# Making Passata/Tomato sauce



## komodo (7/2/13)

So its the time of year when people go buy (or grow) a tonne of tomatos and turn them into tomato passato/sauce.

My wife and I have done this the past few years but this year mum and dad and some other friends want to join in. But I'm concerned that the old hand crank machine we use will be a pain in the arse for 150ish kgs of tomatos so I'm looking for an electric machine.
I think I want a Reber (available from foodquip/winequip). They seem to be the most common. But what size? I also plan on getting the mincer attachment.
At this stage I'm thinking the either the 1hp or the 1.5hp unit (I'm a little bit tim the tool man and more power is better than less) and the N.22 mincer. I really think 1hp is the minimum.

Has any one got one of these and do you have any of the other attachments (dough mixer, pasta extruder, cheese grater)


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## br33zy (7/2/13)

Haven't heard of that brand, but Constante imports on Bell St have some brilliant electric tomato machines.

We're upping from 180 to 260kgs this year and are just using the classic old pressed steel hand crankers. Couldn't believe it when they got through the 180kgs without breaking last year.

Good luck with your sauce day,

Breezy


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## benno1973 (7/2/13)

I've never used a Reber tomato machine, but I have used a Reber sausage stuffer and it was great. Nice bit of kit.

We did 90kg with a small clunky pressed steel machine this year, it's a few years old and I'm sure it'll give up the ghost at some stage, but for now it's still going strong.


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## komodo (8/2/13)

Type we currently have (and assuming the same type you blokes are using)
I have NFI you you guys do 100+ kgs with one. We normally do about 40kgs and it drives me bonkers. This year with stepping it up I decided there was no way I'm using a hand crank machine and mum and dads hand crank machine has gone MIA so dad is going me halvies in a motorised number



Type I'm looking at.
Constante imports seems to have a unit very similar to the reber but they dont mention the brand


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## carniebrew (8/2/13)

Breezy too said:


> Haven't heard of that brand, but Constante imports on Bell St have some brilliant electric tomato machines.


And as an added bonus, Costante are now stocking (basic) home brew supplies. They took some convincing to do it properly, such as ensuring the hops/dry yeasts are in the fridge, but they seem to be getting more serious about it now.


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## drsmurto (8/2/13)

I've never made that much passata in 1 hit so get away with a hand operated mouli. I generally do enough to fill the preserving urn (HLT) with bottles, the very ordinary photo below took 2 runs. The green passata is from ripe Green Zebra tomatoes. The red is San Marzano. It's a good feeling not buying tinned tomatoes.

I'd love a more industrial press, the one pictured above looks like a beast.






EDIT-insert image


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## stux (8/2/13)

I've got a reber 5KG sausage stuffer and am so impressed with it that I intend to go the reber tomato machine

(Cooperage homebrew in NSW carries reber)


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## benno1973 (8/2/13)

Komodo - that motorised unit looks the business. I would buy one, if it had more use than once a year, or if I was doing more tomatoes.

We did 90kg, but it was a community effort with 3 families. It would kill me if I did it alone.


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## Bribie G (8/2/13)

Komodo said:


> tomato.jpg
> Type we currently have (and assuming the same type you blokes are using)
> I have NFI you you guys do 100+ kgs with one. We normally do about 40kgs and it drives me bonkers. This year with stepping it up I decided there was no way I'm using a hand crank machine and mum and dads hand crank machine has gone MIA so dad is going me halvies in a motorised number
> 
> ...


Komodo, that first picture, is the handle permanently in or does it slot in and out like a Marga grain mill? With my Marga I took the handle to a local mechanics and they just straightened it out, cut if off and I now use it as if it's a drill bit in a high torque variable speed drill. It cranks about the same speed as an angry Italian mamma and removes the pain from the operation.


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## komodo (8/2/13)

Yeah I ended up buying the 1.5HP unit.
Ordered it from Winequip / Foodquip.
Being delivered to my factory this afternoon.

I'll order the mincer attachment later in the year once the credit card recovers from todays little outting.
I also need to work out what mincer I want as I can get the N12, N22 (in short body long body or with stainless blades) or the N32.

Bribie not a bad idea. I have aseen a few adapted like that. But this gives me a route to a mincer as I want to give making salami a go later this year.


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## NorCal Brewer (8/2/13)

I know i'm a bit late to the the topic, and i don't do much with tomato sauce but i do make sausages. I get my casings, and equipment from Home Make It and noticed they do a lot with tomato sauce, they have been really good to deal with so you might want to check them out too. The store i go to is in Clayton, but i'm fairly sure they have one in Reservoir.


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## komodo (11/2/13)

I got a courier to got it for me on friday. Other wise its an hour to resevoir from my place or work (frankston / dandenong). I went to foodquip as they were the cheapest by a long shot for the machine I ordered. Courier I got through work as I was getting something else shipped over from that side of town so cost me nothing. Even so the cost of an indirect taxi truck service isn't worth worrying about.


We did 100kgs of roma tomatoes (10 x 10kg boxes at $10 per box)
Burned through about 20kgs of LPG
Bottled 91 x 720ml bottles.
Took four of us a total of 9 hours (including having a BBQ lunch and then rolling out fresh pasta to have with some pork sausage, onion and fresh tomato sauce for dinner.)

