How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?

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DanielCoffey

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How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?
« on: March 11, 2017, 19:55 »
I have a question for those of you who preserve your own tomatoes.

How does your home pressure canned or frozen tomato mixture compare in thickness and flavour when compared to the tinned chopped tomatoes available at the supermarkets? I mean the actual branded varieties (such as Napolina) rather than the generic stuff.

If you are patient you can catch those on offer at 50p a can pretty regularly which is fairly hard to beat at that quality and I have a lot of recipes that call for one or two cans at a time. I am used to those recipes and know how the tomatoes affect them but I have a lingering suspicion that they may put permitted colouring in them because you have to admit they always seem to have a redness that just don't exist in fresh tomatoes.

When I move this summer I will have an opportunity to grow at least bush tomatoes even if I can't have full vines (too windy I suspect) but I was wondering how much of a difference there is in the flavour of the home-made pressure canned version and the tins. Is the skinning and de-seeding a fair amount of work?

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mumofstig

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Re: How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2017, 20:50 »
Tinned tomatoes still have their seeds in. Removing seeds is what takes time if you are making passata, rather than just preserving the whole/chopped tomatoes.

To make something that resembles Napolina tomatoes, you need to use only plum tomatoes, skin them and put them into jars with a thinish homemade passata. They then have to be heat treated. It is quite a lot of work tbh.
I always grow about a dozen plum/paste tomatoes purely for preserving.

I tend to use most of my large tomatoes to make passatta, I'll bottle excess cherry toms in some of it, and cook the rest 'til thick enough to bottle.
Plum or paste tomatoes do have that dark red colour naturally, plus the colour darkens a little when heat treated.

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DanielCoffey

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Re: How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2017, 14:05 »
Thanks for the comments. It is a relief to know the colour is largely natural but I do think I will investigate Passata if I have the chance. One of the big pressure canners is on my shopping list and I do find the odd pile of skin and blobby core bit you often get in the tins a little distracting.

I think like all things made at home, you can rarely compete with the Supermarkets on the cost or convenience but you get to choose the ingredients yourself.

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mrs bouquet

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Re: How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2017, 16:07 »
Like you I find it difficult to grow tomatoes, so like you I always look Napolina ones when they are on offer.  I think they are excellent.  I don't expect the purists would agree with me though.  Mrs Bouquet
Birds in cages do not sing  -  They are crying.

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Growster...

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Re: How do your canned tomatoes compare to tinned?
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2017, 16:43 »
We just liquidise the whole lot, and freeze them in flat bags.

When pasta beckons, they go in the saucepan with some Italian seasoning, a bit of garlic and also some tomato puree to redden and thicken a bit, then they get a simmer until most of the moisture is driven off.

In the past, I've used too much as a serving and an earlier post proved that a tablespoon or so is usually enough for one serving.

Comparing it with Tesco Everyday sauce at just a few pence a jar, I'd have to say that it isn't really worth the hassle, but at least we've grown and nurtured our toms, and that's our delight and purpose! Compared to a 'celeb chef' sauce, I'd definitely say 'grow your own'!



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