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Using wax granules to seal wine bottles is an age-old technique that not only ensures the longevity of the wine but also adds a touch of elegance to the presentation. This detailed guide will help you master the art of wax sealing, enhancing both the aesthetics and preservation of your wine collection. Materials Needed: Wax sealing granules Wax melting pot Heat source (such as a stove) Protective gloves Optional: Custom seal stamp Step-by-Step Process: Prepare Your Workspace: Set up a clean, heat-resistant workspace. Have all materials readily accessible, and wear protective gloves to handle hot materials safely. Melting the Wax: Pour wax granules into the melting pot and place it over a heat source. Heat the granules until they are fully melted and have a smooth, consistent texture. Avoid overheating to prevent the wax from smoking. Preparing the Bottle: Ensure your wine bottles are corked properly. The cork should be dry and well-fitted to avoid contamination or leakage under the wax. Dipping the Bottle: Carefully dip the neck of the bottle into the melted wax. Submerge it to just below the cork to cover the entire neck. Hold it in the wax for about 5 to 10 seconds to ensure a thick coating. Setting the Wax: Remove the bottle from the wax and allow the excess to drip off briefly. Stand the bottle upright and let the wax cool and solidify for a few minutes. If a thicker seal is desired, wait for the first layer to harden before dipping again. Adding a Personal Touch: While the wax is still soft, press a customised seal stamp into the top of the wax to imprint your logo, initials, or a unique design. This step is optional but adds a personalised flair to each bottle. Curing the Wax: Allow the wax to cure completely at room temperature. This process helps the wax bond firmly to the bottle, enhancing the seal’s effectiveness and durability. Tips for Perfect Wax Seals: Choose high-quality wax granules designed specifically for bottle sealing to ensure the best results. Experiment with different colours of wax to match your brand or personal preference. Ensure the wax is not too hot when dipping to prevent damaging the cork or the wine. Wax sealing is not just about preserving wine; it's about crafting an experience and showcasing attention to detail to your home made wine. With the right technique and a bit of practice, you can achieve professional-looking results that impress your friends and elevate your home vintning efforts. Start sealing your wine bottles with confidence! Check out our selection of high-quality sealing wax granules and tools to get started on your next bottling project. Happy winemaking!

Introduction: Creating the perfect salami or sausage is truly an art form, one that involves precision and understanding of how each component influences the final product. One of the critical aspects of this process is the choice of netting tubes, netting, and casings. These elements are crucial in determining the texture, shape, and even flavor of your salami or sausage. The Importance of Choosing the Right Casings: Casings are the outer layer of your sausages or salami, and their diameter can significantly affect how your meats cure, cook, and ultimately taste. Smaller casings are typically used for sausages due to their quicker cooking time and ease of eating, whereas larger casings are better suited for salami, allowing for a slower curing process that develops richer flavors. Why Netting and Netting Tubes Matter: Netting helps maintain the shape of the sausage or salami during the curing process. It ensures even pressure distribution, which is vital for consistent drying and curing. Netting tubes, which assist in applying this netting, must be matched carefully with the diameter of the casings and the netting itself to avoid tears and ensure ease of production. Quality Equipment for the Best Results: At The Artisans Bottega, we understand the nuances of sausage and salami making, which is why we offer the highest quality of equipment imported directly from Italy. Our selection of netting tubes, netting, and casings is designed to meet the needs of both novice cooks and seasoned chefs, ensuring that everyone can achieve professional-grade results at home.Choosing the right netting tubes, netting, and casings is more than just a detail—it's a necessary step in achieving the desired texture and flavor of your salami and sausage. With The Artisans Bottega, you have access to the finest Italian equipment that makes all the difference. Additional Resources: For those interested in further details on how different netting tubes correspond with various nettings and casings, we have attached a comprehensive guide below. This resource will help you make informed decisions in choosing the right equipment.

