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When comparing homemade tomato sauce with store bought sauce many differences can be apparent to the average consumer. Personally, I find the taste of homemade tomato sauces to be vastly superior when compared to the sauces purchased at the store. The reasons why this should be can sometimes be hard to fathom yet quality of ingredients and levels of preservatives used may be the variable factors in the two products. Noticeable differences may include the following:

1. Commercial tomato sauces often have a lot higher sugar levels than the homemade varieties.

2. Preservatives used to extend shelf-life of the commercial product can be high in number and potency. Whereas homemade sauces are less likely to contain them and may be more likely to be perishable.

3. Store bought sauces often are made to tried and true recipes that have been around for some time. The homemade concoctions may not use such a refined recipe as a guide but the overall taste is more likely to be personally appealing and satisfying in its uniqueness.

4. Homemade tomato sauces can have an overall fresher taste and fuller flavor owing to the time-frame in which they are often made and stored. It stands to reason that anything that is stored on shop shelves for any length of time is unlikely to be as flavorsome or fresh-tasting as a foodstuff prepared at home in one's own kitchen and used in a relatively short space of time.

5. Although large manufacturers may be loathe to admit it, commercial tomato sauces very often use large quantities of inferior tomatoes in their products. They may still be edible in quality but can sometimes lack the full-bodied flavor of a better quality fruit that one may have grown in the backyard at home. A big disadvantage of consuming the store bought sauce is never really knowing exactly what ingredients have been used and the quality of them. Although labels on sauce bottles are required by law, a certain amount of doubt to contents still remains. If you are inclined to make your own tomato sauces you will be better aware of what goes into the recipe and can judge the quality of any ingredients added.

6. Store bought sauces often have a very simple combination of ingredients used in their recipes, possibly to cater for the common denominator when it comes to taste preferences. When compared to homemade sauces they often have a less exciting flavor and are less inclined to employ fresh herbs and spices in a recipe, ingredients that often add a unique flavor and 'magic' to a sauce.

7. The overall sensual effect of a homemade tomato sauce can be a lot richer and full-some, in appearance, taste-wise, aroma and overall consistency. The store bought version may actually have a more homogeneous consistency and be smoother in texture but lack a certain full-bodied, rustic quality.

The comparing of homemade tomato sauces to the store bought variety is often a very personal exercise and one's individual preference will likely differ vastly to that of another. Yet when anything is compared when one choice happens to be of the homemade variety, it is often hard to overlook a common superiority in tasting experience with regards to the homemade product.

Where store bought sauces can be a bit bland in the tasting stakes 'homemade' makes the grade!

Learn more about this author, David Braybrooke.
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