Bonta pizza sauce

[Pizzacrazy7]

Has anyone tried this product.  I just ordered a can from pennmac.com-$20 with shipping!!!  Hope it's worth it.  By FAR, the hardest thing in home pizza making, for me.  There are tons of great dough recipes and you can aquire some good cheese(Grande) off the net(for an arm and a leg for shipping) but the sauce is always lacking, which in my opinion, makes(or breaks)the pizza.  Been trying quite a few Stanislaus products like Full Red, Full Red Fully Prepared, Super Dolche, and they're not doing it for me.  I also have a can of Saporito I'm going to try out.  Does Bonta have a slight sweet taste?  How does it differ from Full Red?  Any recipes for Bonta?

[JConk007]

I have a #10 can waiting I was able to get from escalon so please let me knoe what you think. I can now get 6 in 1s #10 for $3.79 and Bonta #10 for $5 from my local pizza joint. My new best Friend!!
John

[Pizzacrazy7]

Conk,
      Will do.  Mine should be here any day.   

[NepaBill]

I just picked up a can of Bonta myself.  I haven't used it yet.  I have been a loyal Stanislaus user, but after reading about Escalon in here I just had to try their products.  I made some sauce the other day w/ 6-1 and felt it was better than Stanislaus Tomato Magic. 

Bill

[Mad_Ernie]

I bought a can of Bonta over a month ago and have used it in a couple different sauce recipes.  The one below is the one I've used it the most, a Chicago deep-dish style sauce:

Mad Ernie’s deep-dish sauce recipe:

2 x 14.5-oz cans of Red Gold Italian diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and onion - drained
14-oz of Escalon 6-in-1 all purpose ground tomatoes - drained
8-oz of Escalon Bonta pizza sauce with basil

1 ½ teaspoon Penzy’s pizza seasoning
¾  teaspoon of Mexican oregano
1 ½ teaspoon of granulated garlic

[scott r]

Has anyone tried this product.  I just ordered a can from pennmac.com-$20 with shipping!!! Been trying quite a few Stanislaus products like Full Red, Full Red Fully Prepared, Super Dolche, and they're not doing it for me.  I also have a can of Saporito I'm going to try out.  Does Bonta have a slight sweet taste?  How does it differ from Full Red?  Any recipes for Bonta?

Which Bonta did you get?  They make 4 versions, and 3 of them are pretty much tomato paste.  The one that's not is pretty close to Full Red, but I prefer the Bonta.   Bonta is sweet, but not as sweet as super dolche.  For me it's not the magic bullet, and I prefer to start with a product that is less processed and closer to a whole tomato.  Good luck!

[Pizzacrazy7]

Scott,
       It's Bonta Pizza Sauce w/basil.  Going to try it out tonight!  It was VERY thick, like paste.  I cut with a little water and spiced it up.

[scott r]

Pizzacrazy, I can't tell you how many cans of that I see all over the place in NYC.  Try a nice street style slice and you should feel like you are in Saturday Night Fever.  Next time, if you can, try to get one of the thinner Bontas and you will probably prefer it. 

[NepaBill]

Scott,

I keep seeing you refer to different Bonta sauces..  Do you have any links on these different versions?  All I see on the Escalon site is one reference to Bonta..

 http://www.escalon.net/bonta.aspx

[Pete-zza]

NepaBill,

I am not sure of the currency of the following but you might take a look at http://www.pizzamaking.com/escalon_stanislaus.html.

Peter

[Mad_Ernie]

Scott,

I keep seeing you refer to different Bonta sauces..  Do you have any links on these different versions?  All I see on the Escalon site is one reference to Bonta..

 http://www.escalon.net/bonta.aspx

Look to the left and you will see 4 hot links to different Bonta sauces:

Pizza Sauce with basil

Extra-heavy Tomato puree 1.09 specific gravity

Concentrated crushed tomatoes

Fancy Tomato Paste
 
 
Choose any one of these and the center screen will tell you something about each one.

[scott r]

thanks mad ernie!

[Pizzacrazy7]

No luck.......Maybe it is in the SPICES...?  I don't know.  I had high hopes for this one since the one I was trying to replicate ingredients(on the label) were only "vine-ripened tomatoes(California), salt and basil.  Base tastes pretty much the same as all the others I've tried.  This Bonta Pizza Sauce is pretty much tomato paste.  I must be wrong, maybe the spices are more important.  Between Stanislaus or Escalon, not a big difference to me.  I'm still not close to any pizza places I like(Sahara Pizza, Pizza Factory, Nates NY Pizza, Pizza Shoppe--Even Frozen Frechetta Rising Crust Pizza Sauce is good-to me) on my sauce.  It sure is puzzling.  I was hoping this would taste(or be) the sauce of a local company(Sahara Pizza) but they obviously add some spices and ?? to their sauce.  Doesnt smell or taste anywhere close to the same.  Any ideas? 

[Mad_Ernie]

PC7:

You are correct in that the Bonta sauce is mainly tomato paste.  As you noted, it has very little added to it in the way of other ingredients.   Therefore, most folks will end up adding other herbs and spices to kick it up a notch or 3.

Pizza sauces are the most difficult to replicate, imo.  They are so wide and varied in terms of possibilities for ingredients beyond the tomatoes.  Is there a specific sauce that you like that you are trying to replicate?  Pizza Hut?  Freschetta?  A pre-made canned/jarred sauce such as Don Pepino's or Ragu???

One suggestion: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyspizzaseas.html

The unfortunate thing is, it requires putting out some sheckles.  You may get some and end up not liking it at all and be back to where you are now.  Even more than the dough, I have found that experimentation with pizza sauce takes the longest to get it 'right'.

[Pizzacrazy7]

Mad Ernie,

              Thanks for the input.  Like I stated, I would settle for ANY pizza sauce recipe that was good like some of the local pizza place:  Sahara Pizza, Pizza Pipeline, Pizza Factory, Nates NY Pizza, or even the Freshetta Rising Crust Pizza Sauce is good.  Sauce is, by far, the hardest thing to get right.  Do you use Penzys?  I haven't tried it yet.  Wondering if I should order some and give that a try..??  I have been experiementing for quite some time now, always thinking that it is in the base, however, I recently think it may be the spices.  I know a local pizza joint here (Nate's NY Pizza) uses Stanislaus Full Red Fully Prepared with Tomatoe Puree and lightly spiced.  I have used the Full Red several times but nowhere close to this place either.  I've tried Stanislaus Full Red, Super Dolche, Full Red Fully Prepared, Angela Mia, All Kitchens and now Bonta for experimental bases.  It just hit me that it must be more about the spices than base.  Especially after learning of Nates.  I know it'll take some bucks and lots of experiments and I don't have a problem with that.  I've even considered offering a pizza delivery guy $100 for the sauce recipes but I know they are usually closely guarded secrets.  I have even considered going to work for some of these places trying to get an idea on the sauces out of desperation.  I guess I'll just keep trying till I get something.
Any input on Penzys?

Thanks.

[Polymandius]

This may sounds a little crazy... but do you have a "Smart & Final" where you live? I've been using a dressed up version of their marinara sauce for years. It's a little thin as it comes out of the can, but you can cook it down a bit and adjust the seasoning pretty easily. Might be worth a try or a waste of your time depending on what you are looking for in a sauce.

[Puzzolento]

I find that Bonta works okay with toppings, which disguise the flaws of a sauce. In a cheese pizza, it's Stanislaus all the way.

Cheese pizza is much harder to make well.