If you could choose to experiment different flavours in your spirits, that brings sensations beyond your traditional spirits, wouldn’t you, do it? But do you know what makes the big difference in these spirits? The answer is Still spirit bases. Still Spirits bases are used to create a sweetness in your liqueur drink and gives you the right spirit flavour of choice for the spirit. Keep reading to discover this world and the recommended base for each flavour. Easy making spirits in 3 steps Thanks to essence bottles, you can make alcohol in no time. To make any still spir- its alcohol, follow these steps: The Still Spirits Bases When it comes to make your alcohol, the main ingredients would be still spirit bases because it would create the actual flavour for your liqueur drink. Each flavour must have been combined with the recommended liqueur base. First, we start with the obvious one: Liqueur Base A which comes in a 220 g pouch. Liqueur Base A gives you the ideal finished thickness and sweetness to liqueurs. Liqueur Base B is similar to Base A giving you that finished smooth texture to your drink and sweetness to liqueurs. It comes in a 260 g pouch. The difference between Bases A and B is the quantity in the packet. The composition is the same, but one contains more to impart different levels of sweetness. Both bases A & B are intended to make the same 1.125 L volume of alcohol, Base B is designed to make a sweeter liqueur drink than Base A making the final ABV content on B is lower than A. Add the alcohol indicated on your essences bottle in a large mixing bowl or jars. Slowly add your base pack while stirring with a whisk. Now add your favourite essence and top it up with water. Once you add the water, you can transfer the contents from the bowl to a Spirit bottle giving it a nice look and share it with your friends and family. Liqueur bases The best way to know which base is best for your liquor is to see the individual essence bottle notes, which will give you an idea of what base to use with it. Liqueur Base C comes in an even bigger pouch of 320 g. Base C will make the sweetest Liqueur with a lower final ABV. Schnapps Base is ideally designed to add to any schnapps Liqueur Essences giving the ideal finished thickness and sweetness to your spirits. Cream Base comes in a 400 g pouch. It is often taught to be difficult to mix. It is designed to add to cream liqueur essences to make 1.125L of spirit. In a mixing jug, add 200ml of hot water and 200ml of filtered alcohol or vodka at 40% ABV. Add your cream base and whist vigorously until the base dissolves completely with water and alcohol. Pour the contents in a spirit bottle (750ml) and add your Top Shelf Cream liqueur essences. Shake until dissolved and top it up with vodka or filtered alcohol at 40% ABV.  

Now that we’ve learned everything about wine making, it’s about time for you to make a decision regarding the cork to be used while preserving your wine for that perfect occasion. But, how do you make such decision? Aren’t all the corks the same? Well, you’ve come to the right place because today with The Artisan’s Bottega you will learn all about wine corks. Let’s get into it! A little bit of history: Corks became the sealing material for wine in the late 1600’s, when it became impossible for wine makers to create glass wine bottles with a uniform shape and design, making it difficult to seal and preserve. Over a 100 years later, easy-use corkscrews started to be popular among wine lovers and tavern owners. Flash forward to 21st century with the technology and innovation of years and years of wine making, and now we are able to purchase corks individually. They’re even designed to allow close 1 milligram of oxygen to enter the bottle per year, which represents the right amount of air to make sure that the sulfites added in the process are removed, keeping the wine fresh and tasty as we all know and love it. So, as you may notice, corks play a starring role in the whole wine making process. But it’s important to make informed decisions in regards of the types of corks that exist and their benefits for your homemade wine. For obvious reasons we will disregard synthetic options because we know that as a true artisan at heart, you will definitely prefer a more elaborate option, which leaves us to agglomerated and natural corks:   1. Agglomerated cork: Within the agglomerated cork bracket, you can opt for micro-agglomerated (with 0.5 to 2.0mm granule size) which have the advantage that they are stronger and harder wearing that standard agglomerated corks and then you can choose between extruded and moulded agglomerated corks: extruded agglomerated corks are the cheapest cork option and the reason is because they are not very strong, so more likely to break when uncorking a bottle and giving a less reliable seal to the bottle. Moulded corks (which are always micro-agglomerated) are a much higher quality option and are becoming increasingly common in the industry now, because they are much stronger and their reliability/consistency is much better than extruded corks, but they are twice the price of extruded corks. 