Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.

I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.

Thanks!!!

wrote:
>
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> Thanks!!!

Remove the stems, partially freeze to semi solid and then run them
through one of the commercial manual potato frier/dicers that force the
potato or in this case semi frozen tomato through a grid of blades to
make fries and then through another set of blades to dice. Should give
consistent results, might cost <$100 at a restaurant supply place that
sells used equipment. Not sure if you could get away with one of the $20
consumer versions of the machine.

Pete C.

Pete C. wrote:
> wrote:
>> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
>> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
>> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
>> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
>> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>>
>> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>>
>> Thanks!!!
>
> Remove the stems, partially freeze to semi solid and then run them
> through one of the commercial manual potato frier/dicers that force the
> potato or in this case semi frozen tomato through a grid of blades to
> make fries and then through another set of blades to dice. Should give
> consistent results, might cost <$100 at a restaurant supply place that
> sells used equipment. Not sure if you could get away with one of the $20
> consumer versions of the machine.
>
> Pete C.


Freezing will ruin the tomatoes.

Bob

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> Thanks!!!
>

Have a tomato-chopping party. Buy a keg. They'll come.

Elisa

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.

Perhaps better control of the on-off switch (pulse switch) on the food
processor?
Cut the tomatoes into a large dice (uniform size) and then pulse them in
the machine.
Over processing will leave you with the puree you don't want.
Goomba

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> Thanks!!!

Got an old "Veg - O - Matic" lurking around in some forgotten cupboard?
A mandolin would convert to slices that can then be roughly chopped.

The suggestion of a mezzo luna is probly a good one also, in a large
container chop the tomatoes with the mezzo luna.
---
JL

Mark Thorson > wrote in news:44B94A5D.1CCC34E5
@sonic.net:

> Elisa wrote:
>>
>> Have a tomato-chopping party. Buy a keg. They'll come.
>
> That'll seem like a good idea until a glob
> of tomato lands on someone, they take it
> the wrong way, accusations fly, and then,
> well, you get the picture . . .
>
> 500 tomatoes + keg of beer = recipe for disaster


Simple. Add another (501st) tomato!??

But we've all seen the tomato celebration in Spain. La Tomatina, Buñol.

What's the worry? It's culture, dammit!!!

Andy

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.

You'd be surprised at how quickly you can dice tomatoes with the proper
knife and properly sharpened and with the proper technique.... I dice
at least 500 pounds of tomatoes at the end of the growing season...
only need about 3 hours. And for salsa you don't really need perfect
little cubes. After paring out the cores dice with a *carbon* steel
chefs knife. It's really not a lot of work... now if you wanted to
remove the skin, that's a job. I don't like the skins in my salsa.

Sheldon

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
I don't like the premise in your hypothetical that there's no prep for
the tomatoes. If you just toss them into your hypothetical tomato
chopper you will have all the seeds and tomato snot in your salsa.
Yuck. Instead, they should be sliced in half horizontally and the
seeds and snot squeezed out (or shaken, with a good wrist snap). Then
they can be chopped and your salsa will be a lot nicer. -aem

"Sheldon" > wrote in news:1152997006.653768.231560
@s13g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>
> You'd be surprised at how quickly you can dice tomatoes with the proper
> knife and properly sharpened and with the proper technique.... I dice
> at least 500 pounds of tomatoes at the end of the growing season...
> only need about 3 hours. And for salsa you don't really need perfect
> little cubes. After paring out the cores dice with a *carbon* steel
> chefs knife. It's really not a lot of work... now if you wanted to
> remove the skin, that's a job. I don't like the skins in my salsa.
>
> Sheldon


I'd go for the non-reactive ceramic knife (now that I have one)!

Andy

When I make salsa, I don't freeze the tomatoes, I put them on a broiler
rack, and essentially broil them for a few minutes after removing the
stems.

