Food Strainer

There are lots of reviews on this, mostly positive. This is going to be more of a product comparison than a review... After using the Norpro version (which sucks) for 2 years I finally broke down and bought this one... wow... I wanted to write a review last week before I even used it because it screams "BETTER QUALITY" right out of the box. Now that I've used it I'm going to do a product comparison. Overall: This thing is a breeze compared to the Norpro. The crank turns effortlessly, the tomatoes feed easily, and most of all, it's MUCH easier to clean. The components are MUCH better built than the Norpro, you can tell Victoria knows what they are doing and they do it right; Norpro seems to just want to make terrible copies of other products to make a quick buck... Base: -Lets start at the bottom; the clamp. The Norpro routinely comes loose from the table and wobbles, the Victorio doesn't. Last night I processed 15 gallons of tomatoes into 8 gallons of sauce and didn't have to mess with the Victorio clamp a single time. The Norpro clamp is just a small screw with a "foot" on it, the Victoria has a well-made screw with a large "foot" for squeezing. The Victorio "foot" slides on the cast aluminum base so that it doesn't wobble around. The "feet" that contact the top of the table are also much better designed. Not only are they larger than the Norpro, they also have proper gussets so they don't flex/bend/break as easily; this means more stability. -Height: I didn't measure my Norpro but judging by the size of bowl that fits under the waste chute the Victorio sits higher. Dealing with the waste on the Norpro was a continuous hassle. Dealing with the waste on the Victorio was a "set it and forget it" type affair; I set up a bowl and didn't have to touch it until I was done making sauce. -Axle Hub: Due to poor design on the Norpro the axle "floats" in a bronze bushing, as the auger pushes back and forth the axle moves with it. Combine that with a crappy chrome-plating job on the axle and you get a scratched up bronze bushing. A scratched up bronze bushing means you get a cut-up o-ring, and a cut o-ring means you get a continuous flow of juice out the axle. The Victorio is MUCH better designed. The auger floats on the axle and the axle is stationary in a nylon bushing. This means the o-ring doesn't get cut up (it still leaked a little bit, but not nearly as much as the Norpro). The stationary axle in nylon bushing is MUCH more robust, you can feel it... Auger/Screen: -The auger and screen are also much better designed. With the Norpro the auger's taper matches that of the screen, which means not only is it much harder to feed the tomatoes through because they are being compressed instantly in the first inch or so of the auger, it's also possible to "lock" the auger into the screen. If that happens you must disassemble and pound it out. The Victorio auger has less taper than the screen which means the tomatoes are progressively compressed and it's much harder to "lock" the auger up. This was all very evident when actually using the sauce maker. The crank turned MUCH easier than the Norpro and I think a LOT of it had to do with the more efficient auger/screen design. -The auger itself has a cool feature that the Norpro doesn't; it has notches cut into the first few spirals to help macerate and grab the tomatoes and pull them into the auger. This helps a LOT. With the Norpro I HAD to cube my tomatoes so they would feed easily and so they wouldn't explode and spray juice back out. With the Victorio you can leave your smaller tomatoes whole and the "notches" will rip them open and pull them into the auger. -The screen... WOW!!! First of all it's stainless (vs. the chromed steel of the Norpro), but that's not the feature I'm impressed with. The Victorio screen is designed to be cleaned MUCH easier than the Norpro. The Norpro screen has a rolled & flattened seam which means you get 4 layers of screen material on the seam and the inner layers get packed full of pulp that is impossible to clean out. The Victorio is an over-lapped and seam-welded screen which means there are only 2 layers of screen material (MUCH easier to clean out). The mounting flange is also much better. The area where the screen is attached to the flange on the Norpro lends itself to getting jammed full of pulp that is, once again, difficult to clean. The same area on the Victorio is much smoother/flatter and no pulp gets locked in behind the screen. -Waste shield: the Norpro doesn't even have this. The Victorio does. The Norpro would always have issues with waste (seeds/skin) falling off and landing on the sauce shield/chute (it would get in the sauce if you didn't catch it soon enough. Not only that but you could only fit a small bowl under the end so it had to be continuously dumped/moved so it wouldn't overflow. The waste chute on the Victorio made life a breeze; combined with a slight taller base and the waste chute I was able to fit a large bowl under the end and I didn't have to deal with the waste until I was completely done. -Sauce chute: it looks the same, but it's not. The Norpro sauce chute is fixed position; you can't change the angle at which it lies. The Victorio can be rotated as far as you like. This proved beneficial because I sauce directly into a 5-gallon bucket. Also, due to the higher efficieny auger I found that sauce frequently wanted to spray out of the screen when I was first getting started (before the holes started to fill up with fibrous bits). I just turned the sauce-chute straight down which kept the sauce from spraying everywhere... Other bits: -Hopper: Not a lot to say about this, the design is roughly the same as the Norpro, the only difference is that the Norpro hopper is cheap and flimsy, the Victorio is not flimsy. -Plunger: Not much difference except the Victorio is slightly more robust. -Crank: The Norpro crank has a nut that holds it on, the Victorio doesn't. This sounds like a point for the Norpro but it's not. I didn't have any problems with the crank on the Victorio, it slides into the axle and that's that. The nut on the Norpro was always working loose which would make the handle loose and wobbly... All in all I'm impressed. I feel like this sauce maker is an excellent buy. It's not only cheaper (amazon price for Victorio vs. local price for Norpro), it's better quality, better design, and will save you time. Don't waste your money on the Norpro junk, just get the real thing from the start.