2. Natural cork: Increasingly moulded agglomerated corks are taking market share from natural corks and the simple reason is price. Natural corks are extremely complex to produce given the fact that they have to be produced from uneven cork bark and then selected and divided by quality (and then selected and divided again after treatment) and are less easy to sterilise than agglomerated corks. This makes good quality natural corks expensive and there is no point pretending otherwise, but is the extra money worth it? The choice is up to you! Some of the great advantages of natural corks are: Its natural porosity will allow a wine to age in a bottle that an agglomerated cork would not. Agglomerated corks contain synthetic binding agens, which although food-safe are not ideal to be in contact with the delicate flavors that many drinks have. Natural cork looks beautiful and organic, whereas agglomerated cork is uniform and looks semi-synthetic With that being said, we can definitely conclude that natural corks are the best closure for high quality and spirits, because they confer a feel of quality and a nature to drinks that are bottled with them. Putting it in another words, you can see a natural cork as steak, compared to agglomerated corks that would be like ground beef for burgers. They both have their place in the food market but when making the final decision between natural and agglomerated, you need to decide if you are enjoying fast food or fine dining. Once again, the decision is yours! Thank you for reading our articles and allowing us to share our artisan expertise with you. If you happen to follow our tutorials for wine making or if you share this information with your friends and family, don't forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega sharing your pictures! We love checking up on our Artisans Family.

Think about it, have you ever thought about the importance of choosing the right grapes when making your own wine at home? We'll help you make your wine impress your friends and family without spending too much on the fancy equipment. Throughout the long process of fermentation, nature takes control in giving us the perfect mix of alcohol. It is thanks to microscopic yeast that come on the grape's skin, giving us a potent drink that puts us in a good mood. Grapes’ quality: the fermentation key What makes a good wine? The quality of its grapes. If you want to make a great wine, you need grapes to be of highest quality. This is the reason why you must be informed about the best period of the harvest according to the grape variety. What to do and what to avoid: You should avoid harvesting rain wet grapes or with too much dew as the must be too dilute; moreover, it should be not too hot as the fermentation could fail if not done properly. Do not wash the grapes before pressing because the yeast would be lost whereas the pesticide would persist. It is essential to press quickly after the harvest to avoid acidification Make sure to use open plastic trays to let transpire the stored grapes. The process must take place in a clean and ventilated room, without strong smell, as the fermentation releases carbon dioxide harmful to health. The best thing to do is find grapes from a nearby grape harvest or vineyard and to control the integrity of the grape branches. Just in case you will decide to buy from your local vendor, be informed that each quintal produces 70 litres of product using a press otherwise the yield decreases. From Pressing to Fermentation The first step when making any wine is pressing and destemming which helps to separate the liquid from the fruit, removing the stems using a stainless steel destemmer. If you only have a crushing machine, you have to separate the stems by hands as this helps the pulp and peelings to reduce the acidification. During this operation, add potassium metabisulphite as it has antiseptic and antioxidant properties: a teaspoon is enough for each quintal (not more as it can stop the fermentation!). The obtained must from this first production must added directly into a fermentation tank to let “maceration”, be sure that it has been disinfected with the right oenology cleansers. During the fermentation: Do not cover hermetically the tank (only with a sheet) Close doors and windows but let aerate in the properly way Keep constant temperature, between 21 and 25 C° (just in case the temperature is around18 °C use heaters) Control that carbon dioxide production will not increase (also using a stearic candle) Do not fill the tank over than 75% where the must ferments as during the tumultuous phase it could overflow. You can use the same tank to let ferment the must where it’s been pressed, but to avoid the acidic nature of the must when transformed, we suggest using a wood tank or a plastic tub suitable for food contact and place a weight upon the must in order to press it. Usually winemakers use crossed wooden poles, sized and positioned on the must with weights that help