My absolute favorite new kitchen appliance to make tomato sauce and strain juice is the Weston Roma Tomato Press. It’s not electric but simply a hand-cranked machine to make the sauce. It separates the skins and seeds for you and is a game-changer when it comes to canned tomato sauce.
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Why I Love This Method
You may or may not know I was previously a roasted tomato sauce snob and would only make my tomato sauce following my roasted tomato sauce recipe. Though it’s a little more hands-on work, it’s incredibly delicious, and I like to stock my pantry with both options for different recipes.
And let me tell ya, if you’ve never had homemade tomato sauce made from vine-ripened tomatoes, then you’ve never had tomato sauce before. All else is an imitation, my friend.
Be sure also to grab my quick and easy homemade tomato soup recipe that you can make with your jars of homemade tomato sauce and this sweet and smoky BBQ sauce recipe.
This tomato press method is fantastic because I can toss all my garden fresh tomatoes into the freezer and keep them there until I’m ready to whip up a large batch. This is also one of my favorite hacks for not heating up the kitchen during those hot summer months.
And if you’re still bringing in green tomatoes from the garden (to save them from the frost), learn how to ripen green tomatoes indoors for fresh eating through the winter months.
What Does a Tomato Press Do?
This tomato press, or tomato food mill, will take off the skins and remove the seeds from your tomatoes, and leave you with only the juice. This juice can then be reduced and made into tomato sauce which can be canned for future use.
Use this machine when you have a bunch of tomatoes and need to crank through making tomato sauce quickly.
This blog post and video is sponsored by Lehman’s. If you’ve never shopped Lehman’s let me tell ya, you’re in for a treat! Go see everything they have to offer, then be sure to search “Weston Tomato Press”and grab your new favorite kitchen tool!
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Reasons For Using A Tomato Press
There are many great reasons for using a tomato press. Some are safety-related, and some are just preferential.
- Saves Time – Using a tomato press saves time. It’s much easier to use a press than to take the time to blanch all of your tomatoes and individually peel the skins, then core them and remove the seeds.
- Safer – As for safety, removing tomato skins before canning is essential because the skins contain more bacteria than the rest of the tomato.
- Better Texture – Some people remove the skins because they do not like the texture in their tomato sauce.
Common Questions About Tomato Presses
- Can you put raw tomatoes through a food mill? YES! This makes it so much easier to make tomato sauce. No peeling, coring or removing of seeds is needed.
- Do I need to peel tomatoes before using the food mill? No! Great news, right? Simply put your room temperature or thawed tomatoes into the press, skin and all.
Pro Tip: if you are freezing or dehydrating tomatoes, you can leave the skins on.
Ingredients Needed To Make Tomato Sauce
- 1-gallon fresh or frozen tomatoes – if using fresh tomatoes, quarter them. If using frozen tomatoes, be sure they’re completely thawed before putting them through the tomato press. You can use as many tomatoes as you want. Just scale the recipe up or down.
- Bottled lemon juice from concentrate – do not use fresh lemon juice.
- Salt – this is optional and only for flavor. I use Redmond Real Salt.
How To Use a Tomato Press for Tomato Sauce
I’m not listing the step-by-step canning method for this tomato sauce recipe. If you’d like to know exactly how to process your jars, visit this tomato sauce canning tutorial. I specify headspace, canning times, and more in that post.
- Clamp your tomato press nice and tight to the counter. It does have a suction cup, but depending on your counter surface type, it may not hold as tightly as it would if using the clamp.
- Place the two large mixing bowls on each end of the press. One will catch the tomato liquid, and one will catch the seeds, pulp, and skins.
- Place the stock pot onto your stove and heat on low to medium heat.
- Fill the large-capacity hopper halfway full of your tomatoes.
Pro Tip: Don’t put any liquid from the thawed frozen bag of tomatoes into the hopper. You want the least amount of liquid possible for a better tomato sauce. - Use the stomper tool to push the tomatoes through the hopper while you turn the crank.
- Scrape the rest of the pulp into the liquid bowl using a spatula.
- Pour the liquid into the stock pot to get it heated immediately.
- Take the leftover peels, skins, and seeds and put them through the hopper a second time. This liquid will be thicker and more flavorful. If you want to, you can repeat this a third time.
Pro Tip: You can also freeze dry and/or dehydrate the leftover peels, skins, and seeds and grind them up into a finer powder to put in sauces, stews, or chilis later on. - Bring the stock pot to a simmer for about an hour or two or until the thickness has been reduced to at least half of what it originally was. A third of a reduction is also fine.
