VKP250

Absolutely the best product on the market for making tomato puree. I was a bit hesitant because it's expensive, but it's absolutely worth it. It gets out every last bit of Pulp and so the discards that come out are pretty dry. Easy instructions and easy to wash afterwards. Clamps securely to the counter.

I promised someone I'd come back and review the model 250 when I got mine. Here's the update--it works just as well as the old model. The table clamp is better, but the way the screen attaches is worse, since you have to grab onto it to take it apart now. It leaks just as the old model did, but a little less. All in all though, it works like a charm and turns out a beautiful job with little work. The review below still stands for the newer model. I can a LOT of tomatoes. This year I did 30-50 pounds a week, all summer. My old process: wash tomatoes. Cut slits in the bottom of tomatoes. Dunk tomatoes in boiling water. Once the skins split, dunk in ice water. Peel the tomatoes. Cut out the core. Cut off green shoulders. Cut off bad bits. Put tomato in saucepan. Crust tomatoes with potato masher. Cook down the tomatoes, process in water bath canner. This takes ALL DAY. Then a friend took pity on me and loaned me her Victorio Strainer. It's at least 30 years old, probably older and still in great shape. The first time I used it, it was like the heavens had opened and angels began to sing. Here's my new process: Wash tomatoes. Cut off bad bits. Cut tomato in half or quarters. Run through the strainer. Cook down and process. DONE. The resulting puree is gorgeous and seed and peel free. I can use tomatoes with blossom end rot--just cut that bit off. I can use all my cherry tomatoes that I could never preserve before. There is almost no waste--after you run the tomatoes through once, dump all the peels and cores back in and run them again. You'll be shocked at how much more juice and pulp comes out. The resulting waste is almost dry. I had a gallon of waste from 50 pounds of tomatoes. This thing is completely amazing. It does leak a bit. Don't know if that's because it's old, or it's the nature of the beast. I DO NOT CARE. The screen is a bit of a pain to clean. I DO NOT CARE. This thing is so much faster and so much better than doing it all by hand, these small annoyances are nothing. We also did 100 pounds of Concord grapes for juice with this, and it was awesome. I'm here to buy my own so I can return the one I'm using. Oh, just save yourself the aggravation and buy the accessory pack while you're here. Once you start using it for something like tomatoes, you'll look around and want to do grapes, or salsa, or pumpkin... better get those accessories now.

It works well and comes apart easily for cleaning. Few things I wish were made more durable--the cup for the discard. Its a cheap thin plastic. Even though I have tried to be very careful with it, I still got a crack down the side. I have only had it for one month. Once it breaks I don't know what I'll do to prevent discard from falling into the sauce. Secondly, the handle comes off the base easily. Nice feature when you are storing but not in use. The handle slides off easily while I'm turning it. Not a big deal, just frustrating to keep picking it up and worry that it's going to land on my toes (this part is heavy duty). so overall I feel it's a good product and fairly priced but disappointed in some parts--feel it could be a really quality tool that would last for years. As is I think I'll be buying something else in a year two.

Well this machine is simply amazing for tomato sauce or pizza sauce separates everything precisely, from skins to seeds to juice and meat of the tomato so yeah so far we are loving it it’s our second time using it but it’s been a breeze and a piece of cake to assemble.

I didn't buy my Victorio from Amazon; actually it was a gift from my aunt. If you can tomato sauce or make jelly or otherwise process juice/pulp, you NEED one of these. It's not that expensive, and it is such an improvement over the old cone-shaped strainer with a wooden pestle/roller. The Victorio is simple: put in the spring & the food-screw; twist on the strainer cone you need & lock it. Put on the clear plastic cone that lengthens the strainer (this helps the waste come out into a bowl.) Screw the Victorio to a side of your table or counter. (You DO need a kitchen table or counter edge. I put mine on the edge of my counter with a tall chair beside it holding a stock-pot for the juice) Put on the shield/spout and the big funnel, and your stock-pot under the shield/spout for the juice, and you're ready to go. This may take you a minute or two at most. Then it's intuitive: scoop your tomatoes into the big funnel and turn the handle. Juice and pulp come out the side of the strainer-cone, down the shield/spout and into your pot. When finished, I carefully take off the shield/spout and scrap the remaining pulp on the outside of it into the stock pot as well. In maybe 5 or 10 minutes I can juice/pulp a 16 quart pot of tomatoes, usually getting around 14 or more quarts of juice. I don't can like the Mennonites do, but I have about 50 jars of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, and hot sauce in the pantry this year, in addition to whole tomatoes. We don't use a lot of jelly, but I have also made a little jelly using this strainer. I like this product because it is simple, fairly easy to clean, and requires no electricity. (I think you can buy a motor now, which might be convenient if you're putting up hundreds of jars, or if you have really bad arthritis.) A child could safely operate it except for the fact that you're often using very hot fruits/juice/vegetables. The skins/waste is good for chickens or compost.My chickens love the waste as a treat! I can't say enough good about this little device. It actually does what it is supposed to do, which is saying something.