Need to work out a simpler way of boiling the bottles though next time as the waiting killed us. Thinking I'll build a stand for a 44gal drum to boil all the bottles in. We probably spent 2.5 hours of the 9 hours just processing bottles and another 2.5+ hours reducing the sauce. So I'd say 4 hours to wash the tomatoes, blanch them, puree them with the machine, wash & sanitise all the bottles and bottle which isn't too bad really. Just need to speed up the time to reduce the sauce and process the bottles.
Actually processing the tomatoes with the machine took not time at all. We had to stop the machine and wait for the next lot to finish blanching several times as the machine is miles quicker than we could feed it.

We also processed 8 punnets (roughly 3kgs) of strawberries with the hand crank machine for making cider - we worked out it took about the same amount of time to do those 8 punnets through the hand crank machine twice as it took us to push 20kgs of tomatoes through the electric machine 4 times.


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## benno1973 (11/2/13)

Nice one Komodo!

Yes, processing the bottles is by far the slowest part for us too. But by that stage, people have beers in hand and we just hang out the back and cook a BBQ at the same time, so it's generally not too much effort.

We don't reduce the sauce like you do. Do others? We tend to just bottle what comes out of the machine, and reduce when we cook with it if required.


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## komodo (11/2/13)

Seems to be mixed opinion on reducing it. Some do some don't.
But then some add basil some don't, some add lemon juice some don't.
Some people have the bottles simmering for hours (I know one of my freinds family light a fire underneath a 44gal drum and keep it going for at least 24 hours). Other just process them for the minimum time.
More than one way to skin a cat and all that and I think a lot is done because thats how "they've always done it" and that way way probably developed through superstitions and knowledge at the time.


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## benno1973 (11/2/13)

Cool, figured it was just that. Did you take a pic of the machine in action?


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## drsmurto (11/2/13)

I don't reduce, cooking time when using passata does that.

I follow the instructions that came with the Fowlers preserving book, 2 hours at 190F (93C).


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## komodo (11/2/13)

Yeah see we only have them in water once its come to the boil we back it off so its just a slow rolling boil for 15 minutes.
BUT we're already bottling the sauce at above acceptable canning temperatures. Where as if you're bottling the unreduced passata at near ambient temperature you need to have it in a water bath for a long time to get that internal temperature up to acceptable canning temperatures.
Our lids start popping within 2 - 3 minutes of being placed in the water as we are bringing it to the boil. Based on the face that we're bottling straight out the the kettle at well over the minimum 82degrees internal temperature then putting them in a water bath to raise the temperature even more to create the vacuum to set the lid I have no doubt in my mind that our bottles are more than safe enough. Admittedly the American based NCHFP site I should be simmering for 35-40 minutes. But I also read that they class simmering as 190 degrees F which is around 88 degrees C so getting it to boiling is far hotter than they are calling for. YMMV

Again horses for courses. We've always done ours this way. I learned from my parents and they learned from family freinds who are italians who one assumes learned from their parents and so on and so on. I've never had any spoil and I dont believe mum and dad ever had any spoil.

Apparently the unreduced option is better for seafood dishes from reading I've done.


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## drsmurto (11/2/13)

Sorry, I must not have been clear.

The passata is very hot when going into the jars as i cook them first to make them soft, then press them into the jars. I fill up the urn with hot tap water so ~50C. Doesn't take long for the urn to get up to temperature.

The reducing step i was refering to is when i use the passata for cooking. I then cook it down to whatever consistency the meal requires. The spag bol i made last night was simmering away for 3 hours. More of a ragu.

But as you point out, lots of different ways to do this. Just ask someone for a bolognaise recipe and wait for the seemingly endless interpretations.


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## TasChris (11/2/13)

DrSmurto said:


> I've never made that much passata in 1 hit so get away with a hand operated mouli. I generally do enough to fill the preserving urn (HLT) with bottles, the very ordinary photo below took 2 runs. The green passata is from ripe Green Zebra tomatoes. The red is San Marzano. It's a good feeling not buying tinned tomatoes.
> 
> I'd love a more industrial press, the one pictured above looks like a beast.


 :icon_offtopic: Nice to know there are some other Vacola users out there

Cheers
Chris


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## br33zy (11/2/13)

Komodo said:


> tomato.jpg
> Type we currently have (and assuming the same type you blokes are using)
> I have NFI you you guys do 100+ kgs with one. We normally do about 40kgs and it drives me bonkers. This year with stepping it up I decided there was no way I'm using a hand crank machine and mum and dads hand crank machine has gone MIA so dad is going me halvies in a motorised number
> 
> ...


> I have NFI you you guys do 100+ kgs with one. We normally do about 40kgs and it drives me bonkers.

I was amazed too; but many hands make light work I guess. That and the ample quantities of beer and bloody marys (fresh tomato juice!) on offer.

Where did you get your tomatoes Komodo? Our usual, The Tomato Man on Moreland Rd won't have his in for a couple of weeks and we're all booked in for this weekend.

