Just this year, I tried to make spaghetti sauce out of regular tomatoes. I cook my sauce down in a roaster at about 200 degrees. It took 2 days of cooking to get it down to suitable thickness.

It can be done, but it takes quite awhile.

I usually use a Crushed tomato type of recipe for those tomatoes, or just juice.

Ok, first please keep in mind that the vast majority of tomatoes that get canned by home canners each year are the so-called slicing types and NOT roma/paste/plum types. Same is true in the commercial industry. None of the Heinz varieties used for example are paste/plum fruit.

As is often discussed over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here, someone decades ago started the rumor that only paste types should be used for making sauce and that rumor persists for some reason even though it is untrue. :)

And yes, the slicers hold up just fine. In fact many of us would never bother canning roma/paste types in any form simply because they lack flavor. They work well for dehydrating however.

So the tomato types to use for canning is strictly your choice.

Second, canning any type of tomato is water is the least tasty way to do it. The water dilutes any flavor the tomato may have. Far more preferable quality comes from canning using any of the other 3 methods. Either the Crushed Tomatoes instructions or the Whole/Halves in Tomato Juice or the Raw Packed with no added liquid instructions. All available at NCHFP.

Third, when it comes to making sauce, far more (not to mention better) sauce is made from types other than roma/paste types. Again because of their lack of flavor. The only advantage to using paste types is they are less juicy so they cook down a little faster depending on the method you use..

And I do mean "little". The are many ways of preparing tomatoes for cooking down to sauce consistency - often discussed here - and many of them don't take any longer than cooking down paste types does.

So feel free to can any type of tomato in any form you wish as long as you use the approved instructions.

Dave

Well I'll be dipped. I had no idea.

I see a lot of crushed tomatoes in my future! Thanks!

As far as little flavor, different tomatoes taste differently, same with the Roma type. You need to try different variety. I use the paste type of tomatoes for sauce and they cook down in about 1/2 of the time or less versus the slicing type.

I add paste tomatoes to my juice because I like thicker juice. I could do everything with just paste tomatoes, except sandwiches.

Make sure the tomatoes are in good shape - not going bad (though if there's a spot or 2 you could cut it out). I can't stand seeing people selling rotten moldy tomatoes as "canners"!

As far as last year's sauce, why have all that effort go to waste by opening them all and re-canning them? Just can your crushed tomatoes this year, and if they're thicker you can open a jar of each and mix them together when you go to use your older sauce. Or add some tomato paste when you open a jar. I just used a couple of squash (the last ones) and some Black Krims which were splitting and starting to mold (cut off the tops) in a fresh sauce last night, after nuking the veggies 15 minutes it was pretty thin so I stirred in a can of paste (and seasonings).

BTW, some varieties are juicier than others - BKs are esp. so, I've found I don't like to can or freeze those b/c they disintegrate, try to use them fresh ASAP.

As far as little flavor, different tomatoes taste differently, same with the Roma type. You need to try different variety. I use the paste type of tomatoes for sauce and they cook down in about 1/2 of the time or less versus the slicing type.

I add paste tomatoes to my juice because I like thicker juice. I could do everything with just paste tomatoes, except sandwiches.

That is a great question about recanning the sauce. I guess I have this idea in my head that they are "no good" since I almost hate them a little bit... it was so much work for my first time out and I'm a bit distainful of them. :)

Ditto Dave.

I remember reading somewhere that true paste tomatoes have higher pectin content than your regular slicers. Combined with usually smaller seed cavities, it explains (in my mind) how the unfortunate rumor started that they're the "only" tomato to use for sauces.

Reducing a sauce is easier when you don't multiply the recipe. I've found it's like jam in that way. I once tripled a very large sauce recipe and it took almost a day of simmering to get it to a consistency we liked. That same recipe done in a single batch reduced by over a third in two hours and I could stand a wooden spoon up in the middle.

Also, try to get them from chopping board to hot saucepan as quickly as possible. This has to do with the enzymes present in the tomato. Quote is from link below:

"As soon as they are chopped or crushed, enzymes start to break down the pectin that helps to hold tomato cells together. The enzyme that causes separation is activated by exposure to air and inactivated by heat. In commercial production, tomatoes are flash heated nearly to boiling in a matter of seconds, using equipment not available to consumers. Because the pectin holding tomato cells together is not exposed to air when cold, it remains intact, and a thick bodied, homogeneous juice is produced."

