensils are made of aluminum, stainless steel or tinned steel depending on their purpose and their prices also vary accordingly.
The biggest advantage of using this utensil is that it can be utilized to prepare purees, soups, sauces, jams, jellies and even some types of baby foods without worrying about any harmful effects due to direct contact with metal surfaces which usually taint the taste of these foods.
Food mill is a useful tool in many homes where making sauces for gravy’s are done regularly as no lumps are found after straining them through the attached disc on the top of this utensil. It can easily puree fruits and vegetables into the required consistencies for making soups or sauces.
This utensil is very handy in straining unwanted chunks of food out of liquid foods, leaving more pure liquid behind. The sieve like disc on top can be inserted directly into pots to process foods without having to use separate bowls for this purpose.
It works effectively in breaking down large chunks of vegetable matter while straining out skin and seeds after cooking tomatoes, squash, pumpkin etc.
Food mills are available in various sizes ranging from small 4-inch size disc to larger 12-inch size discs that accommodate various sized pots and bowls for processing foods.
Food mills can also be utilized as sieves due to their fine holes which strain out unwanted chunks of food from liquid foods, leaving more pure liquid behind. They are usually hand-operated but can be fitted on top of pots or bowls for faster processing of food.
Tips When Using The Food Mill
A food mill is one of the most useful kitchen appliances you can own. It will help you make applesauce, puree baby foods and remove seeds from blackberries for jam making. The best thing about a food mill is that it’s very hard to hurt yourself or others with it. Food mills are generally inexpensive and easy to clean.
Let us look at a few tips when using a food mill:
Cut the fruit into small pieces
– Remove stems, cores and pits before cutting the fruit up into small chunks
– 1 inch cubes should be good enough. Wash fruits well
– After removing stems, cores and pits fruits should be washed really well as any kind of dirt left on them will ruin your final product Add some water
– This will make sure that the fruit puree flows through the mill easily It is not recommended to drain juices before using a food mill
– Fruit juices are great for adding flavor and can be drained later Figure out if your mill requires two or three screws
– Three screw mills are more efficient although they require more space on your counter top Two screw food mills are easier to handle
The parts of a food mill
As you know, there are four basic parts of every food mill. They are the hopper, the lid with holes, the rotating blade assembly and the bottom plate. When buying a new food mill check if all four parts are present as some manufacturers just sell them separately.
If you have any difficulties finding one then simply search “food mill replacement parts” online.
When using your food mill, start by adding water to the hopper’s reservoir. Next place the pusher in front of it and turn the crank at a moderate speed until all chunks or fruit are crushed. Then use the crank handle to push puree through the lid with holes into a bowl below.
Grinding blackberries is also easy provided you have washed them beforehand. Simply drop small batches of berries inside the hopper and grind away! Always remember, if you feel that using a food mill is too complicated then buy an electric one – they are easier to use than mills that need manual cranking!
Conclusion on “How to use a food mill for tomatoes”
There are many ways to use a food mill, and it is an essential tool for those who make their own sauces or purees. We’ve provided you with some helpful tips on how to best use your new kitchen gadget in this blog post. If you have any questions about our content at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us!