Would you consider hiring your new beauty out for $50 Komodo?-)

Bit cheeky I know, and no probs if you're not keen; but I'm going to have to buy one extra hand cranker anyway to cover our increase from 180 -> 260kgs this year and the $50 could just go to you to help cover your investment. We'd look after it like our own.

People were asking about process; here's ours:


blanch tomatoes for 30-60 seconds to soften
Put tomatoes straight into the moulis and get the helpers cranking. We found this a lot easier if the hot tomatoes were roughly cut in halves/quarters as they went in.
Juice into one tub, pulp into another
Helpers take juice, add salt and pour into washed and spray sanitised bottles
Helpers cap bottles
Fill kettle (100L beerbelly brewkettle) with bottles and water and simmer for 1 hour.
Drain water from kettle, remove bottles and add next load of bottles, return hot water to kettle and simmer new load for 1 hour
Repeat step 7 until no more bottles.
That process has produced our most consistent, longest lasting sauce. We tried cooking the sauce and bottling hot sauce; but that was dangerous; especially towards the end of a long day (if you know what I mean).

Last year the girls made chutney out of all the pulp - it was ok; but not good enough to repeat. I think we have a new chill sauce option to try this year.

Cheers

Breezy


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## komodo (11/2/13)

I bought mine at Dandenong market.
Theres also a place on heatherton road dingley that has them (bloke does trucking - gets wine grapes and firewood too) and Bakaloumas in heatherton/kingston has 16kg polystyrene boxes for $23 which I think is a bit steep. Mind you I reckon if you told them you want a 1/4 tonne they might have a bit of room to move on that price. I think $1-$1.20 per kg should be about what you pay. I believe in the past the guy on moreland road has had the 16kg polystyrene boxes for $15.
Admittedly it is a little early in the season and cheaper tomatoes are probably yet to surface. But I've got not time really till the end of march to do it which is why we did it yesterday. I missed out completely one year leaving it too late.

Re hiring the machine. Actually its something I've been thinking about. I'll talk to the old man and see that he has no issues. If he has no issues then sure. You can borrow my 70L SS beerbelly kettle and my italian spiral burner too if you wish. I've also got an unmodified 36L robinox stock pot.
You'd have to collect from dandenong south either by the end of the week or saturday morning as I'm heading away for the weekend and all my gear is stored at work.
I'll shoot you a PM. If you havent heard from me by the end of tomorrow remind me.


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## benno1973 (11/2/13)

Geez, the seasons later for you guys then! 

Our cheap time is always between about Christmas and the first week of January. Last year it was $5 for a 10kg box, this time $7. But then the temperatures start to soar over here, and tomatoes get burned, so there's a short window which is conveniently around when I'm on holidays!


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## br33zy (12/2/13)

Komodo - that's awesome; really decent of you. Thanks!

The Tomato Man on Moreland Rd is actually the reason we booked in for mid Feb this year. Last year we did mid-March and he said to me, "Mike, you should be making the sauce in February; the tomatoes are better. But Mike, you're making sauce with your family and friends and that's what counts!"

> Geez, the seasons later for you guys then! 
KS, yes I think it is a bit late this year. Perhaps not quite as hot this year. I'm originally a Perth boy and they're definitely ready a bit earlier over there - warmer, earlier Spring I guess.


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## Wolfman (12/2/13)

> The Tomato Man on Moreland Rd


Where abouts on Moreland rd?


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## komodo (12/2/13)

364 Moreland Road just down from Melville road apparently.


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## pat_00 (12/2/13)

Anyone know anywhere around Oakleigh to get tomatos? I just moved here from Preston, where tomato sellers pop up everywhere around this time of year..


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## komodo (12/2/13)

Head to Bakaloumas on old dandenong road just over heatherton/kingston road but before boundary rd. Enter the yard and drive in behind the nursery on the left hand side (don't go to the main market shed). In the shed that connects to the nursery you'll find everything wog for making sauce. From hand crank machines, boilers, stainers, funnels, caps, bottles, electric machines, grape crushers right through to the tomatoes themselves.
They also sell charcoal and charcoal spits.
If you've got the time the main market is worth a look at with a reasonable selection of imported ingredients.

Or as I said before theres a bloke on heatherton road near westall extn (opposite tootal rd) who advertises "Tomatoes for Salsa di Pomodoro" amoungst other things such as firewood and wine grapes. Other wise oakleigh is about 15 minutes to dandenong market down princes hwy.


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## Wolfman (12/2/13)

Komodo said:


> 364 Moreland Road just down from Melville road apparently.


Sweet will check it out. I know there is also one in Sydney rd falkner. 

Does anyone know where to get green tomatos for pickles??


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## pat_00 (12/2/13)

Cheers Komodo, will check it out.


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## komodo (13/2/13)

Boxes of Tomatoes



Washed Tomatoes



The machine!



The other machine (my mate blanket)


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## Wolfman (15/2/13)

Komodo said:


> 364 Moreland Road just down from Melville road apparently.





Wolfman said:


> Sweet will check it out. I know there is also one in Sydney rd falkner.
> 
> Does anyone know where to get green tomatos for pickles??


