Crushed is in purée so I'd consider it lumpy purée. Strained and passata are to me thinner and less cooked. I generally use crushed for spaghetti sauce, or crush whole ones, like Lars said, which typically come packed in purée as well.

I think it is pretty much 6 of one and half a dozen of the other once cooked down in a long simmered spaghetti sauce.

I agree, if it's going to be cooked for spaghetti sauce and simmered for a while, it's all about the same.

If it's a fast sauce, though, your texture will be different, in which case you could just puree those tomatoes with a stick blender or the food processor, as long as your original "puree" has nothing in it except tomatoes (and the ever present salt/chloride/etc.)

Annie

the sauce cooks all day and I add canned chopped tomatoes as well. Was wondering if I needed to add some tomato paste as well. I make a giant pot (3# meat) and then use baggies to freeze in dinner-for-two-sized portions.

There actually is a difference. Puree is more concentrated and deeper in flavor. A lot of stores don't carry it anymore, more's the pity. I've been known to order it by the case and make my pantry weep. :)

A lot depends on the brand as to how much water is in puree. You could put crushed through the blender with a little tomato paste to approximate it, and adjust the amount of other liquid you add, or just simmer off excess.

Also, keep a check on the acid. Nowadays, they add acid to the canned tomatoes because they grow so sweet, but some have more than less, and crushed tends to be sweeter. A little lemon juice or vinegar might help the flavor be more what you're used to.

As others have said, it'll be an okay substitute for a simmered all day sauce, especially since you're putting in other tomato solids. Just keep a check on the flavor and add more tomato paste if it seems not quite right but not a salt/sweet/acid thing.

What was that place that had the 6 in 1 tomatoes you could buy online? I remember getting the website from this forum. They were the best. But they used a different word (I think) rather than crushed or puree. Grated maybe? After hearing some of you rave about them I will admit to eating it straight from the can when my first order arrived lol. Does anyone remember the website? I need to order some more!

"Ground." Also in purée, in fact "with added extra heavy purée."

Found it. www.escalon.net

Depends on the brand and preference. Some like a rich thick sauce. I actually like pretty much all styles but i make mine a bit more 'wet' and rich in flavor using beef stock, red wine, etc. Sometimes mushrooms. Depends.

I shop in my freezer from garden harvest and about to run out...so i would choose, if buying, the crushed. Seems a happy medium between whole toms and pureed. If you have always used pureed you might find it a bit wet. Running it through a food processor, or like mentioned, a stick blender, might do the job.

On holiday, without my freezer toms, i have roasted the whole canned tomatoes in the oven on a sheet pan that gave nice flavor for a chunky sauce.

Years ago i was insistent on Red-Pack crushed. It was winning taste tests at the time. (is that the Costco brand?). I had one of those big cans forever in the pantry years ago and it made a killer chili. It is just a backbone for your other ingredients so you should be pleased. Just puree it before using so your well know recipe does not come out so different. Or you may just like it better.

If your brand of crushed is a bit chunky, the toms never seems to disintegrate like a true puree, even with a long cooking....like whole canned toms seem to have the stem end in a hard mass. Some stay stringy.