Food Guru's, I need help!

[tumpedover]

I'm befuddled....... I am making up a batch of my sauce for canning, I have made it lots of times before......this time it's bitter,very bitter I had to scrap the whole batch I ussually can 24 Qt's at a time, so for me this SUCKS!!!!!This has happened once before but, only once in about 25 or 30 times of making it.....

The sauce is a Tomato based sauce. The main ingredients are as follows:
Crushed tomato's and tom.sauce
Bell peppers
onions
garlic
celery
a couple different kinds of chili's
O.J.
Lemon Juice
Apple cider vinegar
Coffee
Brown sugar
Molasses
bay leaves
Parsley
butter
mustard
soy
wooster

various spices and salt.....the amounts I don't think will matter to the bitterness.....
The only thing I did different here is It had to simmer for about two and a half hours and I normally only simmer it for 1 hr.

If there's something in there that gets bitter after cooking or reacts with the other ingredients this is not the first time so I would really like to find the culprit here:evil:

 

[YankeeBBQ]

I'm befuddled....... I am making up a batch of my sauce for canning, I have made it lots of times before......this time it's bitter,very bitter I had to scrap the whole batch I ussually can 24 Qt's at a time, so for me this SUCKS!!!!!This has happened once before but, only once in about 25 or 30 times of making it.....

The sauce is a Tomato based sauce. The main ingredients are as follows:
Crushed tomato's and tom.sauce
Bell peppers
onions
garlic
celery
a couple different kinds of chili's
O.J.
Lemon Juice
Apple cider vinegar
Coffee
Brown sugar
Molasses
bay leaves
Parsley
butter
mustard
soy
wooster

various spices and salt.....the amounts I don't think will matter to the bitterness.....
The only thing I did different here is It had to simmer for about two and a half hours and I normally only simmer it for 1 hr.

If there's something in there that gets bitter after cooking or reacts with the other ingredients this is not the first time so I would really like to find the culprit here:evil:

Were the onions pungent when you cut them ? Onions turn bitter when they get old.

 

[tumpedover]

Were the onions pungent when you cut them ? Onions turn bitter when they get old.

I didn't notice that they were really pungent....they were red onions and they seemed pretty fresh.....

 

[Kevin]

Any chance the garlic got burned (stuck to the side or bottom of the pan while simmering). Just a guess, but burned garlic is very bitter.

 

[FatDaddy]

im remember Poobah sayin somthing about the tomatoes being bitter if they get boiled.. uhmm it was the country style rib thread a while back.. that might have been the problem?? dunno.

 

[tumpedover]

Any chance the garlic got burned (stuck to the side or bottom of the pan while simmering). Just a guess, but burned garlic is very bitter.

Although possible I only very lightly simmer my veg. before adding the rest.

im remember Poobah sayin somthing about the tomatoes being bitter if they get boiled.. uhmm it was the country style rib thread a while back.. that might have been the problem?? dunno.

That's interesting, because I've simmered tomatoes for hours making , braised pork tomato gravy.......I guess it could be though I'd love to hear more from Poobah...if this is so...

 

[stan]

Did you taste the OJ? OJ if bad may cause a bit citris taste. Or a combinations of several items.

 

[tumpedover]

Did you taste the OJ? OJ if bad may cause a bit citris taste. Or a combinations of several items.

I drank a glass of the oj this morning and it was fine!
If it is a combo of ingredients it's still bewildering because I've made it many times with the same ingredients with great results!

 

[FatDaddy]

Although possible I only very lightly simmer my veg. before adding the rest.



That's interesting, because I've simmered tomatoes for hours making , braised pork tomato gravy.......I guess it could be though I'd love to hear more from Poobah...if this is so...

from what i remember as long as they dont break a simmer for very long.. they are ok. although ive all ways boiled the hell out of ragu.. so i dunno.. maybe i dont know what good pasta sauce taste like lol..

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

How bitter was it? Doesn't seem theres much in there that would cause a bitter taste other than coffee and lemons.

 

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Thinking out loud here, but do you always cook the sauce in the same pot? Was it aluminum or cast iron or something else that might have reacted with the acidty of the tomatos?

 

[SmokeInDaEye]

Plus, I'm not a scientist but if you simmered it for 2.5 hours versus a normal 1 hour, you are removing a good amount of water which would normally dilute any bitter taste and would normally help meld the flavors.

Take half a cup of balsalmic vinegar and simmer it for 20 minutes. you'll get a sweet, thick syrup. Simmer it for 20-30 minutes more and it will lose a lot of the sweetness and will taste bitter/burnt. That is a more likely culprit than any bad fruit, etc. from a non scientist.

 

[tumpedover]

How bitter was it? Doesn't seem theres much in there that would cause a bitter taste other than coffee and lemons.

It was VERY bitter.......really unpleasant, BTW no lemons or oranges just the juice.....

Thinking out loud here, but do you always cook the sauce in the same pot? Was it aluminum or cast iron or something else that might have reacted with the acidty of the tomatos?

It is a heavy bottomed Stainless pot.......the same pot I normally use

Plus, I'm not a scientist but if you simmered it for 2.5 hours versus a normal 1 hour, you are removing a good amount of water which would normally dilute any bitter taste and would normally help meld the flavors.

Take half a cup of balsalmic vinegar and simmer it for 20 minutes. you'll get a sweet, thick syrup. Simmer it for 20-30 minutes more and it will lose a lot of the sweetness and will taste bitter/burnt. That is a more likely culprit than any bad fruit, etc. from a non scientist.

It definatley reduced some but, I added some water during this time to help.....The crazy thing about it is early on it didn't taste bitter it got more so as time went on......as I said this has happend once before .....otherwise I wouldn't sweat it so much......BTW I'm also Leaning toward the reduction thing.....

 

[Bigmista]

Did you taste the OJ? OJ if bad may cause a bit citris taste. Or a combinations of several items.

That would be my guess.

 

[Bigmista]

Tomatoes, Lemon Juice, OJ, Vinegar and mustard. THat's an awful lot of acid. Perhaps it reacted with something...

 

[ZBQ]

Just a thought.

Did you use the same BRANDS of ingredients?

I always try to use the same brands.

Take ketchup for example.

Heinz tastes completely different than Hunt's.

Hunt's tomato sauce tastes a lot different than Contandina (sp?) or Red Gold.

Just a thought.

 

[bbqjoe]

Well either way, no matter what, you're going to have to make a new batch.
Just do it they way you always have done it and you'll probably be fine.

 

[tommykendall]

Thanks for the recipe :wink:

 

[Jorge]

Sounds like it could have been a combination of things. For onions in a sauce I'll always use a fresh 1015/vidalia unless I need some bite. Letting the tomatoes get too hot could have been part of the problem as well.