How do I make spaghetti sauce from home canned tomato sauce?

[GardenStream]

I have grown lots of tomatoes this year and have been doing some canning. I probably have 10 or 12 quarts of tomato sauce done. The problem is that every time I try to make spaghetti sauce from it, it tastes like crap. I add some herbs, a little sugar and some garlic, but it doesn't taste right. It still has a weird almost bitter taste that I can't get rid of.

Can anybody give me very specific instructions for how to make spaghetti sauce from homemade tomato sauce?

[rhiandmoi]

What do you mean a weird bitter taste? If you taste the plain tomato sauce, is the bitter taste there? Or does it only show up after you have made the spaghetti sauce?

Bitter sounds to me that something is being cooked at too high of a temperature. Hopefully not your tomato sauce, it is possible that you are scorching you garlic and herbs on the bottom of the pan. If that's it, lower your heat WAY down. It should barely make bubbles.

If the taste is more acid than bitter, you can add a tsp or so of baking soda and cut out the salt to neutralize the acid after you have cooked the sauce. So do all your normal stuff, and when the sauce is almost done just stir in a tsp of baking soda. This will bubble up like crazy, so just stir it until it stops foaming. Don't add salt until after you have done this though because the baking soda also adds a salty flavor.

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

Bitter sounds to me that something is being cooked at too high of a temperature. Hopefully not your tomato sauce, it is possible that you are scorching you garlic and herbs on the bottom of the pan. If that's it, lower your heat WAY down. It should barely make bubbles.

I boiled the tomato sauce down to thicken it to the consistency of my normal store bought tomato sauce. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong.

I don't know if I would be able to tell an acidic taste. It's just a weird sharp flavor that lingers. It almost turns my stomach just to think about it. Bitter was the only thing I could think of to describe it.

[LZP]

did you cook it down to a thicker consistency before canning, or after?

sometimes seeds from the tomatoes can make a sauce taste bitter. did you use a foodmill or another method to remove the seeds? this is only sometimes.. i've made batches with seeds, and they've been fine.

I'd say if you're cooking it down to reduce it, perhaps the high temp is to blame? and, eventually you'll break down all the sugars if you cook it too long resulting in a dull, bitter-ish taste.


please be careful with baking soda. my SIL made a "great" batch of sauce one time that was still bubbling (chem reaction bubbles, not boiling!) when she brought it to the table... it reminded me of tomato flavored toothpaste, and makes me gag just thinking of it!

ETA: also, unless you're at a REALLY LOW temp for a really long time, you might not get the consistency you're accustomed to with store bought sauce- they use tomato paste to thicken it. the consistency of sauce made right from tomatoes can be thinner, but more delicious!

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by LZP

did you cook it down to a thicker consistency before canning, or after?

sometimes seeds from the tomatoes can make a sauce taste bitter. did you use a foodmill or another method to remove the seeds? this is only sometimes.. i've made batches with seeds, and they've been fine.

I'd say if you're cooking it down to reduce it, perhaps the high temp is to blame? and, eventually you'll break down all the sugars if you cook it too long resulting in a dull, bitter-ish taste.


please be careful with baking soda. my SIL made a "great" batch of sauce one time that was still bubbling (chem reaction bubbles, not boiling!) when she brought it to the table... it reminded me of tomato flavored toothpaste, and makes me gag just thinking of it!

ETA: also, unless you're at a REALLY LOW temp for a really long time, you might not get the consistency you're accustomed to with store bought sauce- they use tomato paste to thicken it. the consistency of sauce made right from tomatoes can be thinner, but more delicious!

I've got the food mill attachment for my kitchenaid. I just quarter the tomatoes skin and all and toss them into that. The sauce drips into my stock pot and the seeds and skin drop into a bowl. I then take the sauce and put it on low/medium heat until I get a rolling boil and then cook it down. After that, I can it in my pressure cooker.

If heat is the problem, then I have lots of different areas to look into as to where I have the problem. I have noted that the sauce directly from the kitchenaid has a wonderful tomato scent, but that as it's cooking down the smell changes.

[Ola_]

DH uses a small can of tomato paste for his homemade spaghetti sauce. If you're not opposed to it, I'd try that. His sauce also simmers on low for a few hours.

[rhiandmoi]

Originally Posted by atobols

I boiled the tomato sauce down to thicken it to the consistency of my normal store bought tomato sauce. Maybe that's where I'm going wrong.

I don't know if I would be able to tell an acidic taste. It's just a weird sharp flavor that lingers. It almost turns my stomach just to think about it. Bitter was the only thing I could think of to describe it.

This sounds like acid to me. Try the baking soda thing. Use a small small amount.