I can tell from first use of the Omega that a food mill will give you a pulpier juice. I am going to have to blender the pulp with a bit of juice and force it through a sieve so at first go round, this is less than I was hoping for.
Cal,
I imagine, as it is with all tools, learning how to get the most out of it is as important as the tool itself.
I imagine, as it is with all tools, learning how to get the most out of it is as important as the tool itself.
Everything is washed and I'm ready to return the unit.
Before I do, I want to go onto a juice forum and find out. When I look at the strainer, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's too small to allow enough pulp to be tomato juice, I get tomato water.
Will report back.
Before I do, I want to go onto a juice forum and find out. When I look at the strainer, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's too small to allow enough pulp to be tomato juice, I get tomato water.
Will report back.
It's a juicer, not an electric food mill. Works for fruit, not tomatoes, I made the same mistake a long time ago.
I just use an oldfashioned (all-SS large model) vegetable/food mill, does 60lb in 5 minutes.
Before throwing them in the mill, I cut the tomatoes in half (transverse plane) and squeeze most of the wet stuff out by hand. Useless fluid, and gets rid of most of the seeds in the process. (wear gloves)
I will heed to your knowledge and pick this up tomorrow. At the moment I feel like the kid with the Helium balloon with the slow leak. My dreams are temporarily shattered. 
I mean WTF else might I be doing on a Friday night? So bad it is that my honey has gone to visit her Dad tonight while I trudge through the first flat in the old fashioned way.
Oh well, at least the Sockeye Sashimi, quartered new potatoes simmered in the pulled pork juice (did I forget to mention the batch we just finished?) and the local corn and Cal-Chi will help me get over the lack of company. If that doesn't work, Cap't Morgan is just down the street from here.
I mean WTF else might I be doing on a Friday night? So bad it is that my honey has gone to visit her Dad tonight while I trudge through the first flat in the old fashioned way.
Oh well, at least the Sockeye Sashimi, quartered new potatoes simmered in the pulled pork juice (did I forget to mention the batch we just finished?) and the local corn and Cal-Chi will help me get over the lack of company. If that doesn't work, Cap't Morgan is just down the street from here.
I need the smart guys to answer this.
If I do the tomato prep in the blender, introducing the air, can I then reduce that effect by simmering the juice over the stove? I have always 'cooked' my TJ anyways and when I see the bubbles all coming to the top am I reversing that oxidizing effect?
If I do the tomato prep in the blender, introducing the air, can I then reduce that effect by simmering the juice over the stove? I have always 'cooked' my TJ anyways and when I see the bubbles all coming to the top am I reversing that oxidizing effect?
I'm not very smart, but I would say that you are NOT reversing oxidation (aka reduction), you are just removing excess air. So you are lessening future oxidation, but you can't undo oxidation just with heat. You would need to introduce a reducer, a chemical that would bond with oxygen so strongly that it would undo those chemical bonds. (In brewing, yeast does a good job of that, BTW.) I guessing maybe potassium sorbate or sulphite might help.
Also, when you introduce air (hence oxygen) it is both mixed with the juice and also dissolved in it. Solubility of gas in a liquid is proportional to pressure, so if you expose the liquid to a partial vacuum it will "pull" gases out of the liquid (like opening a beer). However that won't remove oxygen that has already chemically bonded with the substances (acids, sugars, etc) present in the juice.
Also, when you introduce air (hence oxygen) it is both mixed with the juice and also dissolved in it. Solubility of gas in a liquid is proportional to pressure, so if you expose the liquid to a partial vacuum it will "pull" gases out of the liquid (like opening a beer). However that won't remove oxygen that has already chemically bonded with the substances (acids, sugars, etc) present in the juice.
Cal, I have used a blender to process tomatoes. They come out a light color..I have assumed it was due to aeration. If you cook them they seem to return to normal. You could add citric acid to prevent oxidation. Some tomatoes are acidic enough on their own some newer varieties are not.
I often sauce about half of the tomatoes. The others half squeeze out the seeds and drop into the simmering sauce just long enough to peel the skin. Then the tomatoes are frozen in ziplocks...some just sauce some peeled tomatoes in sauce.
Evan
I often sauce about half of the tomatoes. The others half squeeze out the seeds and drop into the simmering sauce just long enough to peel the skin. Then the tomatoes are frozen in ziplocks...some just sauce some peeled tomatoes in sauce.
Evan
used a foley mill from the hardware store to make baby-food for our first born -- it was so time consuming that after a few weeks I went to Macy's on 34th Street and bought the recently introduced Cuisinart! Guess the year.
