Tomato preserves.

[worth1]

First and foremost this is not approved by any government agency so be warned.
But I know the rules and I know my taste buds.
Next this is an experiment because I couldn't find anything on line or YouTube that didn't have a bunch of ingredients in it I wanted to use.
I don't want my tomato preserves to taste like lime cloves or cinnamon thank you very much.
Now let's get with it.
Here is my starting point.
11/2 pounds Juliet tomatoes.
1 cup sugar.
1/2 cup Port wine.
1 cup water.
1 teaspoon citric acid.

I'm going to slowly cook this down and see what I need.
Be advised I like tomato preserves a little on the caramelized side for a rustic flavor.
Nor did I cut off any stem ends.
Right off the bat I can tell I used too much water.
I should have at least cut it in half.
But it is what it is.

IMG_20230610_122235377_HDR.jpg

[AKgardener]

Sounds interesting!! Never tried it before but wine in food how can you go wrong I hope it turns out

[Tomatina]

I agree with AKgardener

Just from reading it sounds like a lot of sugar to me & the water isn't really useful in my opinion - but maybe it turns out really good. Sure you will add some salt.?

So far, I mostly preserve my tomatoes pretty plain. Cut out the stem ends from the bigger ones, quater or half the tomatoes. Bit of salt, cook them for a short while, blend them, cook again (or should I say boil?) for 2-5 min and into clean jars/bottles.

So, no matter, what I want to do with it, I have this great base always on hand.

Just recently I saw a famous german cook (Tim Raue), making a tomatosauce seasoning it with fish sauce, soy sauce and Muscovado sugar. Sounds weird, I know, but maybe it is really good..

As a vegetarian, I'm not going to use fish sauce, but I thought about miso paste with Kombu or Nori instead of the fish sauce.
I'm going to try it this summer & let you know, if it's Worth a try

[worth1]

I nailed it on the first try the only adjustment needed would be less water by 1/2 maybe.
Believe it or not by eyesight I got it cooked down to a perfect pint with no extra.
The flavor is extraordinary too.
The temperature was brought up to around 118 F but left the bottom alone a wee bit every now and then to caramelize a little.
No HFC either.

IMG_20230610_140657106_HDR.jpg

IMG_20230610_140930322.jpg

[worth1]

@Tomatina
This is (NOT) preserved tomatoes for other uses.
Its tomato preserves like any other thing like strawberry or apricot preserves or some such thing for spreading on bread or toast.
No salt needed or desired.
To get the boiling point up to around 118F you have to add sugar or it won't set up and will be runny.
The amount of water and sugar you use depends on how diluted it will be.
Some of your commercial preserves are a lot of water and sugar and a lot less fruit than you would imagine.
Even the big name brands are r like this.

[Tomatina]

Ah, ok, so it is a tomatojam with Port? (Just for my understanding, would you call it strawberry preserve or jam or is there a difference between it?)

I thought you're making a sauce
Great, that it turned out as you wanted it to be.

[worth1]

Ah, ok, so it is a tomatojam with Port? (Just for my understanding, would you call it strawberry preserve or jam or is there a difference between it?)

I thought you're making a sauce
Great, that it turned out as you wanted it to be.

I don't know whether it would be a preserves or a jam the two are so close to each other.
This is nothing but tomatoes no strawberries.
Growing up we had such an abundance of tomatoes we made preserves with them along with every other manner of putting them up for winter.
Another oddity we made was sweet watermelon rind pickles and I loved them.

As a boy and teenager I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen making all this stuff and canning.
Not because I had to but because I wanted to.
Somehow I managed to fit in hunting fishing taking car of cattle and of all things swimming and girls.

[GoDawgs]

Another oddity we made was sweet watermelon rind pickles and I loved them.

I'm right with ya on sweet watermelon rind pickles!

[worth1]

The preserves set in the refrigerator all night and they set up really well.
They tasted sweet and tart at the same time.
Just about like peach or apricot preserves.
I bought some strawberry preserves a few years ago and they were sickeninly sweet with the HFC added.
Realize that the citric acid amount ended up being 1 teaspoon to 1 pint of product.
This is pretty strong so no worries about acidity since the recommendation is 1/4 teaspoon per pint.

Put offs for some people.
The skins on the Juliet are rather thick.
Lots of seeds but no more than blackberry jam would have.
If one were to use vinegar it would be I believe 3 tablespoons for every 1 tablespoon of citric acid or three times the amount.

There are reliable links from Universities giving out all this information.
Things I would change.
Move acidity back to 1/2 teaspoon like I originally started with but changed my mind.
Use 1 cup of port or any other sweet fortified wine with a high sugar content Madera and marsala and sherry are definitely on my list.
And omit all the water.
This will cut back on the reduction time and have a less cooked tomato product.
Possibly blanch and peel the tomatoes but that's a lot of tomatoes.
Use 2 pounds of tomatoes and work the seeds out yet again a lot of seeds.
Use pectin if you like but I never seem to have any around and the old timers didn't have it in store bought form out on the farm.
Tomatoes have natural pectin anyway.

Next batch will be coming later with changes.