The guy on Moreland Rd is not there. I picked mine up from a guy in North Coburg 995 Sydney rd.$16 for 19kg. Making Tomato sauce today.

Had no joy on the green ones though. Does anyone know where to get these?


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## komodo (15/2/13)

Thats cheap.

Was talking to a mate today his family do 600kgs but they bottle them in chunks/diced and make sauce as they need in the blender.


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## brettprevans (15/2/13)

Komodo said:


> Thats cheap.
> 
> Was talking to a mate today his family do 600kgs but they bottle them in chunks/diced and make sauce as they need in the blender.


I must admit we are lazy here also. just roughly slice or chop em up and into the kettle. then simmer to break down (not cook them) and stick blend or use a blender on them. we arent too fussy about skin and seeds. still tastes better than bought stuff. esp with a mix of heirloom tomatoes.

edit: i wish contante imports listed their prices on the web.


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## TasChris (15/2/13)

citymorgue2 said:


> I must admit we are lazy here also. just roughly slice or chop em up and into the kettle. then simmer to break down (not cook them) and stick blend or use a blender on them. we arent too fussy about skin and seeds. still tastes better than bought stuff. esp with a mix of heirloom tomatoes.
> 
> edit: i wish contante imports listed their prices on the web.


I make sauce every 3 years as I make enough to last though. The best sauce has a bit of age on it.
I only bottle whole skinned toms and will use them as needed, blended, whole, chopped passata etc on a as needs basis.
Cheers
Chris


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## br33zy (15/2/13)

Wolfman said:


> The guy on Moreland Rd is not there. I picked mine up from a guy in North Coburg 995 Sydney rd.$16 for 19kg. Making Tomato sauce today.
> 
> Had no joy on the green ones though. Does anyone know where to get these?


Hey Guys,

Bruno from 364 Moreland Rd has moved to 377 Victoria Street Brunswick West.
Bruno Cannatelli: 0419 000 404
Bruno Serratore: 0412 551 945

We ended up getting our 240kg from John (The Godfathers of Toms) at Vic Markets. He's the funny market dude who does the segment on RRR's Sunday arvo 'Eat It' show.

Shed H, Stall 7 Queen Vic Market.

Ours cost $300 for the 240kg though - bit disappointing but we were a bit stuck and disorganised.

Sauce Day is tomorrow - can't wait. Thanks again Komodo for renting us your Reber; it is a complete beast! (http://instagram.com/p/Vqm-F6LM2y/)

..and we also made sausages on Wednesday night which was great fun (not your machine Komodo): (http://instagram.com/p/VqyyYvrM8P/ - http://instagram.com/p/Vqzw2_LM87/)

Cheers

Breezy


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## komodo (19/2/13)

I really want to learn how to do sausages.
Might do one of the courses "home make it" run


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## brettprevans (4/3/13)

poor year for the garden with so little water. still made passata with 20kg of heirloom tomatoes (and tomato sauce). all went well until my missus dumped them all on top of my bar without me knowing. one bottle obviously had some brewhause yeast or something and...BANG! came into the outside brew room a few days ago and OMG the fkn smell. It was like get CSI in here. Blood (ok tomato) fkn everywhere up walls across the room etc. a full 800ml bottle had burst. its proof of aerial detonation for maximum carnage. the stench of rotting/fermenting tomato (given Melbourne had its most consistently hot summer in over 100yrs or something like that). more so the exploding glass smash my colletable beer glasses incl beer glass comp trophies. fkn pissed. 

still it tasted good.* BE VIGILANT WITH CLEANING REGIMES!!!!*


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## brettprevans (4/3/13)

Should clarify the csi comment. Looked like some one had had their head shot off with a shotgun.


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## RobB (4/3/13)

We did 200kg last weekend between a bunch of friends.

My wife has blogged about it here: http://thecookspyjamas.com/backyard-tomato-passata/#more-454

The brew gear got a workout - stock pots for simmering the tomatoes, burners for heating the drums and an old fermenter for bottling. We have the OMRA machine thanks to my wife's very generous parents last Christmas. Now I wonder if it comes with a grain mill attachment; after all, she used my pots, so she kind of owes me..........


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## punkin (5/3/13)

citymorgue2 said:


> poor year for the garden with so little water. still made passata with 20kg of heirloom tomatoes (and tomato sauce). all went well until my missus dumped them all on top of my bar without me knowing. one bottle obviously had some brewhause yeast or something and...BANG! came into the outside brew room a few days ago and OMG the fkn smell. It was like get CSI in here. Blood (ok tomato) fkn everywhere up walls across the room etc. a full 800ml bottle had burst. its proof of aerial detonation for maximum carnage. the stench of rotting/fermenting tomato (given Melbourne had its most consistently hot summer in over 100yrs or something like that). more so the exploding glass smash my colletable beer glasses incl beer glass comp trophies. fkn pissed.
> 
> still it tasted good.* BE VIGILANT WITH CLEANING REGIMES!!!!*




Hahahaha you made a spelling mistake. Hahahaha


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## brettprevans (5/3/13)

That's what makes them collectable.


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## stux (5/3/13)

If you pasteurize AFTER canning it shouldn't be a problem, but if you don't pasteurize after filling the jars then you're going to get the odd fermenting batch. 

