water + heavy puree?

[HamPepMush]

So after talking to a well informed rep from Escalon, I am seriously contemplating something I never would have before - adding water to my sauce.  I'm slowly trying to move in the direction of 'Austin's Home Slice' sauce, and have made some good progress since going to a 6 in 1, Bonta blend (going heavy on the salt and pepper).  While the taste is getting there, the viscosity is just too dang high.  And, even for this tomato freak, the overwhelming tomato sweetness is just a bit too intense at the current 1:1 ratio...not really paste-like, because the taste is so good, but heading along that path as far as thickness and intensity is concerned.  Enter the Escalon sales rep, who recommended I move to Bonta puree + 6 in 1's + 1 part water!  Water?  In my feable mind, I think of dehydrated tomatoes + water as something considerably less than the packed-in-juice canned whole plums I have been accustomed to.  I know consistancy-wise his approach makes perfect sence, but during the condensation process, I have to believe that there's the chance to be losing some complex, small flavor molecules as well.  The rep explained very clearly that it is the same tomatoes, but the heavy puree has just water removed, and stressed nothing else is removed.  He really was trying to convince me to trust the heavy puree products, and said that all of my favorite pizza joints likely use something similar.  In time I will try all the combinations...but for now has anyone done any side by side comparisons of, say, bella rossa versus watered down 6 in 1's, or bonta heavy puree + water versus bonta pizza sauce.  In that vein, how do you gurus think that a Bonta sauce + 6 in 1's would compare to a Bonta heavy puree + water + 6 in 1's or how about bella rossas + 6 in 1's?  

[scott r]

I have gone down this road.  Yes, Escalon is right, 90% of typical generic pizzerias water down a thickened product.  the reason for doing this is to keep their food costs down. The whole concept of removing water to rehydrate later down the road is not about flavor, its about saving on shipping charges.  I promise you that none of the top pizzerias in teh US (bianco, grimaldes, totonnos, UPN, etc) would ever be caught doing something like this.  The cooking and evaporating process changes the product flavor, even if its all the same stuff in there after rehydration.  If I were you I would stick to products that are already close to the consistency that you want to use on your pizza.  I have had better luck using the Bella Rosa line than the thicker bonta line.  I end up with a less processed and brighter flavor. 

I personally don't see any reason to add bonta or any other thickened product to 6 in 1's.  the 6 in 1 is already a blended product incorporating a thickened bonta/bella rosa type product with crushed tomatoes.

[Lydia]

Hi

I've tried nearly all the heavier Escalon products. They do vary in flavor and in sweetness and have different textures. In geneneral I also prefer the bella rossa line over the bonta line. I find the bella rossa line less sweet than 6n1s, with a medium processed taste (a characteristic flavor of chain sauces). The concentrated crushed are medium in smoothness with the bella tomato puree being a bit smoother. The organic Christina's are still sweet but have a flavor more like ripe fresh-cut tomatoes, more so than 6 in 1's. In comparison 6 in 1s have a fresh-simmered, rich and sweet flavor.

In my opinion the 6 in 1s add too much sweetness and prefer to use water when cloning chain-style pizza sauces. Of course that is going to be dependent on what you're cloning 

If you simmer 6n1's until they start to thicken you will notice that the longer they simmer the more the sweetness declines. To balance this I will cook 1 can of 6n1's with my primary seasonings then add a fresh opened can to the sauce after removing from the heat to restore some of the character lost during simmering.

[HamPepMush]

Great input, thank you all so much.  You definitely confirmed my suspicions regarding the condensed purees.  With the quality of the sauce that I am trying to duplicate (still home slice 'za in Austin TX), I am fairly certain now that they didn't rehydrate.  And maybe this is just my perception and bad memory, but the rehydrated versions that I have made are darker red, not close to the 'pinkish', vibrant color at Home Slice.  So far everyone that has tried my new sauce really likes it...but it is far from what I am shooting for.  Just wish I hadn't bought 60 bucks in Bonta heavy puree and 6 in 1's!  I'm working hard now to try to find a source for the Bella Rossas.  One question there though, will that product, being typical canned tomatoes, have a good deal of seeds?  I've heard of similar top-of-the-line products having been bred for low seed count, or having the seeds removed.  I was impressed with the quality of the 6 in 1's and how seedless they were - must be they remove seeds prior to condensing?  Hard to remove seeds inside a canned whole tomato, unless the rossas are strips or chunks?  thanks again.   

[Frank99ta]

I've been using the 6 in 1 for several years and the flavor was  very strong.  I tried adding water a little at a time to try to tone it down and realized it made a huge difference.   Now, I actually add quite a bit of water to a can of 6 in 1 to get it the way I like it.  The sauce tuned out very sweet and it didn't have such a stark flavor.  I make a lot of NY style and this was perfect.  I would definitely try it to see if you like it.  I've made pizza for all my family and frieds and they all love the way the sauce tastes.