I have an opportunity to get a lot of tomatoes at a really great price. They are not romas or other paste tomatoes. They are more like slicing tomatoes.

How do you all think they would hold up if I canned them whole in water?

Secondly, I tried to make sauce out of similar tomatoes last year and I just got tired of waiting for it to reduce so I canned it a very "thin". Do you think I could open those jars now, a year later, reduce the sauce and recan? (I have both a BWB and Pressure canner. Citric acid was added to the sauce when canned the first time)

I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you so much!

It can be done, but it takes quite awhile.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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."

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

:)

Thanks everyone!

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

Dave