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Is this thick enough for sauce? Should I can it as is or should I boil it down?
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Is this thick enough for sauce? Should I can it as is or should I boil it down?


This is my thickness after processing the cores, skin, and fruit. Paste tomatoes.

Is this thick enough for sauce? Should I can it as is or should I boil it down?
byu/SeaworthinessNew4295 intomatoes



by SeaworthinessNew4295

18 Comments

  1. NPKzone8a

    I would boil it down more. That looks more like tomato juice at this point. Proceed with caution, since as it gets thicker, it scorches on the bottom of the pot more easily. Needs to be stirred more often and use very low heat.

    Some people get around that difficulty by transferring it to large pans and doing the last hour or two of reduction in the oven instead of stovetop. Good Luck! I’m sure you will wind up with delicious sauce in the end!

  2. No-Butterscotch-8469

    Usually canning recipes call for sauce to be reduced by about half. I’d simmer it for a few hours. Even if you wanted to can it now as juice, wouldn’t you end up reducing it later to use?

  3. mslashandrajohnson

    Pedant here: for canning, follow a recipe.

  4. beatniknomad

    that’s tomato water… you need to boil it down until it really coats the spoon. You might even be able to save hours of boil time if you let that sit in the fridge overnight, let it settle and then put of the liquid. From that point, simmer uncovered in a stock pot.

  6. Opening_Chapter80

    Cook it down. It is still too thin for sauce

  7. Small_Month2483

    I’d leave it on too! Too runny for sauce

  8. austinteddy3

    Add tomato paste and simmer it down. It will thicken up nicely

  12. cbnass

    Did you use anything else like celery, carrots or onion?

  13. plot_twist7

    I usually can some jars of this consistency every year. I use it for tomato soup and reduce it more later. I never have the energy to actually make sauce with all the ingredients when I’m processing 100+ lbs of tomatoes in one day. So canning it when it’s this liquidy gives me the ability to make whatever sauce later throughout the year.

  15. beatrix_kitty_pdx

    Does it taste like tomato juice or tomato sauce?