Please don't laugh at the ?
 

I just started making my own tomato sauce with canned tomatoes, don't have any fresh. I want to start making bigger batches so I don't have to do it as often, but I have forgotten what pots I can not use due to metal reaction:oops:

I have a few very large high grade stainless steel stock pots that hold 4 gallons, but I thought the acid in tomatoes reacts to stainless steel.





Melissas1977

It.s aluminum that the acid reacts with turning the pot black. The other metals are fine.

OC Tony
Where in OC are you ?
I was in Tustin 23 years Orange 37 years and now Anaheim
Dennis

Stainless steel is fine...aluminum and copper are not.

Aluminum gets blackened, copper will pit, horribly and may have leach harmful amounts of copper.

Cast iron...depends on length of contact and how well seasoned. Does leach some iron into the food and may give tomato sauces a metallic taste...but generally not considered harmful.

But for slow cooked/long term exposure...stainless steel, enameled or some anodized and glass cookware.

:yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

Stainless steel works for me than. I have 3 medium-large sized pots. All have tri-ply bases to prevent burning and are the 18/10 grade. Biggest is 5 gallons, but I wouldn't put more than 4 gallons in it to be safe and the others I think are half that size.




Thanks so much.
Melissa1977

[quote=mtbigfish;153704]OC Tony
Where in OC are you ?
I was in Tustin 23 years Orange 37 years and now Anaheim
Dennis[/quote]
I 'm in Santa Ana.

I have a large fairly heavy stainless steel pot that I bought just for that purpose, although of course it comes in handy in other ways, too. I think cast iron might discolor the sauce a little when it leaches. Whatever you use, long slow cooking is the key. Nothing like going to all that trouble and then burning the bottom of the batch!!!

I have every sized stainless steel pot from 5 gallon down to a wee little thing.
they are all of the trippile thick bottomed what ever stuff.
I loved the things.

I use them for hot water bath canning and so on.

one word of caution.

DO NOT store acidic foods in them or let a base such as Clorox stay in them.

Most stainless has nickel in it and this stuff will slowly eat away at it.

If you will notice after the acidic food has been in the pot for some time the walls of the pot will be dark.

This is the acid reacting with the non ferrous metal in the steel.

Worth

Another option:

I use a large (12"?) square shouldered frying pan (nonstick) for making sauce much of the time. The large surface area allows the tomatoes to cook down much faster than they do in my big pots. A full pan of fresh tomatoes cooked down gives me over 1/2 gallon of sauce, which fits in a gallon ziplock perfectly for freezing and is more than enough sauce for a one pound package of pasta.

If you're making a larger batch, though, the stainless pots work well. I do agree that there's not as much surface area for reducing the sauce, but I do this once a season and so I do a large amount at that time and my tomatoes wouldn't fit into a frying pan, even a 12" one. I think I usually end up with about ten quarts of puree, frozen individually in quart bags.

Yeah, I was thinking in larger amounts too. I would like to try making enough sauce to last us 3-4 months or so at a time. We have pizza and pasta once/week each, so we go through sauce pretty quick.


[quote]
one word of caution.

DO NOT store acidic foods in them
[/quote]
That's just for storage right? I can use them to cook with though?

Melissa1977

The last time I made up a batch was 2008. I believe I made up over 12 gallons and canned it all. I've got 2 4 gallon stainless steel pots with the triple thick bottoms that can handle low slow cooking of the sauce....usually over the better part of a day.

I think I did one pot of just blacks and purples, one of yellows and oranges, one of pinks and reds and the last was a mixture. Made for some great sauces. Didn't have enough greens or yellows to do my usual green and yellow sauce. That was all over above fresh eating, and what was chopped / diced and frozen. Not bad for about 120 - 150 containers/pots...hehehe



Just did some calculating - those are 4 IMP gallon pots so that makes them 5 US gallon pots.

I just measured my largest stainless pot and it is 12 inches in diameter and holds 5.5 gallons.

You guys are making me want to cook down and can tomato sauce.:lol:

Worth

[quote=disneynut1977;153802]Yeah, I was thinking in larger amounts too. I would like to try making enough sauce to last us 3-4 months or so at a time. We have pizza and pasta once/week each, so we go through sauce pretty quick.



That's just for storage right? I can use them to cook with though?

Melissa1977[/quote]

Sure you can. I do, I just don't like to store anything acidic in any metal at all.

Zana, you got that from 120 - 150 tomato plants? That's a lot of plants but a LOT of sauce! I just mix all of mine together, but I mostly grow reds with a few blacks.