A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[wyoDreamer]

That sauce looks delicious!

 

[Chic Rustler]

What are paste tomatoes?

 

[Chic Rustler]

I love those jars. I'll often make a choice of what to buy in the store, based on what kind of jar it's in!

Those atlas jars, they come filled with pasta sauce for $3. I think its classico brand but im not sure.

We had spaghetti tonight. Honesty i lkike the store bought sauce better. Mine was too tangy. If i ever do another batch ill try adding some brown sugar to it.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I always add a touch of sugar to most everything that is tomato based...just seems to cut that acidity. But, you can always add a little when you're reheating.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Yes, Classico, and there may be an other brand. Basically, any jar with a good fitting lid can be used for HWB as long as the lid is in good shape. And the canning lids can be used again as long as the coating is intact, they are not scratched, and there are no dents. I'll not do this when pressure canning, but it works well for HWB.

Word to the wise: I'm not telling you that YOU SHOULD use empty jars from the store, and re-use your canning lids. I'm telling you that I DO such, and it works well for me.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I also put just a tad of brown sugar in my spaghetti sauce to "cut the tart". My SM puts RAISINS in her spaghetti sauce. The first time I tasted her sauce, I thought she had a very well hidden case of dementia. However, it's an old family recipe... takes some getting used to. BUT, I bet that if you put a liberal dose of sausage in that raisin spag. sauce, you'd have something there!!!

 

[wyoDreamer]

What are paste tomatoes?

Paste Tomatoes are also called Roma tomatoes. They have more meat, less juice than the slicing tomatoes. They are more Oval shaped, compared to the roundish slicers. Beefsteak tomatoes are a slicing tomato. I recently discovered Amish tomato starts for sale in our area, the ones I bought were a Roma or paste tomato.

I also like them because they are really easy to peel. Dip in boiling water for 20 seconds, dip in ice water, slice in half and peel off the skin. At that point, I also pull out the seeds and place them in a strainer over a bowl. The juice has alot of flavor, so I put it back into the pot with the tomato meat to cook down.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Roma is a TYPE of paste tomato. There are hundreds of varieties of paste tomatoes. Beefsteak is a named cultivar of a large slicing tomato. But, common language often calls any large slicing tomato a beefsteak, and some times calls any paste tomato a Roma. Just the way tissues that you would wipe your nose with are now called Kleenex, which is a name brand of tissue.

I've tried Roma (find them small and prolific, but tasty). Love Amish Paste which is huge, productive, and it does not take as many maters to make up a pot to process. Have tried Opalka (even larger than AP, but not as pleased with it's production or flavor. Will give it a second chance before eliminating it forever) Then, there's Grandma Mary's Paste which I like, and it is a contender for Amish Paste. Want to try Hog Heart.

Here's a good description of most of these varieties, along with photos:

https://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search?listname=Tomatoes

 

[Chic Rustler]

We grow alot of romas because they are easy to peal and deseed for canning. This year im going to grow some big tomatoes, maybe 5 or 6. Thats it, no 20 plants like last year

 

[Chic Rustler]

Yes, Classico, and there may be an other brand. Basically, any jar with a good fitting lid can be used for HWB as long as the lid is in good shape. And the canning lids can be used again as long as the coating is intact, they are not scratched, and there are no dents. I'll not do this when pressure canning, but it works well for HWB.

Word to the wise: I'm not telling you that YOU SHOULD use empty jars from the store, and re-use your canning lids. I'm telling you that I DO such, and it works well for me.

The classico comes in an atlas mason. Mason lids fit perfectly. I think they did it on purpose. We also have a few old mayo jars from back in the day when they were glass, mason lids fit them too. And we pressure can in all of them.