Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

[KiwiPete]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

Hi Rossco,

I just boil / simmer the tomato pulp until I have reached the desired consistency, then put it into sterilized preserving jars, put the lid on and preserve using the "water bath method". This essentially means that you submerge the filled and sealed jars completely under water and let it boil like that for a little while longer. Then just let it cool down naturally. Once cooled they go in the pantry until required, no fridge necessary. There is plenty of info on the web about preserving.

And yes, cooking (Whole or as a sauce) changes it. Just like canned tomatoes are way different from fresh tomatoes.

About the FB handbook about sauce: they are referring to using canned San Marzanos to start with. That means they have already been cooked once (in the factory as part of the canning process), so cooking them again is not necessary.

Peter V.

[heliman]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

Thanks for that Peter ... I have much to learn here...

BTW I had a look at some of yesterday's sauce this morning (the batch in the fridge) and there was about 20 mm of clear liquid (water?) at the bottom. Do you think that it would be advisable to suck the clear liquid out or do I need a certain amount in the sauce to get the right consistency for pizza use?

Rossco

[heliman]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

This is a pic of the separated water/sauce. I think I will remove the water part at this stage. It may make it a bit dry but it that's the case I'll know for next time.

Rossco

[heliman]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

Round number 2
===========

I popped into the local grocer yesterday and found some well ripe romas and got a big bag for $1.90 - good for about 2.5 litres of sauce.

I sent them through the machine and the results were really good - even better than the last round. The sauce was much thicker and made a mound when extracted from the machine. No "water" this time around - even after standing overnight - so maybe these are a better type of Roma tomato.

Peter - just reread the thread and saw your note on reducing rather than discarding the "water" - thanks for that. Based on the latest results, I will try and source better tomatoes (SMs if possible) in future so there is hopefully no need to process further.

Rossco

[heliman]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

For the pizza bash for 12 people coming up this weekend, I thought that I would prepare another batch of this sauce - fresh from the tomato.

I dropped by the fruit shop during my lunch time walk and to my surprise, I scored 2 x carrier bags of well ripened tomatoes which I will convert into sauce. The going rate seems to be about $1. per kg which is a steal. I may have to preserve the bulk of the sauce as there will be about 5.5 litres of it.

KPete's method of extracting pips and skins mechanically is brilliant and well worth the effort. The fact that there seems to be a plentiful supply of cheap Roma tomatoes makes it even more worthwhile. Some places may even give them to you!! I highly recommend this process however there will be an intial outlay to buy the equipment, but once you have that you will be all set up for making regular batches of top quality sauce.

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

Rossco,
Your tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes looks great. Nice intense color. OK, now I'm looking for my plane ticket and invitation for your weekend party .

The joke in my house is that I am a "tomato-based life form" since I cannot go 1 day without a tomato, well lots of them actually and your late season preserving methods have me jealous.

Kiwipete (Peter) your raised bed tomatoes are beautiful. Is that a basil plant growing in it too? You guys have got me thinking (drooling) about summer tomato gardening already. Good luck on this weekend Rossco, Cheers, Dino

[heliman]

Re: Tomato Sauce from Home Grown Tomatoes

Hi Dino - I sent the ticket so it must have got lost in the mail!!!

Actually it would be great if you showed up - the guests would no doubt be feasting on top quality cusine with you around. I would of course cede control of the catering to you instantly so you would be put to work right away and I would vacate the cooking area to become a diner and take advantage of the fine fare!!!

Tks for the kind comments on the sauce - discovering the fresh sauce method has been a real breakthrough for me. I will be making some more tonight in fact as I need to process the latest batch of mushy tomatoes quite soon as they are well ripe and ideal for saucing.

So have you got a good tomoto crop going at the moment or is the weather a bit on the cold side for tomatoes over there? If that is the case, what about glass houses/hydroponics??? I have just revived the hydroponics system at home and am looking to grow some Amish Paste tomatoes in it soon. Have had a bit of a hassle get the nutriment level correct but it would appear that things are on the right track now.

See you there at 7:00 on Saturday....