Here's a recipe for my very favorite Chevy's Restaurant Salsa. I don't
use as many jalapenos as they do in their recipe.:

Chevy's Salsa Recipe


6 medium tomatoes

10 jalapenos (red is best)

1/4 of a medium Spanish onion

2 cloves garlic

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

2 T. white vinegar

2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. mesquite-flavored liquid smoke


1. Preheat your barbecue grill to high temperature.

2. Remove any stems from the tomatoes, then rub some oil over each
tomato. You can leave the stems on the jalapenos.

3. Place the tomatoes on the grill when it's hot. After about 10
minutes, place all of the jalapenos onto the grill. In about 10 minutes
you can turn the tomatoes and the peppers. When almost the entire
surface of the peppers has charred black you can remove them from the
grill. The tomatoes will turn partially black, but when the skin begins
to come off they are done. Put the peppers and tomatoes on a plate and
let them cool.

4. When the tomatoes and peppers have cooled, remove most of the skin
from the tomatoes and place them into a food processor. Pinch the stem
end from each of the peppers and place them into the food processor as
well. Toss out the liquid that remains on the plate.

5. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree on
high speed for 5-10 seconds or until the mixture has a smooth
consistency.

6. Place the salsa into a covered container and chill for several hours
or overnight while the flavors develop.

Makes approximately 2 cups.

"Mike H" > wrote in message
9.130...
> zxcvbob > wrote in :
>
>> Freezing will ruin the tomatoes.
>>
>
> Partially freezing to make them more rigid may not.

Yes, it will. Anytime tomatoes are chilled below 40f, the main flavor
components are destroyed.
--


--Rich

Rich wrote:
> "Mike H" > wrote in message
> 9.130...
>> zxcvbob > wrote in :
>>
>>> Freezing will ruin the tomatoes.
>>>
>> Partially freezing to make them more rigid may not.
>
> Yes, it will. Anytime tomatoes are chilled below 40f, the main flavor
> components are destroyed.


I was referring to what it would do to the texture.

Bob

Goomba38 wrote on 15 Jul 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> wrote:
> > Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> > transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> > and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> > processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes
in
> > any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> Perhaps better control of the on-off switch (pulse switch) on the food
> processor?
> Cut the tomatoes into a large dice (uniform size) and then pulse them
in
> the machine.
> Over processing will leave you with the puree you don't want.
> Goomba
>

The trick is to cut the tomato into 'same size' chunks; before plusing in
the processor...Or get a good mandoline...There are dicing devices out
there but I'm guessing tomatoes wouldn't work in them.

http://tinyurl.com/ruoum

--


Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect

-Alan

I like the snot and seeds. Freezing won't work well, the flavor will
suffer, the mandolin won't dice, I tried the pulse on food processor
but it only purrees and would not dice.

HELP. I can't believe the japanese haven't made a ginsu tomatoe dicer
with a motor. WOW.

I didn't think this would be an easy solution. Oh well.

I like the snot and seeds. Freezing won't work well, the flavor will
suffer, the mandolin won't dice, I tried the pulse on food processor
but it only purrees and would not dice.

HELP. I can't believe the japanese haven't made a ginsu tomatoe dicer
with a motor. WOW.

I didn't think this would be an easy solution. Oh well.

wrote:
>
> I like the snot and seeds. Freezing won't work well, the flavor will
> suffer, the mandolin won't dice, I tried the pulse on food processor
> but it only purrees and would not dice.
>
> HELP. I can't believe the japanese haven't made a ginsu tomatoe dicer
> with a motor. WOW.
>
> I didn't think this would be an easy solution. Oh well.

Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have any
effect on flavor.

You might be able to get away with the potato dicer without freezing if
it's really sharp or if you blanch and skin the tomatoes first. I can't
think of anything else that would get you consistent dice in one shot.

Pete C.

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Rich wrote:
>> "Mike H" > wrote in message
>> 9.130...
>>> zxcvbob > wrote in
>>> :
>>>
>>>> Freezing will ruin the tomatoes.
>>>>
>>> Partially freezing to make them more rigid may not.
>>
>> Yes, it will. Anytime tomatoes are chilled below 40f, the main flavor
>> components are destroyed.
>
>
> I was referring to what it would do to the texture.

