Freezing Tomato Sauce?

[Migraine]

I wanted to have a go at making tomato sauce with some San Marzano tomatoes. I'd have to order them online so it's much more economical to buy a big tin like this:
https://www.souschef.co.uk/products/rega-dop-san-marzano-tomatoes?variant=31415170924602
I'd then need to bulk make the sauce and freeze it. My question is, if I'm making the effort and outlay to buy the nice tomatoes, am I then going to undo my gains by freezing the end product? Or will it be fine?

Also any recommendations on tomato brand or sauce recipes (for pizza mostly) much appreciated.

 

[Michi]

I'd then need to bulk make the sauce and freeze it. My question is, if I'm making the effort and outlay to buy the nice tomatoes, am I then going to undo my gains by freezing the end product? Or will it be fine?

Not a problem. Tomato sauce freezes well, and doesn't suffer when you reheat it after being frozen.

Also any recommendations on tomato brand or sauce recipes (for pizza mostly) much appreciated.

As you already know, San Marzano is the Rolls Royce variety. But you can make really nice tomato sauce out of other fleshy varieties, such as Romano. For pizza sauce, I just use the crushed tomatoes, add a pinch of salt, a little basil and oregano, and—depending on what pizza I want to make—a little bit of finely grated garlic.

 

[Migraine]

Cheers

 

[spaceconvoy]

Don't pay so much attention to brands, what's important is:
- DOP San Marzanos, the real deal
- Packed in their own juice, not tomato paste or puree
- No calcium chloride

Some people claim they can't taste the difference, but I've always felt calcium chloride imparts a faint soapy taste. It's added to keep the tomatoes "firm," but that doesn't matter if you're making tomato sauce. Sarcastic quotes around "firm" because it doesn't preserve their natural texture so much as make them rubbery and stiff. Open a can of Rotel diced tomatoes and try to mash them with a fork to see what I mean. I actually like Rotel for making a quick salsa - with a lot of strong flavors I don't notice the calcium chloride. But if you make a simple marinara with only garlic and fresh basil, it tastes vaguely 'off.'

Things that aren't so important:
- Added basil; I prefer without, only because it's annoying to remove before grinding the tomatoes
- Citric acid; depending on the sweetness of a batch of tomatoes, they could require more acid for preservation

The tomatoes you linked look good to me

 

[Migraine]

On the ingedients for those ones they say tomato puree so I'm guessing they are packed in puree. Oh well, they're ordered now, live and learn.

EDIT: And there were much cheaper places to get those tomatoes. Idiot boy.

 

[spaceconvoy]

Huh, I didn't notice that in the description. In the ingredient label in the photos is says 'tomato juice.' I guess that's typical of the online shopping experience

 

[Migraine]

Well hopefully the label is accurate.

 

[Hassanbensober]

I’ve frozen batches of pizza sauce and marinara made from San Marzanos. It will come back after freezing noticeably different imo. Our pizza sauce is a uncooked sauce and after freezing it tends to break down and separate some. Cooked and reheated sauces fair better. I do recommend these tomatoes for the job though also Alta cucina tomatoes are great as well.

 

[SeattleBen]

The acidity of tomatoes also really lends itself to hot pack canning, or pressure canning. Hot packing isn't as secure a process as pressure canning but doesn't put it into a pressure cooker. Just more ideas to make it more confusing.

 

[M1k3]

To reduce the amount of product somewhat, you can pour out the juice from the can and make Bloody Mary's.

 

[gregfisk]

I grow my own tomatoes every year and we make and freeze sauce from them. We are always very happy with the results. Sometimes we go ahead and make tomato sauce and add additional ingredients, never meat of course and sometimes we just blanch the tomatoes and freeze them alone. I find that whatever you do with them they freeze well.

 

[Chips]

I have been on a Detroit pizza kick recently and playing with different sauce recipes. My latest one here is uncooked (until it’s baked in the oven) and comprises just dop San Marzanos, salt and basil. True Detroit-style sauce usually includes lots of garlic powder, and oregano, red pepper flakes etc.

This batch was just made in the blender. Some cooks will just use an immersion stick blender and blend it he three ingredients directly into the can.

My next batch will basically be the same but I’ll slice the tomatoes open more thoroughly and discard the seeds, pick off any skin still attached and rinse them. The yield is lower but I find it tastes better, a more strong tomato flavor and less bitterness. If you’re going to add a lot of spices and garlic powder though, I doubt the difference is noticeable.

 

[erickso1]

I must say, this thread is great. I'd never made a simple tomato sauce until reading this. Yesterday when digging thru the fridge and pantry, trying to figure out lunch for the boys, I decided to go for it. Grabbed a can of cento petite diced tomatoes, added a pinch of salt, sugar and garlic to taste, fresh basil, warmed it thru for a bit, put it on noodles for the boys with some parm. It was amazing and so freaking simple. I've got some canned San Marzanos for next time.