Canning Spaghetti Sauce.. with a victorio

Canning Spaghetti Sauce using a victorio
It has been a LONG time since I have canned Spaghetti sauce and it is almost like having a baby.. okay not really but you forget how painful the process is! So, that is comparable to childbirth right?

I ran out and bought a Victorio strainer because in my mind it would make the process so much easier then boiling the tomatoes and peeling the skin off right? Sure, if you want runny spaghetti sauce. I am a thick kind of girl.. I like things in my life to be “thick” I like my man with a little meat on his bones, I like my milkshakes thick, I like thick toilet paper, and of course thick chunky spaghetti sauce! Well using the victorio gave me more of a puree. I used a recipe that called for the tomatoes to be quartered so you could simmer it down. I went ahead and prepared the spaghetti sauce just like the recipe asked for but using my strained tomatoes.

I simmered it on very very low all night and even woke up every so often to stir it. It did thicken up a little but not like I wanted it to. If anything I learned to not puree my tomatoes.

After the simmering process I tasted the sauce and it was nothing like I wanted it to taste like. It was almost as if all the herbs, onions, peppers etc. had been simmered for so long the flavor went out of them. At this point I was burned out on all the work I had put into it and so I put the lid on turned off the heat and walked away.

I later came back to it and after reading all sorts of tips online about spaghetti sauce and how to can it safely I decided I could alter it. I added diced tomatoes, onions, parsley, green peppers, sugar, oregano and so on. I simmered it just long enough to get the veggies soft and after I added more ingredients it tasted a lot better and I was happy so I went ahead and canned it!

I was not impressed with my batch therefore I will probably not be sharing my sauce with anyone but hey how else do you learn if you don’t try right? I did get about 8 quarts out of it which will be nice for my food storage. I am going to attempt another batch but do it completely different the next time!

So bottom line I wouldn’t recommend using a victorio for spaghetti sauce unless you don’t like your sauce thick! I do think I may try the victorio for Applesauce though.