We make a ton of jam with our blackberries…that we get a massive amount of blackberries and boysenberries from. 500+ plants, 20 rows.
The issue is that we prefer to remove the seeds for the jam. Hand crank food mills like the Squeezo are too slow and get clogged too easily. We need something a bit more commercial or able to handle a lot without getting clogged every 10 minutes.
We’ve tried a Champion juicer that I got for cheap recently, and that’s better - but still weak.
Any idea for dealing with this on a pretty sizeable level? Hand screening, no.
Have you tried removing the seeds after cooking the berries down ?
The jam I make… I use whole berries… and you simmer them on med heat 8 minutes…
Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc… all just turn into a juicy slur after cooking them and stirring occasionally for 8 minutes.
I add back chia seeds to make it thicken… my jam is a low sugar chia jam.
But once cooked… it sure looks like it would feed thru a device that strains out the seeds… much easier than raw berries would. Less jamjng up possibly.
I never even notice seeds in whole berry jams … so I never remove them.
I’ve been debating on one of these or a food mill, but from just looking at photos, none of the mills I’ve seen look like they would filter out raspberry/blackberry seeds.
So debating that or the good ol mesh strainer and spoon bit
I don’t know of a better option but I wanted to mention in case it would be helpful. The screen you use, really matters when it comes to clogging. Make sure you are using the correct screen and screw to make your sqeezo or victorio most effective.
And there are motor add ons to make it easier to use once you stop clogging so much. No more hand cranking, but Id get the correct screen first.
I have a victorio food mill and have used it for about 20 years. It is very very useful for juicing tomatoes, but it can clog up which requires manual cleaning and then re-assembling. I have not used it for blackberries, but expect it would work for larger seeded varieties such as Ponca. I don’t think it would be up to the task of juicing more than 15 or 20 gallons per day. Hand cranking it gets old after a while.
I only have the screen that came with it when purchased. A smaller screen would work for wild blackberries. The screen I have should work for Ponca given the size of seed.
This was on my list ‘to get’… Im going to get one. Im a fan of vintage things that just work. Not a fan of plastic or gadgets. Im fairly certain my grandmother had one of these but when i was a kid i hated tomatoes and she made alot of things with tomatoes… funny how things come full circle in life.
Why? I think they have fixed a few small issues in the squeezo and original food mills… such as leaking shafts and screens not sealing as well etc. Not to mention on these models you can fit a grape auger.
The thumb screws on the screens vs wingnuts… maybe thats an improvement of sorts.
I am fairly sure that grape auger would help with some other fruits and seeds i want to mill… whereas the original old style augers might clog and jam if such seeds as sour cherry etc were to happen. Not sure on that but it is interesting.
I think for less than $100 the complete shebang will do all that i need of it.
I guess if i were going to do it for a living and had many hundreds of gallons of berries and made thousands of gallons of jam i would have to invest in something like this
The italians are pretty serious about their sauces and gravies… and process more tomatoes than i do berries… so i reckon cranking the handle would get tedious.
That guy in the video processing tomatoes has no idea how to use the machine. Pour the hopper full of tomatoes and then use the packing tool to push them down the throat into the spiral. The machine can literally handle 10 times as many tomatoes as he is feeding.
The plastic cone on the end of the screen of the Weston is relatively easy to break.
I have one of those. It is the best thing I have found for pulping persimmons, being as the are so thick. Just keep a butterknife handy to scrape the sides now and then. Have the squeezo and it works great for milling applesauce once they have been cooked down. When making blackberry jam we run the cooked mash through the squeezo as well, and it works great for removing the seeds.
Some call it a cone strainer some a chinois… not sure what other terms are used for it…
I think the trick is in the pestle (i have 3 of them). The one thats rough to the touch the seeds stick to it like a magnet…whereas the smooth one they do also but to a lesser degree. Not sure if sandpapering a smooth one or what would work better…
I think the lemon juice seems to help the surface also…maybe thats why they get ‘rough’ texture.
Its old timey work but i like it… i know some folks dont have the time to even make a PBJ (uncrustables)… so its not for everyone
The info i got on the grape spiral was from the old garden web… supposedly it really helps with larger seeded berries and things… but not much discussion other than old vintage posts… as most folks think that a grape spiral is only for grapes… I think it was also a big factor in heavily cored tomatoes also… but i didnt stay down that rabbit hole too long. Anyways i will give the Roma contraption a whirl.
ksrogers (not sure if they are on here) describes the differences way better than i can. And he seems to have tried them all…
Curiousity to me is if tart and sweet cherries no longer need ‘pitted’ for making jams and other products…using the grape auger.
I think someone mentioned that grape auger was good for processing elderberries with stems but i will likely never find that thread again… so not sure on that one.
I have the weston electric saucer - the plastic model - not the stainless. Works great for tomatoes. I use if for blackberries but barely passable. Kiowa blackberry seeds with jam in the holes of the smallest tube and you have to poke them out with a tooth pick. Will eventually jam with seeds. I have even seen it start smoking
I have a Weston food strainer, been using it for 15 years making tomato soup. Absolutely love it.
I have never used it for smaller seeded fruit, but for tomatos it works great.