Here is a link that might be useful: U of I Extension link (but I've also read this on many other sites)

We have often talked here about making sauce with slicer varieties and how to avoid all the hours of cooking down time. Some techniques mentioned in the past:

Roasting them first reduces the liquid in them, cuts the cooking time in half and improves the flavor.

Running them through the food mill and then refrigerate the juice overnight. All the water and meat of the tomato separates and the water can be skimmed/poured off. Boil down time then is minimal. Same works for making ticker tomato juice.

Cutting in half into a colander and allowing them to drain for a short period of time also reduces the amount of water and cooking time. You can eve mash them somewhat to get more water out.

You can also just hand squeeze and /or thumb out the gel pockets as you peel them to remove more of the water. Peel-squeeze-drain-squeeze some more - drain.

Some folks will add a can of tomato paste to thicken up sauce. Kinda defeats the purpose IMO but it works.

And lastly, just freeze them first whole. Then when thawed, the skins slip right off and the cells have ruptured so most all the water drains right out of the thawed tomatoes.

One of the things that helps that often gets discussed in canning classes is the size of the pan and temp used for cooking down. And of course, it is never covered. The consensus seems to be that most use a pan that is too narrow and deep and too low a temperature. A wider, more shallow pan with a bigger exposed surface area works best and the heavier duty the pan the greater the amount of heat that can be used. Both will reduce cook-down time.

I agree that some paste tomato taste better than other. Opalka and San Marzano types usually get fairly good taste reviews at the various taste testings and in the reviews on the Tomatoes forum here. But the majority of the paste type tomatoes simply can't compare in flavor to the hearts or the slicer/beefsteaks, Better tasting tomatoes = better tasting sauce.

Wife and i can close to 100 quarts of thick tomato sauce each year and you will be amazed at the flavor difference when that sauce is made from a variety of slicers/heart/beefsteaks tomatoes.

Dave

I'm using Heathkick paste tomatoes in alot of my juice this year. Supposed to be higher in vitamin C and are very large fruit.

If you have a gazillion to can, canning the halves and wholes in water does not mean you have to dump the water/juice from the processed jar into the sauce pot to reduce. You can be careful not to stir the contents of the jar up much and just decant off the liquid because the heavy stuff will then be at the bottom and the thin, watery stuff will pour off. It saves me a lot of time when reducing it for making things like marinara sauce. .

Wow so much great info here... sorry I didn't think to search first for someone else with the same question.

:)

Thanks everyone!

Dave said: "And lastly, just freeze them first whole. Then when thawed, the skins slip right off and the cells have ruptured so most all the water drains right out of the thawed tomatoes.

This is by far my preferred method. When the tomatoes are abundant (and so is everything else), it's easy to just stem, wash, remove any questionable spots, and toss into a freezer bag. Later, when it's cooler and other produce has been dealt with, I can remove from freezer, slip the skins under hot tap water and allow to thaw in a colander over a big bowl. You really don't even have to remove the skins if you're putting them through a mill like the Victoria/Roma.

I save the "juice" (very thin, watery) for soup stock and either freeze or can it.

Then run the toms through a mill. If you still need to cook down, I use a large roasting pan in the oven. At least I can do other things while it reduces and no scorching. I actually cook down at about 275-300. Many times it doesn't need much, but I still do it. It heats the sauce, ready for canning and seems to reduce the amount of separation in the jars.

I usually use a combination of different tomatoes for the best flavor.

Deanna

Deanna says "I save the "juice" (very thin, watery) for soup stock and either freeze or can it."
I've been freezing my "juice" for use in cooking. I couldn't find any information on how to can it. Sure would like to know how to do that. Would save a lot of space in my freezer.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_juice.html
http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=439

Thanks, macky for the links. I have seen instructions for canning tomato juice, but the stuff that's left over after draining frozen tomatoes or preparing diced tomatoes isn't really "juice." No tomatoes at all really, just some flavor and I abhor losing anything that might be useful. Is it okay to process this kind of juice as if it were the same as the recipes above. Just add lemon juice and process for the same amount of time?

It is just very watery tomato "juice", same instructions and processing apply. You can even save and combine several batches of it and then cook it down some if you wish for more flavor.

Dave

Yup. What Dave said. :)

That's fantastic! Thanks Dave and Macky. After a bumpy start a few years back, trying to understand the whole canning process, I finally learned. Only tested, approved recipes. No changes. So didn't even think to can this juice. Definitely will give me some much needed freezer space.

I'm using Heathkick paste tomatoes in alot of my juice this year. Supposed to be higher in vitamin C and are very large fruit.