On Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:35:32 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>Have been looking at stove top steam juicers. Seems there are at least
>three brands out there that are stainless steel. Of course the costly
>Mehu-Liisa, (replacement for the Mehu-Maija) top of the line at around
>$200.00. Then there's the Victorio model that looks like the Mehu, at
>roughly $135.00. Lastly there's the Cook N Home 9.5 quart model (looks
>exactly like the Victorio one) at about $99.00. Looking at the
>schematics of all three they appear to be made almost exactly the same.
>It's possible there is a difference in the gauge of the stainless steel.
>The Cook N Home has a clad bottom for even heat distribution, don't know
>about the others as that wasn't mentioned.
>
>Any opinions out there?

George,

We have a Mehu. Supposedly, the Mehu-Maija was aluminum and the
Mehu-Liisa is stainless steel. Ours is definitely stainless steel but,
must have been purchased during the transition period when they wanted
to use up the Maija boxes. The box says Mehu-Maija but, it also says
stainless steel. The 'stainless steel' has probably been stamped on as
it's in block letters and different coloured ink. So, I guess we have
a Liisa that came in a Maija box.
Back to your question. We love ours, and use it every season for
various berries, Dolgo crabapples, rhubarb, etc.. The juice it
produces makes beautiful jelly, in clarity and colour as well as
flavour.
There was some concern expressed in this group a few years ago about
steam juicers making watery juice because of condensation so I did a
little experiment. I filled the pan with water, left the fruit basket
empty and ran the unit at a good brisk boil for at least an hour, then
measured the amount of condensate. I don't remember how much I
collected but, I do know it would be inconsequential in a batch of
jelly. I'd be willing to bet that one would get more water in the
final juice by simmering and then using a jelly bag. We would never
give up our Mehu in favour of the simmer/jelly bag routine.
One anecdotal warning I will give you in case you get one.
I wanted to make several batches of perfectly clear hot pepper jelly
so I ran through a load of Diablo Grande peppers we'd grown.
It made fantastic jelly but, even after what I thought was a thorough
cleanup, the next batch of crabapple juice had a very definite "bite".
Hope this helps.

Ross.