A tomato press is the single piece of equipment that turns passata day from a week of sore arms into a one-morning family event. Ask anyone who grew up bottling tomatoes: the machine IS the memory – that heavy, clamped-down, hand-cranked beauty that ate crates of tomatoes and spat ruby puree into the bucket while everyone argued about whose turn it was to feed the next batch.
If you are shopping for your first passata machine, here is everything we have learned from years of them – including what to look for, what to skip, and how to make one last a lifetime.
What is a tomato press?
A tomato press (also called a passata machine, passatore, or tomato strainer) is a machine that separates tomato pulp and juice from skins and seeds. You feed cooked tomatoes into a hopper, turn a handle (or switch on the motor), and an auger presses the soft flesh through a screen while the waste skins and seeds exit out the end. What comes out the other side is exactly what passata is: pure strained tomato.
The same machine also handles other garden produce – many families use theirs for applesauce, berry purees, pumpkin and chutneys through autumn. It is not a one-season tool.
Manual vs electric: which should you buy?
The manual clamp-on press
The classic. A cast body clamps to your bench or table, a hand crank does the work, and there is nothing to plug in or break down electronically.
- Cheaper to buy, almost impossible to kill
- Totally portable – works in the garage, the camp kitchen, the caravan
- You control the pace, which matters when feeding soft cooked tomatoes
- The downside: your crank arm does thousands of rotations on a big passata day. Families with passata-day traditions actually like this part. Your shoulder may disagree.
The electric press
Same straining principle, motorised. Feed the tomatoes, and the machine pulls them through itself.
- Processes big batches dramatically faster – a genuine consideration if you do 20kg-plus
- Less physical effort, which keeps passata day open to every generation
- Costs more, needs a power point, and quality varies enormously between brands
Our honest take: if you are a once-a-year household doing under 15kg, a good manual press is all you need. If you are the family everyone donates their tomatoes to, go electric.
What about a food mill?
The rotating food mill is the budget option and perfectly respectable for small batches of a few kilos. But for real passata volumes it is slow, and you do far more of the work yourself. Think of it as the training wheels version.
What to look for when buying
- Metal body and auger. Plastic bodies flex, crack and warp. You want cast or heavy stamped metal – machines like this outlive their owners, and second-hand Italian ones from the markets are often the best buy in the shop.
- A solid clamp or base. The machine walks as you crank. A proper bench clamp (or suction base on electrics) is the difference between pleasant and infuriating.
- Screens included. A standard screen for passata, ideally a coarse screen for thicker purees and soft fruits. Spare screens and the little plastic pusher are worth grabbing at the same time.
- Easy disassembly. You will wash every part after use. Machines that come apart into five simple pieces get used; machines with mystery crevices stay in the cupboard.
- Spare parts availability. The classic Italian-style brands have made the same presses for decades precisely so parts and screens remain available for them.
How we use ours on passata day
Cook the tomatoes down briefly first – warm, collapsing tomatoes press far more easily than raw ones, and the juice flows brighter. Work them through in batches, keeping a bowl under the waste chute, and run the skins through a second time if you like a thicker passata. Fill sterilised bottles as you go, and keep the finished passata moving – it is a production line, not a storage exercise.
If you are wondering what happens before and after the machine, our full guide to making passata at home covers the whole process from crate to cupboard.
Caring for your press so it lasts forever
Rinse every part straight after use – tomato dries onto screens like concrete. Wash in warm soapy water (no dishwasher for cast parts), dry immediately, and give the metal a whisper of food-safe oil before storing. Keep the crank and screens together in one box, because the whole family will blame each other for losing the pusher. That is not a hypothetical.
Tomato press FAQ
Is a tomato press the same as a passata machine?
Yes – they are two names for the same machine. Tomato press, passata machine, passatore or tomato strainer: a hopper, an auger, a screen, and a mechanism that separates tomato pulp from skins and seeds.
Can a tomato press remove seeds as well as skins?
That is precisely its job. The auger presses the soft flesh through the screen while skins and seeds travel out the waste end separately. You get smooth, seed-free passata without blanching or peeling a single tomato.
Do I still need to peel tomatoes if I have a press?
No. Cook the tomatoes with skins on and let the press do the work – it is one of the biggest time savings in the whole passata process.
Can a tomato press be used for other foods?
Yes – applesauce, berry purees, pumpkin, chutneys and baby food all work beautifully through the right screen. Most families get far more use from theirs than passata alone.
Is an electric tomato press worth the extra cost?
If you process more than about 15kg of tomatoes a season, or you want the whole family including grandparents to take part without crank duty, yes. For small annual batches, a manual press is cheaper and effectively indestructible.