How to preserve a Bushel of Tomatoes in a Day

Step 4 Extracting the Pulp

The tomato mill I use is an Italian design. It has a high capacity and is very efficient. The thing can be operated one handedly (I had to last fall when I broke my left wrist). It is also easy to clean -- once you figure out how to get the milling piece apart. If you want one (assuming tomatoes are a large and vital part of your harvesting life), lots of options come up in Google. I got mine from Lee Valley, a Canadian firm that also ships to the States.

You can also use the "crush and cook" method to prepare tomatoes for a tomato mill. Cut up a few tomatoes to start and put them into a pan over medium-high heat. Crush them with a masher and continue to add tomatoes (small ones can be incorporated whole; you'll probably want to cut up large ones unless you are tall with good arm strength) as the first ones juice and soften.

Spoon the cooked tomatoes into the mill's hopper. Have the bowl in place to catch the pulp and something in place to catch the debris. I found that a silicon bread pan works great for this: it fits under the debris spout nicely, has a good capacity, and is easy to empty into the hopper for a second run and into the compost bin when you're done. With my mill, there is still some pulp in the debris after the first run. I put it back into the hopper and usually get another half cup of pulp from the full hopper load.

I periodically empty the pulp collected to the pot in which I cook the sauce.

Comments

[jojosdad]

Love the idea of roasting the tomatoes. I have also tied the tomatoes up in a piece of cheesecloth hung over a pot to collect the tomato stock.