Within the Lines

Tomato Sauce Questions

I am so sorry, morningsunshine, to have taken so long to respond to your questions about the tomato sauce. 

Paste?  Actually, it isn't nearly as thick as the "paste" in the store is.  I don't know how long I'd have to boil it to get it that thick, but it's more time than I have!   No, it's just a sauce; probably looks just like tomato sauce from the store with no seasonings or anything added.  

Seeds?  In order to have no seeds, I use the greatest boon to food preserving: a Victorio strainer.  Halve or quarter tomatoes, heat till soft, dump in the strainer, and out comes beautiful sauce (from one end--the other gets rid of the peels and seeds)!  This, then, is the sauce I simmer the water off till of the thickness I desire.

How long?  I can't remember for sure.  I do know it varied according to the batch--how watery it was.  Often I'd start one afternoon, pause overnight, and then finish the next day.  I tried using the crockpot after hearing that idea somewhere (which would be nice if you wanted to leave it going overnight), but found it too slow and too small -- I was using my great big pots -- plus mine bubbles around the lid and I didn't like the sauce running across the counter.

Quarts/pints?  I bottled in pints because that's what I use for my pizza sauce recipe.  I'd just grab 2-3 of them if I was doing spaghetti or something that called for more.  I haven't decided if I will stick with pints or go to quarts this year; probably, some of both.

Hope this helps!!

Untitled Comment

{ 07:56, Tuesday, June 3, 2008 } { Posted by morningsunshine }

thank you - looks like it is time to borrow my mom's victorio strainer again! LOL! she never uses it, and I do - okay, only 2x since we got married, but still! - but she won't let me "store" it at my house.

Thanks for the info. That is about what I was thinking, but it is always nice to have someone verify my thoughts.