I wanted a nice middle of the road grinder, strictly for tomatoes. While this product isn't fancy, it performs exactly as advertised. There is a total of about 6 pieces that fit together, so it isn't complicated. The only part that is remotely challenging is pressing and twisting the screen into the crank housing. It isn't horrible, but for people with less hand and grip strength it might be frustrating. But once it's assembled (<5 minutes), it works like a breeze. You don't need much strength to turn the crank, and it processes the tomatoes pretty quickly. I was pleasantly surprised at how effective it was filtering the skins and seeds out from the pulp/juice. At most, a few stray seeds might sneak through, but not enough to mention. So unless you need to process a LOT of tomatoes, this is a nice choice. It's not deluxe by any means, but it's not going to fall apart after a few uses. My sole criticism is that the screen isn't dishwasher safe. Make sure you have a bottle brush or something similar to aid in cleaning.

I used this product for the first time this week and it is fabulous. I picked blueberries and wanted to turn them into syrup. So I simmered them on the stove for a while in a little water and mashed them with a potato masher. I had not removed stems or flowers, I just washed them. After they were soft I put them through the Victorio food strainer and in no time at all I had all the juice and pulp ready to cook down for syrup. All stems, flowers and virtually all of the tiny blueberry seeds were removed. Only about a cup of waste remained from over ten pounds of blueberries. I’ve used a food mill but it is a pain because you have to constantly clean it to remove the compressed waste material. Additionally, you have to clamp the mill to your bowl and set it on a no-slip mat or it moves around enough to make it difficult to turn. My helper hand is always very tired after using the mill from holding the bowl still enough to turn the crank. This food strainer has no such problems. It clamps securely to a standard Formica counter top so all you have to do is turn the handle, which is easy. It does leak a small amount of juice from where the handle inserts into the device, but a towel on the floor underneath is sufficient to avoid a mess. The splatter screen/spout is relatively low to the table so a shallow bowl is required. My 4 coup Pyrex measuring cup fits but the 8 cup does not. The residue is spit out the side into a waiting bowl, so the only time you have to clean it is at the end of your job. A regular scrub brush works well to clean the bits from the holes in the screen. The whole thing was easy and very effective. I’m very impressed!

I ordered this in March, knowing that I wouldn’t be using it until my tomatoes were ready at the end of June. I had washed all the parts, and attempted to re-assembled the machine per the manual. I was having trouble re-attaching the tomato/ apple screen so I made a phone call to VKP Brands customer service. The nice woman tried to help but she was just as baffled as I was that the screen wouldn’t attach. I finally got it to hold and then I waited for the perfect tomato ripeness. I set up the Sauce Maker yesterday to process about 60 pounds of tomatoes. When the very first batch that went into the hopper, the machine fell apart… no, not “fell apart”. It Exploded into pieces! After only 3 cranks of the handle, the part labeled “standard spiral” blew apart from the body and with it went about 3 pounds of tomatoes.. all over me, the the Sauce Maker, the kitchen island and the floor. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy to have to stop processing and clean up all the mess, and I still had all those tomatoes to deal with! After deciding that the only way to proceed was old school sauce-making (peeling, crushing, cooking, and canning) which I finished that day. After washing all the parts of the Sauce Maker I attempted to re-assemble it. I examined the plastic spiral carefully and I believe that there is a flaw inside it that makes it impossible to seat properly. That in turn made the tomato/apple screen incapable of seating properly on the body. I really wanted to love this. I understand that there can be manufacturing issues. I can accept that plastic parts might not be flawless, but I am over trying to make this work. I would like a refund but I’ve waited to long to test it. Now it is a $79.00 paperweight and I’m back to peeling tomatoes. Bummer.

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.

It‘s a great and handy tool, works pretty well. But it‘s cheap made, way to cheap. The inner parts start to rust right after the first use. That‘s because the parts are simply galvanized, not stainless steel. I did it right as shown in the manual, hand wash it and dry it. To be honest it‘s nearly impossible to dry out alle the little spaces and edges and surprise, surprise, rust.

This device works, but not as well as the original Victorio strainer. It has a lot of dead space behind the auger that wastes a lot of fruit.