So flavorless tomatoes are okay for making a lot of salsa so long as the
texture is right?


--Rich

"Pete C." > wrote in message
...
> wrote:


>
> Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
> whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have any
> effect on flavor.


Refrigeration causes the complex sugar compounds that are reponsible for the
tomatoey flavors and smells to break down into flavorless starches. One of
these compounds, Z-3 hexenyl, provides as much as 30% of the flavor of the
fruit. This degredation
of flavor happens in prepared tomato products, too. That's why you find
shelves full of canned tomatoes at your supermarket, and none at all in the
freezer section.

--Rich

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> Thanks!!!

...and how the hell do you peel all those skin off them for making
salsa? Good luck!

dee wrote:
> wrote:
> > Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> > transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> > and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> > processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> > any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
> >
> > I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
> >
> > Thanks!!!
>
> ..and how the hell do you peel all those skin off them for making
> salsa? Good luck!

Just a thought, maybe you can do it in batches of 20 pounds each, that
will take about 25 batches - spread the job to 5 of you/friends, each
doing 5 batches (1 batch per day for each of you), it will be done in
less then a week.

Rich wrote:
> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Rich wrote:
>>> "Mike H" > wrote in message
>>> 9.130...
>>>> zxcvbob > wrote in
>>>> :
>>>>
>>>>> Freezing will ruin the tomatoes.
>>>>>
>>>> Partially freezing to make them more rigid may not.
>>> Yes, it will. Anytime tomatoes are chilled below 40f, the main flavor
>>> components are destroyed.
>>
>> I was referring to what it would do to the texture.
>
> So flavorless tomatoes are okay for making a lot of salsa so long as the
> texture is right?
>

It's alright with me cuz I'm not the one eating it ;-)

I think you are wrong about the flavor being destroyed because I've
frozen tomatoes before and they turned into a nasty tough mush with a
yellow fluid that separates out when you thaw -- but they still smell
and taste like fresh tomatoes. You can use them to make a fresh-tasting
picante sauce if you liquefy them in a blender before you add the
peppers and onions and stuff. I usually just use them for cooking.

Bob

Rich wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> ...
> > wrote:
>
> >
> > Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
> > whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have any
> > effect on flavor.
>
> Refrigeration causes the complex sugar compounds that are reponsible for the
> tomatoey flavors and smells to break down into flavorless starches. One of
> these compounds, Z-3 hexenyl, provides as much as 30% of the flavor of the
> fruit. This degredation
> of flavor happens in prepared tomato products, too. That's why you find
> shelves full of canned tomatoes at your supermarket, and none at all in the
> freezer section.
>
> --Rich

Last time I looked at the grocery store there was an abundance of frozen
tomato products.

Pete C.

On 2006-07-15, > wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine.....

Hire 5 illegals for half an hour.

nb

"Pete C." > wrote in message
...
> Rich wrote:
>>
>> "Pete C." > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
>> > whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have any
>> > effect on flavor.
>>
>> Refrigeration causes the complex sugar compounds that are reponsible for
>> the
>> tomatoey flavors and smells to break down into flavorless starches. One
>> of
>> these compounds, Z-3 hexenyl, provides as much as 30% of the flavor of
>> the
>> fruit. This degredation
>> of flavor happens in prepared tomato products, too. That's why you find
>> shelves full of canned tomatoes at your supermarket, and none at all in
>> the
>> freezer section.
>>
>> --Rich
>
> Last time I looked at the grocery store there was an abundance of frozen
> tomato products.
>
> Pete C.

Cooked tomato products. A slight difference.

