[shokkyy]

When I made my passata this year, I followed the advice given by Seeds of Italy and put a bit of oil at the top of the jar before hermetic sealing. However, while the jars were in the boiling water the oil promptly migrated to the bottom of the jar, with the passata on top. Even after standing for a day, the oil still stayed at the bottom. Is there any way to stop this happening? Because it's hard to see how the oil can do any good as a sealant if it always ends up at the bottom.

[compostqueen]

If you can't get an answer here, ask Paolo Arrigo at seeds of Italy. Send him an email as he's quite happy answering any questions from customers 

[mumofstig]

Is it really the oil at the bottom? sometimes there is a layer of clear fluid that seperates out from the tomatoes, this always seems to sit at the bottom

[shokkyy]

I assumed it was the oil but maybe it isn't. The passata itself seems to have ended up pushed right to the top, and there's no sign of the oil layer any more. I'll just have to cross my fingers it's doing its job, I guess.

[mumofstig]

[PeterP]

We haven't done any passata this year.
Tomatoes have not been that good.
But in past years we haven't bothered
with any oil and they have kept well.

[shokkyy]

Last year I had a bumper tomato crop and made loads of passata, some of which kept well but some didn't, it fermented. I've been extra scrupulous about all the sterilizing this year, and did the oil barrier (plus adding salt) in the hope that it wouldn't happen again. This year I've had such a pathetic crop I only managed to make a few jars, so don't really want to lose any of it.

[catllar]

I'm a bit of a freezer freak, mine goes into a milk bottle (labelled passata - I'm not daft) and into the freezer. I appreciate that you lottie growers don't always have freezer space, but I don't have that problem.

[shokkyy]

I'm a bit of a freezer freak, mine goes into a milk bottle (labelled passata - I'm not daft) and into the freezer. I appreciate that you lottie growers don't always have freezer space, but I don't have that problem.

I do both. My excess cherry toms go straight into the freezer, for chucking in casseroles through the winter. The cooking toms get converted into jars of passata partly because of freezer space but also because I just think they smell and taste fresher preserved that way. You can open the jar months later and it smells beautifully fresh and tomatoey.

[PeterP]

Like the freezer Idea.
You say milk bottle!?!
Would be good to use those small
square liter plastic cartons from milk.
Would stack better and you could just
cut them open.
Thank you for the idea.