I first saw this strainer on Instagram and instantly had to check it out. After reading reviews here, I decided to buy it—and I’m so glad I did. Our family just harvested 91 pounds of tomatoes (yes, 91!) and needed a fast, efficient way to process them. This Johnny Apple Sauce/Tomato Sauce Maker turned all those tomatoes into nearly 13 gallons of beautiful puree and juice in just a few hours. We already have spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove, and the best part? Almost zero skins and very few seeds in the finished product. A few tips from my experience: Don’t push too hard with the plunger. If you plunge aggressively, seeds can sneak through a little gap. Gentle, steady pressure works best. The unit sits a bit low, so a large roasting pan worked better than a mixing bowl for catching the puree. I do wish it was a little taller to accommodate bigger bowls. Those are very minor trade-offs compared to the time and effort this saves. My old strainer is already in the donate pile because this one is such an upgrade. If you process tomatoes (or other produce) at home, this tool is worth every penny!

I've looked at many of the other food mills and ended up purchasing this one for a reason. Most of the other food mills I've read reviews on all had similar issues - grease in the food, metal in the food, shoddy design, too difficult to operate, too difficult to clean, etc. This product, while not perfect, was a particularly good compromise on all fronts. There are no parts that contain grease that will come into contact with your food, there are no metal parts that grind together that will come into contact with your food, ease of operation is dependent upon what you are milling, and cleanup also depends on what is being milled. We typically use it to make tomato paste for lasagna or ratatouille, and while it may not be the cleanest and most efficient tool out there, it doesn't have the drawbacks that the others seem to have. To clarify, after grinding the tomatoes, you will have to scrape the strainer screen with a spatula, and you will also have to remove and empty the inside of it as it accumulates quite a bit of the seeds and skins inside. You also must be careful when disassembling it when done, as there will be quite a lot of liquid and leftover paste inside that will leak out if you're not careful. Again, these are small negatives compared to the other products that contaminate your food with metal shavings or manufacturing grease. As for cleanup - with tomatoes, it is quite easy. A rinse, with a quick wipe down using a soapy brush, followed by another rinse, and then drying with a towel before storage - takes minutes. About the only thing you need to be wary of is turning the crank with nothing inside the mill, which they warn you about in the instructions. As long as you follow the instructions, this mill should last you quite a long time.

I have owned a Victorio Strainer Juicer for over 45 years. I decided to upgrade to this one with a motor to assist me in my old age. I am very happy with this purchase. If you bottle tomatoes juice, make spaghetti sauce, salsa, or paste, this Victorio Strainer Juicer is such a time saver. I would not be without one!! The motor is a bonus but not neccessary for a great outcome. If cost is a factor hand turned units cost much less. I ALWAYS cook tomatoes/apples before I put them through the Juicer because is take so much stress off my arms (on my previous manual model) and the motor with this new machine. If I want thick sauce, I put my tomatoes/apples through a Steam Juicer unit first. I collect and bottle the clear juice, then put the rest of the tomatoes/apples/fruit through this Victorio Strainer Juicer. The fruit is much thicker with liquid removed and I don't have to simmer for hours to get a thicker sauce. The clear tomato juice is great flavour in soups and apple and other fruit juices very tasty. A Steam Juicer and a Victorio Strainer Juicer are lifetime investments. Take care of them, they will last for years to come.

Love this. Processed and entire apple trees worth of apples with much less shoulder pain than last year. Highly recommend.

Fácil de armar en cualquier superficie, muy práctico

This device performs MIRACLES. It takes 80% of the work out of making Pasta Sauce, and 75% of the work out of making Applesauce. It makes processing those pesky little crabapples a pleasure. I also purchased the 4-piece accessory kit, and look forward to trying it out on grapes, later this fall. The device is brilliantly designed, well made, and of sturdy materials. It is easy to assemble from memory, after following the directions the first time. It is easy to wash. Yes, it does unavoidably leak a little at the bushing at the base of the handle, however this is easily managed by putting a small container on the floor or counter beneath it. There may be no way to design this small leak out, because of the need to be able to access all parts to clean it thoroughly. While others complain about these few drops, I find it is no biggie. Yes, when processing a LOT of fruit or vegetables, one does have to remove the screen & spiral to clear the screen, every once in a while, however this is part of any screening process (no fault of the machine), easily done, and a small price to pay for the amazing work it performs & the time it saves. My only regret is that I didn't buy a Victorio decades ago. I certainly would have done more canning, if I had had one.

Disappointing I had to purchase optional extra screens. But have produced some great pip free berry jam with this device. Occasionally have to use small amount food grade oil if it seizes.