Should i buy a Passata machine/tomato press?

[marshlander]

Has anyone used a passata machine/tomato press?

Looks like it's going to be a good year for toms but both freezers are heaving! Thought I would bottle some this year and have already read the bottling pasta sauce thread http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... es#p187673 but it doesn't mention losing the skin and seeds.

I've seen one on Seeds of Italy £29.95 and another on http://www.tempsl.co.uk/ (Ref 6621) for £15.90 they look alike - what's the catch? Too good to be true or a bargain? anyone know?

[Moonwaves]

I have a Flotte Lotte (just did a quick google and found one UK online shop selling them here although in the instructions that came with mine it's called a Busy Lizzie in English) and found it really useful last year although in the end I didn't end up doing as much as I'd hoped. The tomatoes have arrived at the market again though so maybe this year I'll get around to more.

In the link above I found it hard to tell if the red was plastic or metal. Unless it's very heavy duty plastic (and even then), it might end up being one of those gadgets that they assume people will buy, use a couple of times and then shove in a cupboard i.e. not designed for heavy use so it might be worth checking out exactly what it's made of and whether it comes with a guarantee.

Right, now I'm off to read up on that other thread about bottling in an effort to get my courage up to try it again properly this year since I now have a proper cooker and so hopefully won't need FOUR hours to get the water in my water bath boiling! No wonder I only did one batch last year.

Edited to add: I think I paid 30 or 39 euro for my flotte lotte although it was on special offer. The sixty-odd pounds they're charging at the link above does seem a bit high to me though.

[marshlander]

Both the machines mentioned are red plastic. I've now seen reviews where users have had trouble getting the suction pad to stay fixed and another who said the handle snapped off! I've seen stainless steel ones on US sites but cant find them here.

[contadina]

I use a vegetable mill similar to the one you've linked to (mine has a plastic body but the blade and grater discs are metal) if I'm only using a few kilos of tomatoes to make sauce. Mine cost €5 eight years ago and I use it every week throughout the summer to make sauce and use it to make stock throughout the winter and it's still going strong . For serious sauce making to see you through the winter months, however you need a proper passata machine. If I'm using 20-50 kilos of tomatoes I use this http://www.growveg.info/gallery/main.ph ... mId=146419 as it's much easier to process large quantities. If you don't press more than 5 kilos at a time, then a vegetable mill will more than suit your purposes and you can also use if to make soup etc.

[marshlander]

Yes! Yes! Yes! A Propper passata machine as in your pic - that's just what I want! I just cant find one for sale here : ( I see you're in Italy of course!

[contadina]

This one is 40 odd years old (a present from a neighbour who now has an electric one) but the ones in the shops are almost identical. I'm really surprised this isn't the version Seeds of Italy are selling.

[marshlander]

Thanks contadina, had a closer look at yours and realized it says tre spade on the side. So now I'm, looking for a tre spade passapomodoro! Found some on fleabay international, some on go0gle and having emailed, now await postage. Frustratingly there's one in America 2nd hand on fleabay only £16.00 but the postage to UK is $60

[contadina]

I thought about posting you one, but the body is cast iron so shipping costs would be silly.