Although 121C in a pressure cooker is good and kills botulism, just like with no chill you can get a lot of the effect by using a lower temperature for a lot longer

I put all my full jars in a large brew pot, cover with water, bring to the boil for a bit, and then let cool slowly overnight. 

Pretty much no chill protocol, but the 100L pot takes a lot longer to cool than a single jar


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## komodo (5/3/13)

I'm investing in an All American Pressure Canner very soon.
My wife has really taken to preserving - everything...
Her theory is that we make up meals and freeze them for use throught he week or later on in the year. How handy would it be not to have to freeze things and to be able to grab a bottle of ready to go bolognese sause or a chicken curry or what ever. Especially as kids come along.

Not sure if I shoujld go the big 941 or go two of the smaller units.


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## drsmurto (5/3/13)

@Komodo - lots of fowlers preserving systems on sale on ebay/gumtree etc. http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=fowlers%20preserving&rt=nc&_fspt=1&_sadis=200&_fpos=3000&LH_Distance=3000..200]ebay search for Victoria[/url]

I picked up a second preserving urn recently on ebay for $47. It is ~30L, 1800W element, thermostat. Was great to have two running side by side preserving nectarines and peaches this year (did 27 bottles). Will be using it again soon for passata (tomatoes are in full production at the moment) and zucchini salad/pickles. Never thought of using it for meals but now you have me thinking. Loads of pumpkins on the plants so could make a massive pot of pumpkin soup and preserve it. I always freeze excess bolognaise, again, never thought of preserving it. Cheers for the idea!


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## komodo (5/3/13)

I've been watching a few of those fowlers units - already stole mum and dads thats older than I am. Also been looking at biltong dehydrators.

I believe you have to pressure preserve because of the low acidity. Perhaps the longer at lower would work but not something I personally (at this stage) am going to play with. I need to get my hands on the Ball blue book of preserving http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Blue-Book-Guide-Preserving/dp/0972753702
In all honesty you would know far more about this stuff than I would.

We actually got the idea watching all the crazies on "dooms day preppers" on discovery channel
At first we thought they were all crazy (and yes they are) but when we started to think about the convenience of having home made "ready meals" we started to think "actually these guys are onto something" its just they use the skill in very wierd way storing months/years worth of food stuffs in case the world ends (seriously if the world ends I dont want to be here, let alone living with that fear all the time like those guys live with).

But the idea of preserving goods in season for use throughout the year is a pretty sound idea. We make jams, chutneys and pasata already. I even bottle "juiced" strawberries when I can buy them for under $7 per tray (5kg) for making apple and strawberry cider. So for us it seems a logical next step. I guess theres a little "hippie" in us that the idea of preserving/storing and knowing whats in our food also drives the romance of the idea.
I dont know that I'd like to be preserving stuff for use in 2-3+ years time like these guys are doing with chicken and corned beef. But certainly curries, casseroles, bolognese sauce , soups etc for ~6-9 months means you can knock out a big batch of this stuff that actually easier to make in bulk (especially if your a brewwer and have a collection of large pots  ) and have it ready to go at a moment notice in "meal sizes" for months to come.


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## punkin (6/3/13)

It's big in the states mainstream. They call it canning.

I can suggest to you that the big Presto cooker will save you a fortune over the all american and amazon has some (or did have when i bought mine) killer shipping prices on the presto.

You can always do what i did and build your own 50l one...


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## drsmurto (6/3/13)

The recommendation in the Fowlers Preserving book is to open the jars, pour into a saucepan and boil foods like curries, bolognaise, soup etc for 10 mins before serving. Which is no real issue. This was added in the later versions of the book after advice from the Department of Health (Victoria I think?) to deal with potential issues of Botulism in foods that had a pH higher than 4 (and that you didn't add acid to, usually in the form of lemon juice and/or citric acid). 

I've only been preserving for 5 years or so but I grew up with a pantry full of preserves. My olds were over on the weekend and Mum saw the cupboards full of preserves and it got her talking about how she used to do 400+ jars of fruit, veg and pickles every year when I was a kid. She is very happy to see me continuing the tradition using her preserving kit.

And yes, the preserving kit I have is older than me, the thermostat is in Fahrenheit. Unit converter app FTW.

Cupboard needed reinforcing with bricks to deal with the weight of the preserves. Tomato sauce, plum sauce, passata, fig paste, jams (fig, apricot, strawberry, plum), zucchini sweet mustard pickles, zucchini salad, pickled jalapenos. Once the bug bites..... it's a bit like buying your first kit beer.





Nectarines and peaches


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## robzilla (3/2/14)

Hi All,

Thanks for the great thread, a year later i resurface it!

Just bought a Reber .3hp tomato machine with the view of doing a test batch this weekend at my folks. Just wanted to confirm a couple things.

I plan on putting the sauce into 330ml bottles and then capping them. 330ml because it is a good size for a family of two (there are three couples doing the saucing). Is someone able to confirm that i have everything in the right order?