Oh, I thought you had a different strainer for that Omega, that would do tomatoes. Mine didn't, but was an amazing juicer, which by definition, tries to get all pulp out and give you as much juice as possible. When I was looking for a good meat grinder, I came across this, in a local Toronto shop:
Tomato Machines
It's probably what you really want.
Tomato Machines
It's probably what you really want.
Of course you found that in Toronto, I heard that TO is the biggest Italian city outside Italy! (Seriously, it's like >400,000 people of Italian descent in the GTA.)
Might be so, but they say "Free shipping to US&Canada for orders over $ 69.99" so, it doesn't matter that it's local. But harder to return if not happy with it.
I've been in that store (it's in Little Italy) when I was looking for some parts for my espresso machine. Then I really wanted to get a Fabio Leonardi meat grinder from them, as it seemed so well made. But I found something a little cheaper and also well made elsewhere.
I've been in that store (it's in Little Italy) when I was looking for some parts for my espresso machine. Then I really wanted to get a Fabio Leonardi meat grinder from them, as it seemed so well made. But I found something a little cheaper and also well made elsewhere.
Ah, Little Italy! When I went to UofT a million years ago there was a sandwich shop on College St in Little Italy called San Francesco's, which was recommended in the student guide. I went there one day. The guys behind the counter studiously ignored me until all their regulars had ordered, including the ones who came in behind me, then asked me what I wanted. I asked for an Italian sausage sandwich. The guy says to me "Sweet?" I didn't know what he meant, so asked "As opposed to what?" He said "Hot peppers?" I said "That sounds good!" He looked me up and down, said "Sweet!", and got me a sandwich without hot peppers. He was right, and it was delicious. 🙂
I have a Magimix food processor (+ juicer attachment, + parmesan grating disc, + mini bowl, etc) and a Kitchenaid mixer with all power-hub attachments (pasta maker, meat grinder, the works)
For tomatoes I move my south paw.
Nez, I read your explanation last night a couple times and thought, man I should do this before beer. So I read it again this afternoon and think, I should have a beer to help me better understand this. 🙂
Food processor to replace blender and all is well in Calmato land. Jacco, why do you not think ahead of me. You could have saved me a sinking balloon feeling.
Anyway, I will return to the $0.16/lbs. tomato place tomorrow to see if there are more flats.
In my best Frank - Cheek to Cheek voice:
"Heaven... I'm in Heaven" 😀
Anyway, I will return to the $0.16/lbs. tomato place tomorrow to see if there are more flats.
In my best Frank - Cheek to Cheek voice:
"Heaven... I'm in Heaven" 😀
Maybe I should have written it before beer. 🙂
But the concept I was trying for was to distinguish between dissolved oxygen and oxidation (and, I suppose air or oxygen in suspension, aka "foam"). If your processing causes excess oxygen to be dissolved in the juice, it can be removed by increasing temperature or reducing pressure (or both). A buddy of mine used to have a nice vacuum generator Venturi thing you could screw on a faucet, and we would use that to de-gas wine.
But my point was also that IF the oxygen got into the juice and already started oxidizing stuff (chemically bonding with the juice constituents) it is very hard to undo that. Some highly reductive chemical might help, but then you have those chemicals in your juice -- like sulphites might help, and in small quantities are not too bad, but do you want to put sulphites in your juice? Probably not. Besides, the principal benefit of those things is prophylactic -- oxygen bonds to them more readily than to the juice, so they prevent oxidation, but again reversing it is harder.
Where is SY? He must know about this stuff.
But the concept I was trying for was to distinguish between dissolved oxygen and oxidation (and, I suppose air or oxygen in suspension, aka "foam"). If your processing causes excess oxygen to be dissolved in the juice, it can be removed by increasing temperature or reducing pressure (or both). A buddy of mine used to have a nice vacuum generator Venturi thing you could screw on a faucet, and we would use that to de-gas wine.
But my point was also that IF the oxygen got into the juice and already started oxidizing stuff (chemically bonding with the juice constituents) it is very hard to undo that. Some highly reductive chemical might help, but then you have those chemicals in your juice -- like sulphites might help, and in small quantities are not too bad, but do you want to put sulphites in your juice? Probably not. Besides, the principal benefit of those things is prophylactic -- oxygen bonds to them more readily than to the juice, so they prevent oxidation, but again reversing it is harder.
Where is SY? He must know about this stuff.