Cooking Resources

Madison554 · 07-31-2011, 11:47 AM

I'm cooking the tomatoes for tomato paste. I have several white stops forming on top. I have never since this before. Should I trash the batch?

Claire · 07-31-2011, 11:52 AM

I hope someone has the answer to this one. I don't make tomato paste, but have put half a can in the fridge and found white spots, and it wasn't long enough for it to be mold. Come on you food scientists, help us!

Madison554 · 07-31-2011, 12:06 PM

Thanks Claire, I'm pretty new to this, I made tomato sauce yesterday and didn't see any white spots.

Snip 13 · 07-31-2011, 12:10 PM

Mold can form really fast on moist foods, just scoop off the top layer that has spot on it and use as intended. If the food is not old then it will be fine. Same thing with blocks of cheese, sometimes when they get a bit moist a bit of white mold will form on the outside. Just cut it off. Just don't try this with meats, if they get moldy chuck it out!

Claire · 07-31-2011, 12:23 PM

Thanks, snip. I knew that about cheese. Usually if I need a tablespoon or so of the paste I simply put the rest in a baggie in the freezer. But I've occasionally put in the fridge, thinking I'd use it the next day and the spots formed before 24 hours were up. It isn't very expensive, so I just tossed it (when in doubt, throw it out).

**Dawgluver** · 07-31-2011, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claire

Thanks, snip. I knew that about cheese. Usually if I need a tablespoon or so of the paste I simply put the rest in a baggie in the freezer. But I've occasionally put in the fridge, thinking I'd use it the next day and the spots formed before 24 hours were up.

Have you tried the tomato paste in a tube? Good stuff if you just need a bit.

Claire · 07-31-2011, 12:32 PM

Yeah, but I can't get it regularly and when I can it is quite expensive. Freezing works just fine, I just can't put it in the fridge!

Snip 13 · 07-31-2011, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claire

Yeah, but I can't get it regularly and when I can it is quite expensive. Freezing works just fine, I just can't put it in the fridge!

Put a layer of cling wrap directly onto the surface of the paste to keep air out then it will last longer.

Madison554 · 07-31-2011, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snip 13

Mold can form really fast on moist foods, just scoop off the top layer that has spot on it and use as intended. If the food is not old then it will be fine. Same thing with blocks of cheese, sometimes when they get a bit moist a bit of white mold will form on the outside. Just cut it off. Just don't try this with meats, if they get moldy chuck it out!

The white spot are forming while it is cooking, it between a sauce and paste, so still need to cook till it thicken up.

Snip 13 · 07-31-2011, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madison554

The white spot are forming while it is cooking, it between a sauce and paste, so still need to cook till it thicken up.

If white spots are forming while it's cooking then it can't be mold so don't worry about it. You sometimes get little flecks of white when the tomatoes are not very ripe the lighter bits of tomato sometime lose colour while cooking and appear white. Not sure what your spots look like but when boiling or cooking certain foods it happens sometimes. Just skim the surface with a spoon to remove it.