the pressure. Fermentation timing The tumultuous fermentation begins after 4-5 hours after pressing. The yeasts on the peeling’s berries may not be sufficient, so add selected yeasts to help process starting: Add the prescribed doses according to the packaging Dilute them into warm water Add some sugar and after a while you will notice foam on the surface, that means it is fermenting, then after 3-4 hours you can add it to the must. It may take up to 24 hours to start the boiling, the duration may vary, just in case of black grapes it is 4-5 days. During these days the punching must be done (it consists in breaking the cap with a stick so that peelings will concede substance and colors to the must). This operation has to be done at least every 12 hours, mixing the peelings, also called as marc, that created the cap on the must surface. During this process it is also suggested to make some “passages”, taking the liquid on the bottom, using a pump or by hands and pouring it directly on the cap. If you wish a full-bodied product, bitter, colored and with strong alcohol volume, the slow fermentation can be also of 18-21 days. Fermentation temperature and density One of the keys on your fermentation process is daily checking on the temperature and density. We recommend to take notes on your notebook, so you can notice your fermentation performance. The temperature has to be measured with a thermometer whereas the density measurement has to be done with the right chemical glassware for food use, such as a hydrometer. During the fermentation this value decreases to reach a value between 0.990 and 0.995 (racking values). If the value is higher than 1, it means that fermentation is still not concluded. If during the fermentation the density stabilises on a value higher than 1 it means, it's blocked therefore it must be activated again (among possible causes: too cold room or yeasts deficiency). Warnings: this value must be around 0 (zero), but it cannot exceed in negative, or it could become acidic. White grapes’ fermentation In case of white grapes, let it ferment for only 1 day while if you would like to have a rosé through the marc, it is suggested to stop the fermentation after maximum 18-24 hours. To obtain healthy and preservable product it is necessary to reach a volume of alcohol of minimum 11.5-12, but the must does not always present enough sugars. To avoid this happens, you have to check with a hydrometer in a cylindrical container with must. If the alcohol volume is too low, you should add sucrose (sugar), measuring 1.7kg for each must quintal for each grade that you want to increase. If the fermentation doesn’t start in correct way, it's possible that the room temperature is too low, and it is necessary to heat the room; a yeasts deficiency may also occur therefore you should buy selected yeasts to be added to the must. On the contrary, it may be possible that must temperature exceeds 36 °C and in this case the fermentation would stop because the yeasts don’t work anymore. Racking, pouring and final bottling of homemade wine. The alcoholic fermentation ends after 4 to 10 days. You have to taste the must and feel that all the sugar is transformed in alcohol. At this point, the racking starts and it's the separation between the peelings and wine. For this process you can also use a wicker sieve that will hold the peels and the seeds. Transform the liquid completely in a full tank and only at this point we can lower the temperature under 16 °C. We put the peelings, still containing the liquid, in the press and we perform the first pressing. The liquid will be added to the other while the one got from the second pressing should be mixed to other typologies to be consumed daily. The wine tank (tank, demi-john or barrel) will be filled with liquid and used to remove sediment deposits in the fermentation process. It will need to be periodically drained and refilled with new wine to avoid air contact. A useful suggestion is to not shake it before the pouring. The sediments not only make turbid the liquid but are also bearers of harmful bacteria. The first pouring must be done in early March; the second pouring in June and the third in late spring, during clear and dry days. During the pouring take a sample of your product, about ½ litre, seal it in a same capacity bottle and let it analyse with your oenologist or in a specialised shop like The Artisan’s Bottega because we can give you the right indication to correct any defect. Now you only must choose the right time to bottle your wine and then you must wait at least 6 months before tasting it. We have seen our grandparents making their own wine and it has been passed from generations to generations, a process handed down in the centuries to us, getting improved using machines and equipment that allow you to make your own delicious home-made beverage. Stick close to our blogs, and never lose sight of one of our expert guides. We have a lot of knowledge and can answer all of your questions to Feed your passion in making your own DIY projects.

