# How to make tomato sauce without cooking it down



## bmustang (Jun 8, 2014)

Hey guys first time poster here. I thought I would share our method for making tomato sauce. I read a lot of posts about having to cook down the juice to remove all the water and thicken it up. We try to do our canning ect with the most economical methods available. When we first started canning tomatoes, I thought there has to be a better way than hours of cooking. We'll there is.

First we harvest our tomatoes like everyone else. We then process through our Victorio Strainer to remove all of the seeds and skins. Btw I would highly suggest spending a bit extra and getting the electric motor attachment. Well after processing them, we end up with what you would expect, about half sauce and half water. At this point we can them. You don't have to can them at this point, but we mainly use our tomato sauce in chili and we need the water.

Now here comes the fun part. Either use the juice right from the Victorio or the juice you canned. Grab yourself a medium to large wire mesh strainer. The strainer should have a handle and metal mesh. The strainer's mesh size will make all the difference. We have a no brand one that works great but is a bit small. Our Oxo strainers work almost as good. Simply pour about half a quart of juice into the strainer situated over a bowel doing so slowly. Believe it or not, most of the water will pass through leaving the sauce. The older strainer we have let's almost pure water through. The Oxo will let a bit of red juice.

Now as the water slows down, begin rolling the sauce around and around inside the strainer. It will let more water pass through and the sauce will congeal and begin rolling into a ball. The rest of the strainer will be very clean looking as your forming this ball. Once you get it to your desired thickness just slap it into a saucepan and your done.

I can process 1 quart of tomato juice in about 5 minutes or less. I get to the point my wife says stop because it's too thick and she wants a bit of water in it. I hope you all find this useful. I have got a lot of good tips on this board so it's nice to give back


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

interesting idea. thanks for sharing.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I'll have to try it, thank you.


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## dmh1306 (Aug 15, 2014)

Hey, I found a way of doing tomato sauce, soup and other things by dehydrating you tomatoes and grinding it down then by using different amounts of water you can judge which consistency you want; add a few spices and there you go, less space too... After I get my books from storage I will post specific recipes


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## thestartupman (Jul 25, 2010)

It would be real neat to know the nutritional value of each way of making sauce. Does the extra heat of cooking it down loose more nutrition, or does straining it off?


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## wife89 (Jun 29, 2011)

I put my tomatoes in a steamer juicer and let all the water come out that way. I can fill up the top of my juicer and when all is said and done, I get 3 half gallon jars of tomato "water" and after I run it through my kitchen aid strainer, I get 1 half gallon jar of thick sauce... no cooking!!


ETA: I do keep the "water" to add to my veggie soup in the winter


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## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

OK, I tried it yesterday--all I ended up with in the strainer, was a few seeds that had passed thru the squeezo.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Another method that can ne used, put all of your juice in a container in the fridge over night. It separates. The sauce floats on top of the water, then just skim off the sauce from the top.
Now, I don't do that just because I don't know how much flavor and nutrients are still in the water on the bottom. By boiling it down, the only thing I should be losing is water through the steam.


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## ceresone (Oct 7, 2005)

I did that last night, DBA--but in mine water came to the top. And, its difficult to skim it--I tried and was about half successful


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## bmustang (Jun 8, 2014)

Ok honestly it does work, but keep in mind that we run the sause through the mesh strainer after using the Victorio. If the sauce is running through the mesh, then it isn't fine enough. As I mentioned one, one of the strainers we use is a the 6 or 8 inch Oxo with the good grips handles. It works almost as well as a no name one we've had for years. When you first pour the juice thru it, it should be pretty clear water flowing out the bottom of the strainer. Also you don't want to skim it. Only fill the wire strainer about halfway and roll the sauce around on the inside once it starts to congeal. Once you get the technique, you can process a quart in about 4 minutes. Hope this helps


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