Tomato juice vs. sauce vs. puree, vs. paste, etc

Quoted message said:

Lance M

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc? Is it simply the amount of
water, or is there a difference with the spices? I'm
getting tired of the store bought kind with all its sodium
and extra unnecessary ingredients. I'm starting to want to
make my own and freeze. Can anyone give me some guidelines
and recipes for doing so?

US Law mandates the minimum percentage of water for each of
those above listed products... other than natural
preservatives (ie. salt, citric acid) all are a pure tomato
product unless otherwise indicated (some canned tomatoes may
contain a few basil leaves), except for tomato sauce which
since it is a sauce contains spices and seasonings.

Hey, instead of [censored] feel free to produce your own...
begin by plowing up a plot of land.

---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =--- ---= Move UNITED
NATIONS To Paris =--- Sheldon ```````````` "Life would be
devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

"Lance M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc? Is it simply the amount
of water, or is there a difference with the spices? I'm
getting tired of the store bought kind with all its sodium
and extra unnecessary ingredients. I'm starting to want to
make my own and freeze. Can anyone give me some guidelines
and recipes for doing so?

Thank you very much!

Lance

The way I understand it is that tomato sauce has spices
and/or other flavorings in it, while juice, puree, and
paste differ in consistency but contain only tomatoes
(maybe some salt). But if you are making your own, call it
what you want.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

Lance M said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc? Is it simply the amount
of water, or is there a difference with the spices? I'm
getting tired of the store bought kind with all its sodium
and extra unnecessary ingredients. I'm starting to want to
make my own and freeze. Can anyone give me some guidelines
and recipes for doing so?

I have only minimal experience with making my own tomato
sauce from scratch meaning that I tried it twice, didn't
like it, didn't think my results were better than what I
can buy in a can and gave up. For what's it is worth, here
are my tips:

The trick is to figure out a way to evaporate off enough
water from the tomatoes to make a nice thick sauce. A watery
marinara is easy enough. Something the consistency even of
V-8 or Campell's tomato juice will take hours of slow
simmering and stirring. To get it a little thicker as found
in Hunt's tomato sauce, you have to take hours plus stirring
so the bottom of the pan doesn't scorch. I never even got to
that stage. You'll also want some method of straining out
the seeds.

I decided it was better to put my efforts into finding a
brand I liked, paying the extra money and driving out to
the store that sells it. I recommend Muir Glen organic
tomato products. They have a salt-free sauce that really
nothing except tomatoes. If you can't find a source for
that, Hunt's tomato paste is nothing but tomatoes. Pope
brand is a little tarter in flavor and is also, if memory
serves, nothing but tomatoes.

--Lia

Julia Altshuler <[email hidden]> wrote in news:j9aic.19916
$GR.2772721@attbi_s01:

Quoted message said:

The trick is to figure out a way to evaporate off enough
water from the tomatoes to make a nice thick sauce.

Heat is the typical solution, but has anyone tried freeze
drying or vacuum? No risk of scorching that way.

Lance M said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc?

Tomato juice - tomatoes put through a juice to remove the
fiber Tomato sauce - tomato juice cooked to reduce the
amount of water Tomato paste - tomato sauce reduced
further with sugar added Tomato puree - tomatoes run
through a processor, keeping the fiber normally cooked but
not a requirement Stewed tomatoes - break 'em up a bit and
cook 'em a bit

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 20:15:58 -0500, Lance M <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc? Is it simply the amount of
water, or is there a difference with the spices? I'm
getting tired of the store bought kind with all its sodium
and extra unnecessary ingredients. I'm starting to want to
make my own and freeze. Can anyone give me some guidelines
and recipes for doing so?

Thank you very much!

My standby is called Tomato Puree (pasata di pomodoro con
basilico) imported by La Valle. It cosists of tomatoes, 0.3%
salt, and one or two basil leaves in a 24-oz jar.

I would prefer it had no salt or basil, but they are not
enough to interfere.

I try to use local produce to the extent possible, but a few
conveniences like this . . . I plead guilty. In the winter,
I use peeled San Marzano tomatoes from the same importer.

Rodney Myrvaagnes Opinionated old geezer

Brutal dictators are routinely reelected by 90+% margins.
Only in a truly advanced democracy can one win an election
by a negative 600,000 votes.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc?

Note that the answer varies in different countries. I'm
in the US.

Tomato juice is tomatoes blended with salt added. Tomato
sauce is juice cooked down until it is thick. It usually has
salt, onions and green pepper added. Tomato puree is a
little thinner than sauce. I often see it with no additional
ingredients. Tomato paste is much thicker puree. Crushed
tomatoes are crushed finely. Whole tomatoes or diced
tomatoes have juice added to them.