Ms P

ms_peacock wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> ...
> > Rich wrote:
> >>
> >> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
> >> > whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have any
> >> > effect on flavor.
> >>
> >> Refrigeration causes the complex sugar compounds that are reponsible for
> >> the
> >> tomatoey flavors and smells to break down into flavorless starches. One
> >> of
> >> these compounds, Z-3 hexenyl, provides as much as 30% of the flavor of
> >> the
> >> fruit. This degredation
> >> of flavor happens in prepared tomato products, too. That's why you find
> >> shelves full of canned tomatoes at your supermarket, and none at all in
> >> the
> >> freezer section.
> >>
> >> --Rich
> >
> > Last time I looked at the grocery store there was an abundance of frozen
> > tomato products.
> >
> > Pete C.
>
> Cooked tomato products. A slight difference.
>
> Ms P

Some minimally cooked, basically just blanched.

Pete C.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> Thanks!!!
>

Get a tomato shark, remove both ends of ALL tomatoes. If you wish to skin
all tomatoes then blanch them for about 10 seconds in boiling water....as
many as will fit loosly in the pan. Put aside until finished. Go through
and peel all tomatoes in sequence, cut in half and squeeze out goo if need
be but make sure that the tomatoes are in half so that you have a flat side
to work with. NOw, start dicing with your already halved tomatoes on one
side of your cutting board and whatever buckets you want on the other side.
Dice until your board is filled up, dump into holding container (keeping
all of these steps as cool as possible since tomatoes ferment quickly).
When holding container is full place in fridge or large pot or whatever
you're going to use. Repeat the dicing until all are finished.

As you see this way has it's flaws (you have to have a place and space for
everything beforehand and know what to do w/it.) but it's MUCH faster than
doing several at a time. Doing things in this manner is how Henry Ford
became the primier car maker first. Trust me, this type of logistics works
faster than stopping and starting and stopping and starting but it may not
be possible due to limited space or whatever.

Oh, and as to how to dice 500 tomatoes? One at a time, hon, one at a time.

helen

I keep the skins.

dee wrote:
> wrote:
> > Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> > transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> > and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> > processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> > any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
> >
> > I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
> >
> > Thanks!!!
>
> ..and how the hell do you peel all those skin off them for making
> salsa? Good luck!

just to be clear, i'm looking for a small machine to do this, not to do
it manually. keeping skins is fine with me, great fiber.

i'll remove the stem top but that's it. at that point i want to put
them into some device and have it dice them and not purree them. oh
well

Helen Harrand wrote:
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> > transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> > and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> > processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> > any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
> >
> > I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
> >
> > Thanks!!!
> >
>
> Get a tomato shark, remove both ends of ALL tomatoes. If you wish to skin
> all tomatoes then blanch them for about 10 seconds in boiling water....as
> many as will fit loosly in the pan. Put aside until finished. Go through
> and peel all tomatoes in sequence, cut in half and squeeze out goo if need
> be but make sure that the tomatoes are in half so that you have a flat side
> to work with. NOw, start dicing with your already halved tomatoes on one
> side of your cutting board and whatever buckets you want on the other side.
> Dice until your board is filled up, dump into holding container (keeping
> all of these steps as cool as possible since tomatoes ferment quickly).
> When holding container is full place in fridge or large pot or whatever
> you're going to use. Repeat the dicing until all are finished.
>
> As you see this way has it's flaws (you have to have a place and space for
> everything beforehand and know what to do w/it.) but it's MUCH faster than
> doing several at a time. Doing things in this manner is how Henry Ford
> became the primier car maker first. Trust me, this type of logistics works
> faster than stopping and starting and stopping and starting but it may not
> be possible due to limited space or whatever.
>
> Oh, and as to how to dice 500 tomatoes? One at a time, hon, one at a time.
>
> helen

I was thinking to do 500 pounds in no more than 10 minutes :-)

