August 26, 2011

Tomato Paste - Tomato Sauce - Homemade Simple


Tomato Paste - Tomato Sauce.

This recipe - That recipe.

These ingredients - or…

Blah - Blah - Blah.

I say - unless you own a tomato farm - pay no mind to adding all the seasonings and such -  and spare yourself the hassle!

At times - I’ve planted a dozen tomato plants - and ended up feeling like I’d become good material for a new Alfred Hitchcock movie.

This year - the weeds won.  The Raccoons won.  The Girls are now vacationing in the garden every evening.

And I’m feeling a bit grateful for having done 14 cases of canned tomatoes in 2009!

I canned no tomatoes this year.

I’m surprised my hoe isn’t hanging off the side of a cedar tree near the garden right now - deeply inserted - due to the power behind the thrust from my humming it all the way over there.

And frankly - I really just don’t care right now.  The only thing upsetting me about it is - the passion in my heart was being totally jacked with by the elements.

When anybody pisses on my efforts - I fight back by walking away and keeping my talents to myself.

I’m an “ All or Nothing “ kinda person.

If I’m gonna make the effort - the efforts better be respected and appreciated.

At the very least - I expect to be met halfway with good results.

When the other end feels as if it’s chosen to go south - I will let go and let it crash to the southerly direction!

Go all the way to Hell - for all I care ! “

I could feel nothing but confident in saying that this year.

I had 2 of the 14 cases of tomatoes from 2009 left in the pantry - besides those canned in 2010!

I’d bought 5lbs. Of Roma Tomatoes from the Horn Of Plenty in Maryville.

 


And Dwayne and I had managed to pinch off a few " Amish Paste " fruits that the elements just couldn’t take away from us.

Yes!

 


Mama always wins ! “

All those boys and girls went into the pot!

For the freshly picked and purchased tomatoes - I simply boiled a pot of water for blanching.  Bringing the water back to just below the boiling point - drop the tomatoes in for about a minute.  Pull them out and place in a large bowl and cover with a towel.  Let them sit for a few minutes after finishing a bowl full ( or however many you’re doing ) - to steam.  They will then be ready for easier peeling of their skins.

 


Chop.  Plop.  Into a large and clean container of some sort - if you’re only making canned tomatoes.

Into a minimum of a 5 quart stainless pot - if you’re planning on cooking them down into sauce.

And like I said - unless you own a tomato farm - don’t bother with all the seasonings and such.

Homemade tomato sauce will give you just as much flavor and consistency as any tomato paste you will hear about.

The only difference is
- you may not have to add water like you do when using those small cans of tomato paste.

By not adding any garlic or other herbs - you’re leaving your options open.  You can always add seasonings while you’re cooking your meal.

Paste Tomatoes are always best for making your sauce.




However - you can use any kind of tomato.  You may have to cook longer to reduce the liquid down to a thick constitute.

And if you have small chunks driving you nuts - you may have to start filling your blender and liquefying a few times - followed by cooking down a little longer.

 


And you just - cook the daylights out of them - on a nice simmer.

Very important - stir on consistent occasions - being careful not to allow the sauce to scald on the bottom of the pot.

If that happens - do not scrape the bottom of the pot.  Simply pour your sauce into another pot and get busy - again - while paying more attention to what you’re doing there!

If you have more tomatoes - and want to make more sauce…

Let the full pot cook down until you can add more to the pot.  Just keep cooking down and adding more - until you’ve added all the tomatoes you want to set up.

This is a very long process.  But once you've had homemade tomato sauce - you just - never wanna buy another can from off the grocery store shelves!

Personally - depending on how many cans of sauce I’m putting up - it can become a 3-day process for me.
 

( Mostly because I spend my days running from one place to another - trying to do 5 things at one time - all day long. Ask my husband.  It drives him nuts!

When my end result is to be a 5-quart batch - I take 2 days to get it done.

I always get busy as early in the morning as I can.  The first day is spent cooking down.  I cool the pot in the evening on the first day - for storing in the fridge overnight.

The second day is spent finishing up with cooking down - followed by canning.  I keep the pot on " Low " and stir on occasion while filling jars.

I use Half-pints.  I add ¼ to ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice in each half-pint jar.  A ½ teaspoon is all that’s needed for pint jars.

Half-pint jars go into a water-bath for 20 minutes.  Pint jars go in for 25 minutes.  Quarts go in for 30 minutes.

 


Voila!

6 comments:

Deb said...

Thanks for letting me know how you do it, I know some things I've read add some other stuff to it, but I wondered if it was ok to just go with tomato's. I tried a few jars earlier this week with just tomato's...but didn't add the lemon, am hoping they will still be ok. If I manage any more, I'll have to try the lemon. Thanks a bunch. :-))

Unknown said...

Deb,

You need to pull those jars and re-process with the lemon. In order for them to be okay and safe, they have to have a certain level of acidity. Without it - they stand the best chance of going bad.

Deb said...

Oh no, say it isn't so! LOL Ok, wouldn't have thought they needed anything like that, in the pressure canner, but what do I know. I didn't do that with the pizza sauce I canned last year, and haven't seemed to have trouble with it, but maybe the other stuff in it changed it so it didn't need it....or do you think I should just to be safe on it to if I manage to make more this year? I'll try to remember to check back here before I make it...if I'm lucky enough to be able to that is. :) Thanks for your tips! :-))

Unknown said...

If you used your pressure canner - you should be okay. I've always used the water-bath for my tomatoes. If fact - I was just thinking... I don't think I've used my pressure canner for anything that was acidic. But then - I've had way too many potatoes and green beans in my face! LOL

Deb said...

Ahhh well ok, good. I stopped using the water bath canner when I couldn't get stuff to stay sealed. Figured I'd just use my canner and do them for the same amount of time at 5 lbs pressure and it seems to work better for me. I started that last year, so that must be why my pizza sauce didn't kill us! *giggle* I do LOVE my pressure canner...way better than the one Mom used when I was growing up, hers scared me. :)

Deb said...

BTW, can't believe I've been using blogger for a while now and just noticed the little subscibe button down below...thats how I knew you answered my question so fast! So Cool!! LOL