--
Dan Abel Sonoma State University AIS [email hidden]

Julia Altshuler said:

I have only minimal experience with making my own tomato
sauce from scratch meaning that I tried it twice, didn't
like it, didn't think my results were better than what I
can buy in a can and gave up. For what's it is worth, here
are my tips:

Later in the summer I can get San Marzano -type tomatoes
from local farmers. Blanching, peeling, and seeding gives me
a start on a nice non-watery quick sauce. I blanch them in
the water the pasta goes into later.

Sometimes I mix in some canned tomatoes or puree. But in
neither case does it need hours to cook down.

Indeed, if the tomatoes are good enough, they can be diced
and tossed raw with the hot pasta, along with some garlic,
basil leaves, whatever.

Rodney Myrvaagnes Opinionated old geezer

Brutal dictators are routinely reelected by 90+% margins.
Only in a truly advanced democracy can one win an election
by a negative 600,000 votes.

"Lance M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What's the difference between tomato juice, tomato sauce,
tomato puree, tomato paste, etc? Is it simply the amount
of water, or is there a difference with the spices? I'm
getting tired of the store bought kind with all its sodium
and extra unnecessary ingredients. I'm starting to want to
make my own and freeze. Can anyone give me some guidelines
and recipes for doing so?

Thank you very much!

Lance

All 4 have different critera based oupon the USDA Guidelens
as relating to the amount of solids, color, etc.

If you want to look each one up then go to:

usda.govusda.govOpen ↗

Do a search for each product.

As example: ams.usda.govcntatop.pdfOpen ↗

Tomato Paste.

Sample:

NATURAL TOMATO SOLUBLE SOLIDS Extra heavy concentration.
39.3 percent or more. Heavy concentration. 32 percent or
more, but less than 39.3 percent. Medium concentration. 28
percent or more, but less than 32 percent. Light
concentration. 24 percent or more, but less than 28 percent.

§52.5043 Texture.
(a) General. Texture is the degree of fineness or coarseness
of the product. Texture is classified when the product
is diluted with water to between 8 percent and 9
percent, inclusive, of natural tomato soluble solids.
(b) Kind of texture.
(1) Fine texture means smooth, uniform finish.
(2) Coarse texture means a coarse, slightly granular finish.

§52.5044 Grades.

(a) U.S. Grade A or U.S. Fancy is the quality of tomato
paste that:
(1) has a good flavor and odor,
(2) has a good color,
(3) is practically free from defects, and
(4) scores not less than 90 points when scored in accordance
with the scoring system outlined in this subpart.
(b) U.S. Grade C or U.S. Standard is the quality of tomato
paste that:
(1) has at least a fairly good flavor and odor,
(2) has at least a fairly good color,
(3) is at least fairly free from defects, and
(4) scores not less than 80 points when scores in accordance
with the scoring system outlined in this subpart.
(c) Substandard is the grade of tomato paste that fails to
meet the requirements of U. S. Grade C.

§52.5045 Recommended fill of container. It is recommended
that containers of tomato paste be filled as full as
practicable without impairment of quality.

§52.5046 Determining the grade of a sample unit.
(d) General. The grade of a sample unit of tomato paste is
determined by considering the factor of flavor and odor
which is not scored, the ratings for the factors of
color and defects which are scored, the total score, and
the limiting rules which apply.

Dimitri

Thanks. I hadn't considered that the type of tomatoes I was
using was making such a difference. Each year we buy 12
different tomato varieties at the nursery. We get the plants
when they're about 6" high, take them home and grow them
here. We don't start from seed. That way we hedge our bets
against a variety not growing well, and we get quite a long
season with some ripening early and some ripening late.
There's an aesthetic advantage too with the tomatoes in
yellow, orange, pink and red, large small, different shapes.
My experiments with making sauce were based on taking the
surplus and seeing what I could do to preserve. I'm never
sorry for the experiment since it is fun, and I learn
something, but sometimes I don't want to eat the results.
This year I'll ask at the nursery for the San Marzano type
you describe and see what happens.

--Lia

Rodney Myrvaagnes said:

Later in the summer I can get San Marzano -type tomatoes
from local farmers. Blanching, peeling, and seeding gives
me a start on a nice non-watery quick sauce. I blanch them
in the water the pasta goes into later.

Sometimes I mix in some canned tomatoes or puree. But in
neither case does it need hours to cook down.

Indeed, if the tomatoes are good enough, they can be diced
and tossed raw with the hot pasta, along with some garlic,
basil leaves, whatever.

"Dimitri" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:EEeic.213$bS.207
@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com:

Quoted message said:

ams.usda.govcntatop.pdfOpen ↗

I love how "objective" the criteria are. Not.