Fruit Presser for Jams and Wine

OK. I bought this with an open mind, and at this price not expecting too much.It was bought to squeeze grapes. We grow "Brant" which have small tightly packed bunches, thickish skins and seeds. I will say that it squeezes juice out and the juice was delicious.The manner of it leaves something to be desired, and is quite a workload. Putting in two or three bunches removed from the vine using a fork, and using pretty much the full torque I could apply left many grapes unsquashed. Unscrewing the plunger and forking these about and repeating gave a second "helping" of juice about the same amount again, and a third time some more. This left few unsquashed but a pretty wet grapey lump left over. I am sure a powerful press would extract 50% more. I'd estimate I got 200g of juice from 500g of grapes (weight including the stalks etc).Doing this I noted that the spout is too short and it only extends beyond the base plate by a few mm. It's a fairly physical process screwing this thing down, to be honest anyone hoping to use it gently into a glass may need to re-think. Best way was to tilt it the WRONG way, squeeze, then turn it round to drain it, then repeat. You are more likely to knock your glass flying if you try anything else. The unit must be lifted up anyway to pour out, a couple of chopping boards under it works OK.I also bent the steel base plate (pic) after first use (But the juice was nice;). I shall be strengthening this base plate I think by bolting it down properly all round to a thick block of hardwood.Overall? About as good as I'd hoped. - Be realistic for £27!

I bought this press because I like making soft fruit jelly (red and blackcurrant and blackberry etc) and I was aware that I was wasting a lot of juice because after stewing it was remaining in pulp in the jelly bag. The press is solidly made though a bit crudely finished especially on the inner basket, where there are rough edges. It looks quite stylish, what else would you expect from Italian design and manufacture. There were no instructions with it but it is very simple to use. I simply placed the jelly bag and contents in the basket. The delivery spout is quite low so I placed press on a cutting board and collected the extra juice in a casserole dish. I found that big handle needed tightening every couple of minutes. The extra juice that I obtained was 40% of the total obtained, so it was well worth doing. I would recommend using 1 to 1.25 kg of fruit.

This would probably be okay for something other than grapes, but it didn't work well as a press for the grapes on our vine - a lot of pulp, and not much juice, and it got blocked up quickly. Not massively robust - the screw bent when my husband tried to screw it right down.

One associates "Made in Italy" with "quality" as in Ferrari, Versace etc, not with cheap Japanese toys of the late 1950s. What a role reversal. Japan now has engineering quality, and this product has all the hallmarks of "cheap": sharp edges, poor design, rough threads etc.I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, since it was cheap (as in low cost) anywayHowever, it works, and works well.

Lovely little press for the price just need finishing off at the factory as some seriously sharp edges from where the metal has been stamped out. Be careful when using but 5 minutes with a file and it's fine

Brilliant for pressing cheese which is what I wanted it for. I had to smooth the perforations on the inside with a bit of sandpaper, but apart from that its ideal.

After pressing and extracting a gallon of juice from my garden grapes this press was just about holding together, I had to tighten the supports a couple of times and the plate was warped a fair bit by the end, I probably used it wrong and over loaded it to be honest.If you really wanted to i would imagine upgrading the supports and fitting some blocks on the base to keep the bowl in place.I doubt il be using this again and will get a better one to do more at a time and sturdier design for next year

I bought this to press cheese. The inner cylinder drain holes are punched out to in leaving a very effective "grater". Cheesecloth therefore gets shredded and leaks cheese into the outer cylinder.As a fruit press it may be a much better tool and it is sturdily made. Be sure to degrease the thing before use though as mine was still coated in engineering oil from the factory.