Mouli vs passata maker vs sieve?

[Zech]

The recent conversation about drying pureed tomatoes got me thinking about upgrading my kitchen equipment, as both moulis and passata makers were mentioned. I've broken a few sieves by pushing fruit puree through them and maybe it's time to get something that's actually designed for the job. Looking at both these bits of kit, the screens don't seem as fine as a sieve - don't pips go through them?

I'm not going to buy both, so any thoughts on which is best, or should I just get a sturdier sieve? I mostly do hedgerow fruit for fruit leathers, and I'd rather not have to pick a load of damson stones out before putting the stewed fruit through the machine. I haven't yet had a tomato harvest big enough to preserve, but I'm working on it...

[ojay54]

The Roma passatta maker allows no seeds at all to pass through.I pass the toms through 2 or 3 X to extract all of the juice,I've never seen a seed go through yet!..They aren't cheap,but it really makes things easy.

Most wanted by skint Ojay: 1) Passatta maker (sorted)

2) Dehydrator (maybe this year)

3)'All American' Canner (dream on).

[Odsox]

I have to say I didn't know that passata makers existed until OJ mentioned it recently. On the other hand I have had a mouli since the year dot and am now on my third.
With a Mouli it's impossible to pass seeds or skin, exactly the same as a sieve, and it doesn't take too long. That was one of the things mentioned in the Passata Machine reviews that put me off buying one, if you have to put the pulp through 3 or 4 times then it seems to me just as labour intensive as a mouli, that and the fact that it costs 3 times as much, and I already have a mouli.

If you do get a mouli, don't get a plastic bodied one, they stain and distort, get a 100% stainless steel one.
My first one was galvanised steel which rusted after a time (abt 25 years), my second was plastic and was lobbed after a year or two, and my third is stainless and will most certainly outlast me.

[Zech]

One thing in favour of the mouli is that the local independent cookware shop has one in stock and it's £24, which seems low to middling compared with internet prices. I think it's stainless steel - it's certainly not plastic. I looked at the disks and the finest one had holes of about 2 mm diameter - is that similar to yours, Odsox? I had a look online and couldn't find any with smaller holes than 1.5 mm. I find it hard to believe that seeds wouldn't go through, but if you say they don't, that's good enough for me.

[Odsox]

I just went and had a measure, the smallest seems to be 2.5mm or at least it looked slightly bigger than 2mm , the other two disks are 5mm and 7mm and I have no idea what they are used for.
While I was at it, I looked through our stash of purée and out of 20 odd jars I saw 1 small tomato seed.
I think the tomato skin restricts the holes and makes them smaller, but I will qualify my previous post to "a mouli will pass a small percentage of seeds"
Having said that, there is definitely no seeds in the tomato powder I made, and that was with many pounds of tomatoes.

[Zech]

Thank you very much for that. One seed in twenty jars is certainly a very small percentage!

On that basis, I will go back to the nice cookware shop in town and buy a mouli.

[MKG]

This discussion reminded me that I've wanted a mouli for years - and definitely not a plastic one. I mentioned it to OH, who happily informed me that we HAVE had one for years. Now I have to try to remember exactly why I've wanted one for years, given the evidence that I haven't used it.

[Odsox]

We got our first one to make baby food with, although perhaps that's not particularly relevant to you, Mike.
I don't know though, maybe your teeth are on the way out ...........