Sheldon wrote:
> wrote:
> > Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> > transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> > and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> > processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> > any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
> >
> > I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>
> You'd be surprised at how quickly you can dice tomatoes with the proper
> knife and properly sharpened and with the proper technique.... I dice
> at least 500 pounds of tomatoes at the end of the growing season...
> only need about 3 hours. And for salsa you don't really need perfect
> little cubes. After paring out the cores dice with a *carbon* steel
> chefs knife. It's really not a lot of work... now if you wanted to
> remove the skin, that's a job. I don't like the skins in my salsa.
>
> Sheldon

wrote:
> just to be clear, i'm looking for a small machine to do this, not to do
> it manually. keeping skins is fine with me, great fiber.
>
> i'll remove the stem top but that's it. at that point i want to put
> them into some device and have it dice them and not purree them. oh
> well
>
> Helen Harrand wrote:
>> > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>>> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
>>> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
>>> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
>>> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
>>> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>>>
>>> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>>>
>>> Thanks!!!
>>>
>> Get a tomato shark, remove both ends of ALL tomatoes. If you wish to skin
>> all tomatoes then blanch them for about 10 seconds in boiling water....as
>> many as will fit loosly in the pan. Put aside until finished. Go through
>> and peel all tomatoes in sequence, cut in half and squeeze out goo if need
>> be but make sure that the tomatoes are in half so that you have a flat side
>> to work with. NOw, start dicing with your already halved tomatoes on one
>> side of your cutting board and whatever buckets you want on the other side.
>> Dice until your board is filled up, dump into holding container (keeping
>> all of these steps as cool as possible since tomatoes ferment quickly).
>> When holding container is full place in fridge or large pot or whatever
>> you're going to use. Repeat the dicing until all are finished.
>>
>> As you see this way has it's flaws (you have to have a place and space for
>> everything beforehand and know what to do w/it.) but it's MUCH faster than
>> doing several at a time. Doing things in this manner is how Henry Ford
>> became the primier car maker first. Trust me, this type of logistics works
>> faster than stopping and starting and stopping and starting but it may not
>> be possible due to limited space or whatever.
>>
>> Oh, and as to how to dice 500 tomatoes? One at a time, hon, one at a time.
>>
>> helen
>


Cuisinart food processor has a 6mm and maybe an 8mm julienne disk. Cut
the tomatoes in half from top to bottom, cut out the stem and most of
the core, and drop the halves in the processor chute. When the chute is
full, press the button and it will chop the tomatoes. You'll have to
keep emptying the work bowl as it fills. If Kitchenaid has the right
cutter for their food processor attachment, it would chop the tomatoes
directly into your giant bowl and not need taking apart every time you
had a quart of chopped 'maters.

I would just use a sharp knife and Git R Done.

Bob

Heh, your problem is solved, I just saw on tv, someone
was dicing tomatoes presto-chango with the
Vidalia Chop Wizard! There you go.

nancy

Andy wrote:
> Mark Thorson > wrote in news:44B94A5D.1CCC34E5
> @sonic.net:
>
> > Elisa wrote:
> >>
> >> Have a tomato-chopping party. Buy a keg. They'll come.
> >
> > That'll seem like a good idea until a glob
> > of tomato lands on someone, they take it
> > the wrong way, accusations fly, and then,
> > well, you get the picture . . .
> >
> > 500 tomatoes + keg of beer = recipe for disaster
>
>
> Simple. Add another (501st) tomato!??
>
> But we've all seen the tomato celebration in Spain. La Tomatina, Buñol.
>
> What's the worry? It's culture, dammit!!!
>
> Andy

How do they celebrate? Tomato splashing?

wrote:
> Lets say you have 500 pounds of tomatoes hypothetically and want to
> transform it to salsa. Is there a machine that can chop them up nice
> and small, maybe even control the size of the dice too? My food
> processor is pureying (sp) them. I don't want to prep the tomatoes in
> any way other than removing the stem are and tip maybe.
>
> I don't think this is an easy problem to solve.
>


Let's rephrase the question:
Why the hell would you need to dice 500 tomatoes?

If you're thinking of making commercial salsa, look for
commercial equipment.

gloria p

wrote:
> I like the snot and seeds. Freezing won't work well, the flavor will
> suffer, the mandolin won't dice, I tried the pulse on food processor
> but it only purrees and would not dice.
>
> HELP. I can't believe the japanese haven't made a ginsu tomatoe dicer
> with a motor. WOW.
>
> I didn't think this would be an easy solution. Oh well.

