Iused one for years to make applesauce, every now and then I gave the crank a turn backwards to get the peels off the bottom. It never seemed to smoosh the seeds, and it works fine for pears too. My Dad loved the homemade peach syrup I made for pancakes, those went through the Foley, as did the roasted vegetables when I canned KatieC's Roasted Tomato and Garlic soup.

I never made potatoes with itbut I did put some rutabaga through it once, then decided that I liked them just kind of crushed up with a masher, not that smooth.

It works for berries too, although I found that the small seeds in my local raspberries made it through sometimes. Still, it got out quite a lot, if you're inclined to do that.

Then my Mother gave me her old Squeezo, and that's what I use now for tomato sauce, apple sauce, catsup, apple butter, tomato soup, V8 juice, pretty much all my canning that needs things all smushed up!

The Foley was more labor intensive, but it worked fine, you'll be surprised at how many things you'll use it for.

Annie

I bought mine on eBay, and it was not nearly that cheap, but the old ones are much better than the new ones. I know because I bought a new stainless steel one, and it lasted only two weeks. The old ones (from the 1940s and 1950s) are tin plated, and tin is now a very expensive metal, despite its reputation. Tin is non-reactive, and this is why it was used for tin cans. However, tin is so expensive now that tin cans are rare. Also, tin foil is extremely rare, and I have only seen aluminum foil, but I would love to find some true tin foil. Some people in the East still call aluminum foil "tin foil", and this is very confusing to me.

I can't tell from your photo whether yours is tin plated or not, but if it is, it is that much more valuable. I use mine mostly for making chili sauce, and it is great for removing skins and seeds from grilled chilies. It does not in any way crush the seeds and is very gentle. Since I make a lot of chili sauce, it is worth it for me to have one just for that, and I really have not used it for anything else, even though it has many other uses. I have a large chinoise with wooden reamer that I use for strawberries and raspberries, as the food mill has holes that are too large for those fruit, but they are just the right size for not allowing chili seeds through! The food mill is also perfect for tomatoes, as Annie mentioned, but I never have enough tomatoes to use it for making tomato sauce.

I have a Juiceman juicer that I use for passion fruit (which also has somewhat small seeds), but I am afraid to use that for chilies, as it is much more difficult to clean than the food mill.

Lars

I have an ancient Foley and use it for making ketchup because it easily removes both the skins and seeds. I have used it for making applesauce and apple, pear and pumpkin butters too. I wash it by hand.

In October, I'll be using it for this recipe, which I freeze so we can have it as a side dish with our NewYear's Day pork & sauerkraut dinner.

HOLIDAY APPLESAUCE

4 lb. apples cut into chunks (don't peel or core)
3 cups cranberries (12 oz.)
1 cup unsweetened apple cider
Two 3-inch strips lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

In covered pot, simmer apples, cranberries, cider and lemon peel, stirring occasionally, for 1/2 hour or more, until apples are very tender. Add sugar and cinnamon. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Discard zest. Pass mixture through a food mill. Add honey, sugar, or brown sugar to taste. Makes about 2 quarts. Can be frozen.

I had one I bought in the 60s and used for years on tomatoes and very rarely, grapes. It finally died and the new one--now over 10 years old--is much flimsier, but it does work. Use it every summer.

Add the sound effect i just made out loud..."Ohh, ahhh, Ahh-HA!"
Love the Squeezo Annie. (i like visuals in case i come across one)
Thanks Lars. Perfect. We make our own hot sauce. We like the flavor of a habanero but cut the heat by making a sort of ketchup but not so sweet, just the sweet of red pepper, tomato, onion...
And cranberries. The Newfoundland berries, Bakeapple, (cloudberry), partridgeberry, a wild ground berry in the cranberry family.
Apples, cranberry, lemon...good combination! I'll add some asian pear.
It is very heavy and tinned. I realize most of the older kitchen hand tools have been replaced with blenders and juicers but not many remove seeds so easily. Concords have such good flavor but hard to eat fresh. I only pick half the harvest so i'll give it a try this coming weekend.

I have a Foley and it's a great tool. However, needing to use up a gift card for Sur la Table or some such place, I picked up the newer Oxo food mill with 3 exchangeable disks a couple of years ago. I haven't used my old Foley since (though I can't bring myself to get rid of it). The Oxo is incredibly easy to clean and use -- much more so than the Foley.

I use my food mill for all sorts of things. This time of year, I roast down the dregs of the tomato harvest and run them through the mill to remove skins and seeds and then freeze the pulp. They're great for removing seeds from bramble fruit (I typically run at least half the blackberries and/or raspberries for jam through the mill). Excellent for pureeing roasted pumpkin/sqash for pies and other baking (I think a food processor over-does it, plus you can use the food mill as an extra bit of colander for draining extra moisture before really pushing the pulp through it). Great on mashed potatoes or other pureed vegetables -- gives you the puree without over-processing the product, and will remove skins from vegetables like potatoes so that you don't even need to peel them before boiling. Try running your egg yolks through the fine disk when making devilled eggs -- lumpless and much easier than hand mashing and pushing through a sieve. You get the idea.

That's a hit. No way could i make pear butter with ginger and lemon, no added sugars, like i just did. Good texture and very easy. High volume would be a PITA, but two pints from the mix i reduced would not be the same pressing through a strainer like i tried with the grapes. 5 minutes was all. That scratchy sound is deadened with the fruit pulp in the mill.

Using it to pre-rinse...good tip