On this journey of sharing all of our artisan expertise about wine bottles, we have decided to share with you a complete guide for wine bottles, considering that depending on the type of wine, there are different shapes and sizes for different purposes, allowing you to know which kind of wine is there the grape variety it was made with (even the region from which the wine is from) As you probably know, wine bottles are typically made of glass and they are not just containers, but they carry many details about the wine. All wine bottles have a very specific and unique structure according to the wine they carry and of course, the parts of a wine bottle have a specific meaning. Are you ready to learn them all? Parts of the bottles: Closure: these are used to seal your wine bottles. There are several types of these closures such as Cork closures and Screw Cap and as we have learned before, there is even a special kind of wine cork that guarantees the best preserving process and flavour. Cork Closures: as we have discussed before, these closures allow the wine to be exposed to a very small amount of oxygen. If you want to deep dive on this aspect, visit our blog about agglomerated or natural corks: https://artisansbottega.com.au/agglomerated-or-natural-corks/ Screw Caps: a screw cap is a budget-appropriate alternative for wine making. However, this does not mean that wines under screw caps are always cheap, because some of these types of caps allow wine to breathe while maturing. Unlike cork closures, the wine under screw cap will not be affected by cork-taint. Capsule: it is a metal paper wrapping around the closure that holds the cork tightly to prevent the wine from drying up or evaporating faster than expected. Neck: it is a delicate part of the bottle bellow the closure that is used grip to hold it and to make it easy for you to user your hand for uncorking. In terms of filling up a wine bottle, the perfect level is when it reaches to the neck, and if the wine-level is lower than that neck, it is probably because the wine has leaked out or evaporated through the cork during the maturing period. Shoulder: is the slopping part after the bottleneck. Not all shoulders are same in all bottles and some are high, mid or low shoulder level. We have even seen some wine bottles that do not have clear shoulders while some of them have shoulders that are more conspicuous. Body: is the main part of the bottle and it is usually cylindrical, but its diameter can vary. Label: it is a sticker on the body where you can find information about the volume of the liquid, alcohol content by volume, vintage, origin, varietal, etc. Punt: is an indentation on the underside of the bottle that is usually given to during the moulding process. It helps strengthening the structure of the bottle and ensures its stability. Heel: is the bottom part of the bottle and it helps the bottle to stand straight. Nevertheless, now that we learned the main parts that compose the anatomy of a wine bottle, it is also important to understand that their shape varies from one another, based on the type of wine it contains. With that being said, there are 12 types of wine bottles with different shapes and today, you will discover them all with The Artisan’s Bottega: Shapes of wine bottles: Bordeaux: these have a tall and straight structure with high shoulders. A dark green coloured glass will be used if it is intended for red wine, and if it is for white wine, a light green coloured glass will be used. The Bordeaux bottle is used for a variety of grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Bordeaux blends.   Burgundy: its main characteristics are a gently sloping shoulders and a little wider body, giving it a classic and elegant look. A green coloured glass is used for both red and white wines and this bottle is generally used for Pinot Noir, Aligote and Chardonnay. Because it is a very popular wine, you might come across some variations and styles and bottle makers often fabricate them with thicker glass.   Rhone: is a very similar to Burgundy in regards of its look, but it is a bit thinner and taller. A green coloured glass is used for red wines, while white and rose wines use clear glass. This bottle has a longer neck, often embossed with a coat of arms, and more angular sloping shoulders and this kind of bottle is generally used for Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah.   Champagne: this olive-green bottle is often spotted at parties and celebrations and despite its sturdy design, it is still considered very graceful. It has thick glass for holding up to 80 to 90 PSI on the pressure inside the bottle and it counts with a gentle sloping shoulders and deep punt. Back in the day, these bottles used to explode during transportation. Therefore, they are designed baring technical necessities in mind.   