There most certainly are specialized commercial motorized vegetable
prep machines that will make short work of this job, how do you think
the salsa manufacturers produce all those tons of product... but you'd
not like the price of those sort of food processors. For once a year
home use you prttty much need to do most of the work by hand. Anyway,
what will you do with 500 pounds of fresh salsa... it'll certainly
spoil long before you eat your way through the first 10 pounds.

Sheldon

Does the canning process not indeed cook the tomato?

The manual seeding/dicing process does not take that long - really..


"Pete C." > wrote in message
...
> ms_peacock wrote:
>>
>> "Pete C." > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Rich wrote:
>> >>
>> >> "Pete C." > wrote in message
>> >> ...
>> >> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > Since prepared tomato products freeze just fine, I have to question
>> >> > whether partial freezing of tomatoes to firm them will really have
>> >> > any
>> >> > effect on flavor.
>> >>
>> >> Refrigeration causes the complex sugar compounds that are reponsible
>> >> for
>> >> the
>> >> tomatoey flavors and smells to break down into flavorless starches.
>> >> One
>> >> of
>> >> these compounds, Z-3 hexenyl, provides as much as 30% of the flavor of
>> >> the
>> >> fruit. This degredation
>> >> of flavor happens in prepared tomato products, too. That's why you
>> >> find
>> >> shelves full of canned tomatoes at your supermarket, and none at all
>> >> in
>> >> the
>> >> freezer section.
>> >>
>> >> --Rich
>> >
>> > Last time I looked at the grocery store there was an abundance of
>> > frozen
>> > tomato products.
>> >
>> > Pete C.
>>
>> Cooked tomato products. A slight difference.
>>
>> Ms P
>
> Some minimally cooked, basically just blanched.
>
> Pete C.

ArmisBrooks wrote:
>
> Does the canning process not indeed cook the tomato?

Canning, yes. I noted that there are a number of frozen tomato products
that are fairly uncooked, i.e. blanched.

Pete C.


>
> The manual seeding/dicing process does not take that long - really..
>

In article >,
zxcvbob > wrote:

> Cuisinart food processor has a 6mm and maybe an 8mm julienne disk. Cut
> the tomatoes in half from top to bottom, cut out the stem and most of
> the core, and drop the halves in the processor chute.

> I would just use a sharp knife and Git R Done.
>
> Bob


Have you actually used those julienne disks, Dude? For tomatoes? I
cannot conceive of that method being a viable option for what the OP
wants. Those disks want something with substance - root vegetables,
firm vegetables. Tomatoes would have him inventing new words, Sport.
Larry the Cable Guy's got a better plan.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-10-06, Rob's Birthday Lunch
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

ms_peacock wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> ...
> > ms_peacock wrote:
>
> >> >
> >> > Last time I looked at the grocery store there was an abundance of
> >> > frozen
> >> > tomato products.
> >> >
> >> > Pete C.
> >>
> >> Cooked tomato products. A slight difference.
> >>
> >> Ms P
> >
> > Some minimally cooked, basically just blanched.
> >
> > Pete C.
>
> Your stores must carry some really different products. What brands and
> types of products are these? There are no minimally cooked tomato products
> in the frozen cases in my stores. As a matter of fact my stores don't carry
> any kind of frozen tomato products. They only have frozen foods with
> tomatoes as an ingredient.
>
> Ms P

I didn't say they were tomato only products, though there may be some.
There are plenty of frozen dinner type products that contain tomatoes
that are just blanched diced pieces, not cooked down to sauce.

Pete C.

In article >,
"ArmisBrooks" > wrote:

> Does the canning process not indeed cook the tomato?

Pressure canning will soitanly cook it; if waterbath-processed, the
cooking will be done before jarring up and processing.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-10-06, Rob's Birthday Lunch
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."