Modified from MiniMash - i have modded it from step 4 onwards (with a few comments/questions)


blanch tomatoes for 30-60 seconds to soften
Put tomatoes straight into the moulis and get the helpers cranking. We found this a lot easier if the hot tomatoes were roughly cut in halves/quarters as they went in.
Juice into one tub, pulp into another
Helpers take juice, add a pinch of salt per bottle and a basil leaf.
Helpers cap bottles, leaving *x* centimeters of space at the top of the bottle neck.
Put the bottles in the 44gallon drum, fill with cold water. Bring to boil and maintain for 1 hours. Leave the water to cool down. (can i drain the water, of do i leave them to cool down?)

Couple of questions:


-This is a first for me, but i trust the boiling is what kills any nasties.

-The bottles wont explode or pop the tops or suck in water?
-Where do i find San Marzano in Melbourne? Or is Roma good enough.
-100kg equates to 75KG of sauce is what i read.


Other than that, i think i have the following shopping list:
44gal Drum (dad has one of those on farm).
4-Ring gas burner
Bottles + bottle lids
Bottle capper
A container to collect the sauce and distribute into the bottles.


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## fattox (10/2/14)

For what it's worth to those of you who don't grow your own tomatoes, I've come out with a pretty rip-roaring passata/pizza sauce/all purpose Italian tomato sauce:

1 tin diced tomatoes (or equivalent in fresh, but better results from tinned as they are in all those juices)
30ml olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
2 cloves chopped garlic
glug of red wine (not a lot)

Heat olive oil, throw in garlic and rosemary for a couple minutes, just enough to start just colouring the edges of garlic.
Throw everything else in. Turn heat down, simmer for an hour uncovered. Pull the sprigs out, rip off the leaves and keep them in the sauce. Bin the sprigs.
Blend.
Done.


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## komodo (11/2/14)

robzilla we're just about to do ours in 2 weeks time.

Boiling is what kills nasties - canning is the term. Heaps of info on it especially from US sites.

330ml bottles seems small to me - we do 720ml passata bottles and we go through 2 a weeks (2 adults). This years we're looking at mixing in some 1L juice bottles. Some times we don't use the whole bottle in one meal but 9/10 times its used the next day or the day after and I have no issues with having a bottle open stored in the fridge.

bottles wont explode - they may leak if over filled.

I've always done romas as they are far easier to get a hold of. You can do any tomatoes though.

You can drain the water but if you can leave them in there to cool then that better.

Where are people getting their tomatoes this year? I'm looking for about 1/2 tonne and I want to pay a maximum $1 per kg

We pour straight from my 70L BB kettle through the ball valve through silicone hose straight into bottles - BUT my bottles have wide mouths. HomeMakeIt has bottling buckets with a plunger attachment suitable for filling stubbies/longnecks. Sure other suppliers also have similar.


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## menglish (12/2/14)

FYI, Drove past Marino Brothers (Fruit & Vegi wholesalers) on Dynon Rd West Melbourne this morning, they will have 16kg boxes for ~$20 from Monday (17 Feb) onwards,. Not sure what type of tomato or whether hydroponic or field grown, might need to call to confirm details if interested. Looking at their photos on the website, looks as if field grow, so not sure how they have faired after the heat in the last 2 weeks.

Contact Details:
Marino Bros
Unit 11 / 88 Dynon Rd
West Melbourne
03 9372 6111
0414 409 833

web http://www.marinobros.com.au/index.html


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## komodo (12/2/14)

I secured 300kgs at $1 kg.
Tomato growers are all telling me this weekend they're expecting rain that will cause swelling and splitting next week.


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## rooboy35 (16/2/14)

I got 2 boxes of romas from the little drive-thru tomato guy sitting at 995 Sydney Rd Coburg, $16 a box (although I forgot to weigh them...)
He said depending on weather, he'll be there for at least the next 3 or so weeks. Cheers


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## TimT (16/2/14)

We've* been using our Fowler's Vacola to preserve tomatoes, whole, all today. Our aim was to have a bottle for every week of the year, haven't quite made that yet - but we've definitely got enough to keep us going for a while.

_*Well it was mostly the Baron's work. I made gingerbread with some malt crystals though!_


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## komodo (17/2/14)

We ended up with 200kgs - our supplier for the 300kgs failed to come through with the goods. Still paid $1kg
Made 183 bottles this year - took just shy of 10 hours.
Realistically I would have like to reduce the sauce a bit more than we did but can do that when we cook with it.

Still got approx. 12L of sauce at home being slowly reduced to make a nice thick paste to be put into jars.


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## robzilla (7/4/14)

Hi All,

Sorry for the late reply.

We did 80KG at my parents place, then 120kg at a friends the following weekend. We ended up putting them into 660ml brown bottles using Home Make It bottle filler (which was ace).

All went well, although we did have problems with the reber clogging up. The skins would line the inside of the strainer bit and every box i had to unattach it and scrape it out... This then meant that i only put the skins back through once...

Any tips to stop that happening? Perhaps we werent blanching them for long enough?


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## Tahoose (7/2/15)

15 boxes yielded 133ltrs of sauce for my first sauce day. 

Popped my tomatoe today. Will chuck up some pics later.


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## pat_00 (23/2/15)

Looking to do this in the next couple of weeks.

