Need help with pizza sauce! pretty please 🍕

[PizzaEater101]

That seems like a LOT of salt.  I use 4-5 grams for a 28 ounce can. With all that parm you’d think you could skip the salt altogether.

Actually it is .55 Grams of salt.  The measurements in parenthesis is for 28 OZ can but outside of the parens I think is for 106 OZ can.

[jsaras]

Actually it is .55 Grams of salt.  The measurements in parenthesis is for 28 OZ can but outside of the parens I think is for 106 OZ can.

That makes a lot more sense.  Thanks!

[jkb]

That makes a lot more sense.  Thanks!

I think most canned tomatoes have too much salt to begin with.

[CB1984]

Pizza Shark. Is this the same as garlic flakes?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CFWNS3/?tag=pmak-20

I would highly recommend this company.  They're sixth generation garlic farmers in the Hudson Valley of New York.  Their product is made small batch by the owner, and she doesn't even charge a fortune for it.  I've been purchasing from her for about ten years, and my best friend (who owns a restaurant) has used her as a supplier since the day she opened.  Everything she makes is top notch.  Can't recommend enough.

Rockerbox Spice Company

[9slicePie]

I find that anything that tastes great for the Margherita will make a good NY sauce.

I like that.

This is my "house sauce":

28 oz can crushed tomatoes (Wal Mart, Kroger or Smart & Final brand,
Code on the can is 5TPCG OL)
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
1-2 tsp oregano
1-2 TB of olive oil
1/2 clove garlic or ½ Dorot frozen garlic cube or ¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground fennel (optional, but very recommended)
1/8 tsp (dash) crushed red pepper (optional, adds a zesty element)
½ Dorot frozen basil cube (optional)
 
 
Add salt and black pepper directly to the canned tomatoes.
 
Put the olive oil and all the spices into a small microwave safe container such as a ramekin or a coffee cup.  Ensure that all the spices are wet from being covered in olive oil.  Microwave the mixture for two minutes at 30% power. This is called “microwave extraction”.  This technique gives you the same effect of cooking the sauce, without the negative effects of cooking canned tomatoes.  The herbs and spices get infused into the oil, so you get the benefits of cooking the sauce without cooking the tomatoes.
 
Pour the oil/spice mix into a container with the tomatoes.  Close the container and shake the heck out of it.  It is ready to serve immediately,  but it is better if refrigerated overnight.  Note that pizza sauce should be applied to a pizza when it has reached room temperature.

I recently made a simpler variation of this with just the garlic, oregano (both in oil) and a full teaspoon of salt.  It was excellent IMO.

As much as I plan to use this technique God-Willing, I have some [non-condescending/non-sarcastic] questions:

Pizzerias most likely don't use the above technique when making their sauces, and many of their sauces are laudable.  And as home pizza-makers, aren't we trying to make and replicate pizza/sauce/etc the way the pizzerias do?  The microwave extraction is an extra step (albeit, a seemingly worthwhile extra step) that pizzerias are probably (Read: Almost certainly) not using.  They're likely just adding herbs/spices (if any) directly to their tomatoes.


(Don't get me wrong, if this technique enhances the sauce's flavor, I (myself) wouldn't necessarily be against that.)

[jsaras]

I like that.


As much as I plan to use this technique God-Willing, I have some [non-condescending/non-sarcastic] questions:

Pizzerias most likely don't use the above technique when making their sauces, and many of their sauces are laudable.  And as home pizza-makers, aren't we trying to make and replicate pizza/sauce/etc the way the pizzerias do?  The microwave extraction is an extra step (albeit, a seemingly worthwhile extra step) that pizzerias are probably (Read: Almost certainly) not using.  They're likely just adding herbs/spices (if any) directly to their tomatoes.


(Don't get me wrong, if this technique enhances the sauce's flavor, I (myself) wouldn't necessarily be against that.)

Norma used an MAE sauce that was even more involved than mine, and her pizzeria was among the best in the country for her style.  I cannot speak as to how prevalent the technique is in professional operations, but it does work. 

[HansB]

The more pizza I make, the more often I add only salt to good crushed tomatoes for my sauce.

[amolapizza]

Pizzerias most likely don't use the above technique when making their sauces, and many of their sauces are laudable.  And as home pizza-makers, aren't we trying to make and replicate pizza/sauce/etc the way the pizzerias do?

I think we are trying to make even better pizza than the commercial places do!

[RHawthorne]

I think we are trying to make even better pizza than the commercial places do!

I guess it depends on what we mean by 'commercial places'. If we're trying to make better than average pizza, it goes without saying that we're going to make better pizza than the big chains do, without a doubt- or at least with a little effort. If we're trying to go for a truly great pizza (which I would say most of us are), then our own worst critic is always ourselves. I'm happy to make pizza that's better than the pizza from the best pizzerias near me- which I think I've already long since done. But I'll probably never stop trying to perfect my work. It's totally subjective, of course. What matters is that we always try our best, even if we're making pizza only for ourselves.