Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sauce Time




A fall ritual is the production of tomato sauce. 

The process starts with picking tomatoes from our several dozen plants to fill a few 5-gallon pails.















Most of the tomatoes we used are some variation of a Roma-like variety.  These have a high ratio of pulp and are made for the purpose we are undertaking.















The tomatoes are washed, halved, and joined with onions, hot and bell peppers, garlic, and celery for cooking in these large pots for several hours with constant stirring.












The apparatus for separating pulp and juice is assembled in the yard.We do this function outside as it is a bit messy, and an old barn chair is soon covered with leaked juice.  We had a perfect early fall day with nice temperatures and mild breeze for the job this year.








The strained sauce is returned to the stove and spices are added.  Several more hours of cooking produce a thicker sauce as moisture content is boiled away.  The nearly complete project is finished off with putting the filled jars in a boiling hot water bath to seal the tops. 

The result is 28 quarts of a wonderful, colorful, tasty addition to many winter recipes -- Yum, Yum!
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