Is there a decent hand powered one? Anyone tried this style:

http://www.homemakeit.com.au/collections/tomato-sauce-making/products/tomato-machine-flb-sp2-manual-plastic-body

I've only heard people whinge about doing it by hand, but I will probably be doing around 50kg and bottlng in longnecks.


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## gap (23/2/15)

pat_00 said:


> Looking to do this in the next couple of weeks.
> 
> Is there a decent hand powered one? Anyone tried this style:
> 
> ...


I use this reber manual machine http://foodquip.com.au/reber-hand-operated-tomato/view-all-products.html

If you blanch the tomatoes to soften them it should be fine for 50Kg.


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## pat_00 (23/2/15)

thanks!


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## HBHB (25/2/15)

Komodo said:


> So its the time of year when people go buy (or grow) a tonne of tomatos and turn them into tomato passato/sauce.
> 
> My wife and I have done this the past few years but this year mum and dad and some other friends want to join in. But I'm concerned that the old hand crank machine we use will be a pain in the arse for 150ish kgs of tomatos so I'm looking for an electric machine.
> I think I want a Reber (available from foodquip/winequip). They seem to be the most common. But what size? I also plan on getting the mincer attachment.
> ...


Go the larger one. You'll not be sorry when doing a big day and smashing a dozen boxes of tomatoes. The small unit will do it, but the bigger one will do it in style.


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## robzilla (3/3/15)

Hey guys - prepping my Passata weekend. As per last year, one batch with my folks, the following weekend with friends. 

Has anyone found a decent Marzano supplier here in Melbourne? Last year we used Romas?


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## HBHB (4/3/15)

Be worth while to check the farmers markets


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## Richo12 (8/3/15)

So just finished making our homemade tomato sauce for this year.

35 cases of tomatoes (560kg aprox)
Time taken :12hours
245 Litres of tomatoe sauce made

We use a Reber 1hp tomato mincing machine and this time round had problems with our machine. The tomato skin would line the inside of the cone causing our machine to clog up. This slowed our process as we had to continuously stop the machine, dismantle it and clean out the cone. (Very frustrating) Has anyone else had this same problem?

This is our process

1. Wash tomatoes
2. Cook Tomatoes in a large pot. Remove when they start to boil
3. Put tomatoes through the mincing machine and re pass tomato skins
4. Put basil leaves into empty bottles
5. Add salt to tomato sauce and stir
6. Fill empty bottles and cap
7. Place full bottles into 44 Gallon drum and fill drum with water
8. Bring 44 gallon drum to the boil


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## Eagleburger (8/3/15)

Richo12 said:


> So just finished making our homemade tomato sauce for this year.
> 
> 35 cases of tomatoes (560kg aprox)
> Time taken :12hours
> 245 Litres of tomatoe sauce made


Thats pretty serious.


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## RobB (8/3/15)

Richo12 said:


> 35 cases of tomatoes (560kg aprox)
> Time taken :12hours
> 245 Litres of tomatoe sauce made


Impressive. And I thought our 350kg tomato day was hard core. Your process looks very similar to ours, but I can't think why your machine would be clogging.


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## Tahoose (8/3/15)

Pretty much what we do except we wait until the tomatoes start to spilt. 

Impressive quantity I thought 132ltrs of sauce was big...


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## HBHB (8/3/15)

Sounds like the skins may not have been soft enough like Tahoose said. We used to drop them into a boiling 1/2 44 gal drum in half case lots and once they started to split, lift them out with an old tank sieve. Used to have to clear the machine every now and then, but not often.

Hope it was a good day.


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## wide eyed and legless (11/3/15)

Noticed tomatoes yesterday at $1.00 / Kilo in Springvale for a 10kg box.


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## pat_00 (23/3/15)

I made beer, tomato beer!

Seems I didn't boil for long enough. I bottled the pulp fresh without boiling and then after bottling I boiled for 2 hours.

Lucky it was only a small test batch though and have lost 12 bottles, still annoying though.

Now I have to hunt down a few more boxes and try again. Hopefully they are still out there.


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## Paul Knox (9/4/15)

Hi Guys 
New to this Forum and eager to learn 
Just wondering would it be to late to spend a day with the family making sauce 
Also where would be the best place to buy all the equiptment 
Im a newb but willing to learn 
Thanks guys 
Paul


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## Steve Austcure (9/2/16)

anyone making sauce this year
any tricks of the trade that you know?


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## komodo (7/3/16)

My wife and I did 100kg and got 64 X 720ml passata bottles out of that. 

I have exactly ZERO regrets about spending the buggs bunny on the 1.5hp/1200watt reber it makes light work of it. We started our day at 1pm and we were finished by 10pm

Last time we made passata was 2014 when we did 200kg. We still have a hand full of bottles left. This time we reduced it a lot more as when we did the 200kg I didn't have enough kettle space and time to reduce it enough so we ended up with heaps of bottles but they were watery.


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## komodo (7/3/16)

I'm just trying to find out if I can get the different sieves locally. The standard sieve is 1.5mm apatures but they have a sieve with 1.1mm apatures and another with 2.5mm apatures. I think I want to try the coarser 2.5mm sieve. 
We had no issues with the sieve clogging this year but we have had that issue before. No idea what causes it.