- Have your canning jars ready to go. They should be washed with hot soapy water and still warm. You want to jar your tomato sauce while the jars are warm and not cold.
- Have your canner ready to go as well.
- Turn off the heat of the stock pot.
- Fill each pint jar with 1 Tablespoon of bottled lemon juice from concentrate. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon salt, but it’s optional (it’s just for flavor).
Pro Tip: I add the lemon juice and salt to every jar before pouring my sauce in. This way, I make sure I don’t miss any jars. - Place your funnel on the jar and ladle the tomato sauce into it.
- Place the lid on the jar and tighten to fingertip tight.
- Continue with your chosen canning method.
Can I Use A Tomato Press for Apples?
You can also use your tomato press for apples. The press comes with a stainless steel screen for tomatoes and apples. Other accessories are available such as the pumpkin screen, a salsa screen, the berries screen, and a grape screen.
So the next time you have lots of tomatoes, little time, or want to make some great tomato sauce, get out your new favorite tool, the Weston Tomato Press and see how quickly you can get your jars canned and onto the shelves.
And then enjoy using them for other recipes and wonderful meals together.
More Posts You May Enjoy
- Planting Tomatoes (+15 Must-Know Growing Tips)
- Trellising Tomatoes the Right Way
- How to Prune Tomato Plants for a Better Harvest
- 10 Tomato Growing Tips for a Disease-Free Harvest
- Preventing & Treating Early Blight of Tomato & Potato Plants
- Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Cabbage Rolls Recipe
- Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe
- 129+ Best Canning Recipes to Put Up This Year
- Canning Problems and Solutions: Siphoning (Liquid Loss in Jars)
- Pressure Canning FAQs
- Pros & Cons of Electric Pressure Canners (+Water Bath)
Easy Canned Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Pressure Canner or Water Bath Canner
- Canning Jars and Lids
Ingredients
- 20 pounds tomatoes 20 pounds makes about 7 pints of sauce
- 7 tbsp bottled lemon juice
- 1.75 tsp salt
- 3.5 tsp dried basil optional
Instructions
Prepare Tomatoes
- Pick your fresh tomatoes, slice in half and remove seeds.
- Place tomatoes, flesh side down (skin side up) on a cookie sheet and roast in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes (or until skins start to pull away from the tomatoes).
- Carefully remove skins and set them aside in a bowl.
- Add tomatoes to a food processor or high-powered blender. Pulse quickly to liquefy contents.
- Add tomato sauce to a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and continue simmering until tomato sauce is reduced down to desired thickness. (This will vary based on tomato variety.)
- Meanwhile, prepare your jars, gather your lids, and either your water bath canner or your pressure canner.
- To each jar, add one scoop of tomato sauce, then add 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice to each pint jar (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to each quart jar).
- Add 1/4 teaspoon salt to each pint jar (or 1/2 teaspoon salt to each quart jar).
- Add the optional 1/2 teaspoon dried basil to each pint jar (or 1 teaspoon dried basil to each quart jar).
- Fill jars the rest of the way with tomato sauce leaving 1/2-inch headspace for water bath canning and 1-inch headspace for pressure canning.
- Run a spatula around the jar circumference to remove air bubbles. Add more tomato sauce if needed to keep 1/2-inch or 1-inch headspace depending upon your method of canning.
- With a damp clean cloth, wipe the rim of the jar clean. Place on lids and screw down the bands until resistance is met, then to fingertip tight.
Water Bath Canning Instructions
- Place jars on a rack inside your water bath canner.
- Make sure at least 1 inch of water is covering the tops of the jars.
- Once you’ve got rolling boiling water, process pint jars for 35 minutes or quart jars for 40 minutes. (See notes for high altitude canning instructions.)
- Turn off heat and remove the lid from the canner. Allow jars to rest inside the water bath for 5 minutes.
- Using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.
- Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.
- Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn’t seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.)
Pressure Canning Instructions
- Add water to pressure canner, put in the rack, and load jars.
- Lock the lid, bring to a boil, and allow the pressure canner to vent steam for 10 minutes.
- Put the weight on and allow the canner to come up to 10 pounds of pressure (or use a weighted gauge, depending on your pressure canner). See notes for high-altitude canning instructions.
- Start processing time after weight begins rocking and hissing, or dial gauge reads 10 pounds of pressure.
- Process both pint and quart-size jars for 15 minutes.
- Allow pressure canner to cool down naturally and for pressure to return to normal.
- Carefully remove the hot lid and wait another 10 minutes before taking jars out of canner.
- Using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.
- Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.
- Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn’t seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.)
Notes
- Keep track of how much tomato sauce you’re blending as you go to have an idea of how many jars to prepare for canning.
- You MUST use bottled lemon juice for this recipe in order for it to be considered safe (or citric acid, see free chart for differing types of acid and amounts right above recipe card).
- Lemon juice, salt, and optional herbs should be added to each individual jar, not the pot of tomato sauce.
- If you have enough tomato sauce to fill all the jars needed for a run in the pressure canner, I’d use the pressure canner. Food may reach a hotter temperature in the pressure canner, but because it’s processed for less time, it retains more of the nutrients.
- If you don’t have enough jars to fill a pressure canner, or you don’t have one, the water bath is completely fine with this recipe.
- Even if you are pressure canning the tomato sauce, you still need to use the bottled lemon juice (or citric acid).
- Allow jars to remain in the canner for the recommended time to prevent siphoning of liquid which can inhibit a proper seal.
- For water bath canning 1,001 to 3,000 feet is 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts, 3,001 to 6,000 is 45 minutes for pints and 50 minutes for quarts. For altitudes above 6,001 feet increase by an additional 5 minutes.
- For pressure canning, 1,001 + feet use 15 pounds of pressure with a weighted gauge canner. For dial gauge, if 0 to 2,000 feet use 11 lbs PSI, for 2,001 to 4,000 feet use 12 lbs PSI, for 4,001 to 6,000 feet use 13 lbs PSI, for 6,001 to 8,000 feet use 14 lbs PSI.
Very interesting topic, regards for posting.
If you steam juice your tomatoes and then run the pulp through the mill, you don’t have to cook them down. Nice, thick sauce every time. Learned that at some retreat I went to a million years ago.
I have owned a similar one for over 40 years. As others stated I use it for tomatos , applesauce and pear sauce. Knowing you make lots of jelly and jams, I thought you might be interested in knowing that the one I own has a different screen that i ordered to process grapes for jelly eliminating the step for hanging them in cheese cloth. It is trully a time and mess saver for grape jelly. Hope this might help you see if your brand has a screen for grapes. Thank you
Save pulp to freeze dry for other uses.
Yes, we bought that tool 2 years ago and it has made our lives so much easier during harvest and canning season! Without a doubt worth every penny.
I have one and they are great for apple sauce too. Just cut the apples in half and cook them. The strainer sends the seeds and skin out one side and the sauce out the other.
I have been using a similar product for 50 years! When doing tomatoes I cut in half and lightly squeeze seeds and juice around the seeds out making for a thicker juice. I put straight into jars adding salt and 2 tsp of bottled lemon juice and use water bath for 45 minutes. I never had a bad batch! I make apple sauce too but core and cook apples until soft before putting through the press. I also add cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of cloves before putting in the jars. (I’m thinking of trying essential oils next time)
Nothing like Your own canned products!!
I watched you use an immersion blender in your tomato sauce to incorporate the skins into the sauce, how different is the final product between the two methods?
This press is $30 cheaper through Amazon (click the link that directs you to the Weston website and search “tomato press”) than Lehman’s. Never hurts to look around!
This present is $30 cheaper through Amazon (click the link that directs you to the Weston website and search “tomato press”) than Lehman’s. Never hurts to look around!
Hi Melissa, I have had one similar to this, looks the same but different brand, for years and I love it. Gave my original one to my son and bought another that is stainless steel. I started out using it for tomatoes but now use it mostly for applesauce, makes it so much easier and my hubby has used an electric drill to turn the handle. He said he wasn’t going to sit there and crank it by hand. I had no problem with cranking though but since he wanted to help, that’s ok with me.
I agree the press is a life saver. In less than an hour you can have your tomatoes cooking. We love ours. If you have juicy tomatoes you can let the juice sit overnight in the refrigerator and drain off the white liquid in the morning and cook up the tomato juice.
Love the Tomato Press! Watched video but wanted to know how you finished canning. What is that type of canner that you were using on the stovetop? Never seen that before – new to canning. Interested on learning more about that or a link to maybe something you have posted before about it. Thank you!
I didn’t watch the video but it was likely her All American pressure cooker if she pressure canned the sauce.
What she was using is a steam canner. It’s the same concept as water bath canning but with much less water. Water doesn’t cover the jars over the lid as in traditional water bath canning. You are steam canning with about an inch or so of water below the jars. It’s wonderful. Saves a ton or water and time.
10 years ago my husband bought me something similar for our anniversary except it was for our heavy duty meat grinder! Tomatoes have never been so easy since then!