OXO food mill: straining out tomato skins and seeds

Bread decided, soup still to make

Silas Ellis Kim and his housemate Cass agree about the bread. It should have a proper crust. For the tomato soup he wants to make alongside it, Silas has another preference: the skins and seeds should be strained out.

He already has a spoon and sieve for that job. Prepared strained tomatoes are another reasonable starting point. Silas tends to keep working kitchen tools, so a new one needs a particular reason to join them.

The OXO Good Grips Food Mill offers a way to mash and strain together. Turning its crank presses the food through a perforated disc into a bowl beneath, while the mill retains solids. OXO’s guide expressly describes leaving tomato skins and seeds behind. That is the feature Silas is considering.

Calling a tool a blender would not establish this separating step. His question is what stays above the disc when the puree passes through.

A crank, three discs and a bowl beneath

The complete model 1071478 has a mill bowl, crank and locking bar, plus three discs for fine, medium and coarse textures. A spare bowl alone would not make a working kit. OXO lists the mill’s capacity as 2.3 quarts, which is a container limit rather than a promise about the amount of finished soup.

The guide does not prescribe a particular disc for tomatoes or give a guaranteed particle-removal rate. Silas can choose among the supplied textures without expecting a promise that every fragment will disappear.

He plans to use cooked, softened tomatoes in manageable batches. He will take the cooking vessel off the heat and handle the food and containers at a comfortable temperature. Although OXO allows hot or cold food, there is no reason for his plan to depend on handling a scalding pan.

Before adding food, the unfolded legs need stable support on the receiving bowl, with clearance for the puree below. The disc goes in domed side up and the crank’s bar locks beneath the hooks as shown in the guide. Cranking is clockwise, with frequent reversals to reposition the food.

The work Silas is willing to do

Cass has agreed to the shared preparation space and storage. They have had different ideas about what counts as put away, so Silas includes the end of the job in his decision: discard the retained solids, take the mill apart and wash the parts. OXO lists the mill as dishwasher safe.

He chooses the complete OXO Good Grips Food Mill for this tomato preparation. He will check the package, keep the total within his $320 personal budget and confirm secure bowl support before loading it. The selected single-mill listing identifies model 1071478. Its separate part number is 1071478UK, so the listing’s packaging and warranty terms deserve their own check if those matter to the purchase.

For the tomato soup he has in mind, Silas is willing to turn the crank.

When this does not matter

You are happy to leave skins and seeds in your preparation, or your spoon and sieve or prepared strained tomatoes already meet your preference.