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## Steve Austcure (14/3/16)

Did you do the tomatoes raw, blanched or cooked

be nice to know if the method type makes a difference

my mate uses a FLB machine and swears by it

electric beats manual any day

:chug:


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## Feldon (14/4/16)

[SIZE=medium]Is this good value at $30 for a 10kg box (minimum order) of organic tomatoes?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Seems like a good idea.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Same idea could be used for bulk buys of hops, malted grain, no?[/SIZE]





*[SIZE=medium]'Crowdsaucing' effort to bottle five tonnes of organic tomatoes[/SIZE]*

774 ABC Melbourne By Simon Leo Brown

[SIZE=medium]Five tonnes of organic tomatoes are being trucked to Melbourne as part of a push for the public to bottle their own passata.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Organic grocer CERES Fair Food is coordinating the effort, which it has dubbed "crowdsaucing".[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]Organiser Monique Miller said the campaign was born from the social enterprise's inability to sell local organic tinned tomatoes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"Even we, who are an organic grocer, don't and can't stock organic canned Australian tomatoes — they just don't exist," Ms Miller told 774 ABC Melbourne's Rafael Epstein. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"There's one cannery left in Australia now and the growers that grow for them are all conventional farmers."[/SIZE]

*[SIZE=medium]Profits go to environment park[/SIZE]*

[SIZE=medium]CERES Fair Food has nominated April 30 as Crowdsaucing Day and is encouraging people to organise public or private tomato bottling events on that day.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]The group has set up a website, crowdsaucing.org.au, where people can register to take part and purchase tomatoes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]"We have contracted a farmer to grow five tonnes of organic tomatoes for us," Ms Miller said. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]The tomatoes will be delivered to registered events by CERES Fair Food, which funnels all its profits to the CERES Environment Park.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]CERES, which stands for Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies, is a 10-acre not-for-profit park and education centre built on a decommissioned tip in Brunswick East. (continues...)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-14/crowdsaucing-to-bottle-five-tonnes-of-organic-tomatoes/7325498[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]And a link to the Crowdsaucing website: [/SIZE][SIZE=medium]http://www.ceresfairfood.org.au/crowdsaucing/[/SIZE]


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## professional_drunk (14/4/16)

$30 to make 8 bottles of passata is really expensive.
May as well buy it already made https://members.ceresfairfood.org.au/products/579


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## komodo (7/2/17)

Almost time again...

​Who's doing Passata this year?
​We might be giving it a miss this year unfortunately


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## pat_00 (28/2/17)

I'll be having my first real try at passata this year.

Totally economically stupid, but then so is a lot of things I do.


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## wide eyed and legless (28/2/17)

I have an abundance of tomatoes and have been thinking of making some, do I have to peel all the tomatoes first?
I tried my hand at ketchup last year but it came out more like H.P, though not complaining


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## Dave70 (28/2/17)

I've made a fairly good V8 knockoff juicing them, skin on. I could drink that stuff by the Stein.
Oddly, if I bit into a raw tomato I almost yack.


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## pcwiz01 (9/2/20)

Hi everyone. This is my first attempt at passata. I usually make eating/table sauce (with ezy sauce) but going to try passata in 2020. No issues with tomatos and i have 300 approx. 700ML Longneck bottles ready to go! But our family is not on speaking terms / devided and uncle that has the family recipe... i have asked a few times but he wont share the info or invite me to family sauce day!! Has anyone got a recipe?? I can remember from when was 15 (last time i got to help) that i got to add the salt abd turn the handle on the machine thankyou from Nathan


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## ilovetomatoes (23/2/20)

Is anyone on here using a reber 1hp juicer? Mine killed me clogging up when running the tomato skins through. I had to dismantle the cone filter after every box. Is there a solution for this?


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## ilovetomatoes (24/2/20)

Richo12 said:


> So just finished making our homemade tomato sauce for this year.
> 
> 35 cases of tomatoes (560kg aprox)
> 
> ...





Richo12 said:


> So just finished making our homemade tomato sauce for this year.
> 
> 35 cases of tomatoes (560kg aprox)
> Time taken :12hours
> ...



Did you end up with a solution to your reber clogging up?


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## wide eyed and legless (25/2/20)

pcwiz01 said:


> Hi everyone. This is my first attempt at passata. I usually make eating/table sauce (with ezy sauce) but going to try passata in 2020. No issues with tomatos and i have 300 approx. 700ML Longneck bottles ready to go! But our family is not on speaking terms / devided and uncle that has the family recipe... i have asked a few times but he wont share the info or invite me to family sauce day!! Has anyone got a recipe?? I can remember from when was 15 (last time i got to help) that i got to add the salt abd turn the handle on the machine thankyou from Nathan


I have grown lots of tomatoes this year, my wife wings it on passata recipes, the usual suspects basil, garlic onion but I have seen one recipe where it is all tomato, other ingredients are added as the sauce is used. I made a tomato sauce a couple of years ago using ezy sauce, couldn't pick it in a side by side with HP sauce. I was more than happy with that.
May be for another thread What chutneys have you made?


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