Tomato sauce is a common condiment with a large consumer market. It's made from fresh tomatoes through a series of rigorous processing steps. So, how do you make tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes?
1. Raw Material Selection and Cleaning
We typically select fresh tomatoes that are moderately ripe, bright red, and free of pests and diseases. They are then cleaned using a combination of air bubbles and spray water.
2. Crushing and Heating
Fresh tomatoes are processed through a crusher, breaking the fruit into a pulp in preparation for subsequent heating and pulping. After crushing, the pulp is immediately heated (typically between 85°C and 95°C) to inactivate enzyme activity in the tomatoes, prevent browning of the juice, and facilitate separation of the skin from the flesh.
3. Pulping and Peeling
The pulper uses a screen to separate the skin and seeds from the tomato pulp, retaining only the delicate pulp and juice. The mesh size determines the texture of the paste. Too large a mesh size results in a high amount of peel and seeds remaining; too small a mesh size may reduce the pulp yield, affecting production efficiency.
4. Concentration
Tomato pulp is concentrated through evaporation, removing water and significantly increasing the solids content, resulting in a thick, creamy tomato paste. Concentration is typically performed at a low temperature (60-70°C under vacuum) to minimize the loss of vitamin C and lycopene. The degree of concentration determines the quality of the paste, with different products requiring varying solids content (generally above 25%-30%).
5. Pasteurization
After tomato sauce is concentrated, it needs to be pasteurized to kill potential microorganisms and ensure the product's shelf life at room temperature. A common process involves maintaining the paste at 85-95°C for a specified period of time.
6. Filling and Sealing
After sterilization, tomato sauce needs to be filled under aseptic conditions. Common packaging formats include cans, soft bags, and aseptic bags.
Advanced tomato sauce processing equipment and precise formulas enable the production of consistently delicious tomato sauce.