Cotes de Provence: this clear glass bottle is often used for rose and red wines. There are still some remains of traditional winemaking in Cotes de Provence and some producers still use regional wine bottles. This bottle is also called ‘corset’ by the locals and it has been used for decades, with no chances of it going away anytime soon.   Mosel and Alsace: is tall and slim bottle with a long neck. Typically, wines from Mosel (Germany) and Alsace (France) use this bottle and wineries that use grape varieties such as Riesling and Muller Thurgau use it. The New World winemakers use this bottle for sweet wines.   Rhine: it is also a tall and slim bottle with a long neck, with quite a little punt. A dark brown coloured glass is used for this bottle which sets it apart from other bottles and from it’s often intended for grape varieties like Riesling, Muller-Thurgau and Bacchus.   Chianti: it has round body and bulged bottom covered with a straw basket. This bottle is also known as the fiasco and the basket around the bottom provides a flat base for the glass and extra protection during transportation and handling. The use of this bottle has been decreased over years and nowadays, most Chianti wine is now bottled in more standard bottles like Bordeaux.   Bocksbeutel: translates to “beer bag” but it is used for wine. It comes in the form of a flattened ellipsoid and contains the same volume of wine as other bottles (0.75 Liters). It has a short neck which often features an embossed badge on the left shoulder. This badge usually represents the name of its domain. This bottle is manufactured with a flattened shape for a purpose – to carry it around easily and keep it from rolling away on the uneven ground.   Jura: this shape of wine bottle has short recognition and popularity, and it is made from light green coloured glass. The top half has inside curved shoulders while the bottom half is a little flared. The shoulders gently blend into its long neck. Grape varieties including Savagnin, Poulsard, Trousseau, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay use this bottle.   Vin Jaune: has a highly unconventional shape. It is a short, stocky and heavy built bottle, legally authorized for Vin Jaune wine only.   Fortified Wine: it is slightly similar to Bordeaux bottle thanks to its straight body with high, rounded shoulders. The neck has bulges, which prevent debris from being poured into the glass. Its dark black glass protects wine from light. This bottle is used for Fortified wines such as Vermouth, Port, Marsala and Madeira.   Apart from these last 12 bottles, some other types and shapes are also used by winemakers to attract and boost sales. Only Burgundy, Germanic and Bordeaux bottles are most commonly used around the world. And now that we’ve learned about their shapes, let’s go over some bottle kinds according to their size (yes, there are wine bottles that are bigger than the average 750.00 ml that are usually carried in most)   Name Size Additional Split 187 ml Quarter of a standard size bottle Half-bottle 375 ml Released for higher priced wines Standard Size 750 ml Recognised throughout the world Magnum 1.5 L Equal to two standard-sized bottles Double Magnum 3 L Equal to two Magnum bottles Jeroboam 4.5 L Equal to six standard-sized bottles Imperial Magnum 6 L Equal to eight standard-sized bottles, holds 6000 ml. Salmanazar 9 L Equal to twelve standard-sized bottles, holds 9000 ml. Balthazar 12 L Equal to sixteen standard-sized bottles, holds 12000 ml. Nebuchadnezzar 15 L Equal to twenty standard-sized bottles, holds 15000 ml.   But you might be wondering, why are there so many large-format bottles? The answer is very simple! Some large commercial brands of inexpensive wines use Magnum or other large-formats in an attempt to boost sales. Thank you for reading our articles and allowing us to share our artisan expertise with you. If you happen to follow our tutorials for wine making or if you share this information with your friends and family, do not forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega sharing your pictures! We love checking up on our Artisans Family.

The key for having the perfect sausage is not only on the ingredients or in the process. There is also a very important thing called “casing” and it is what keeps the stuffing together for you to enjoy. After all, a sausage is not a sausage without something to stuff it in. But of course, they are not only meant for compacting the ingredients and keeping them together, but they’re also responsible for ensuring a flavorful and great textured sausage, and in that, depends the type of casing that you use or the processing technique applied (yes, there are many types of Sausage Casings and many ways to fill them) Welcome to the Ultimate Sausage Casings Guide with The Artisan’s Bottega: Natural Casings Natural sausage casings are made from the submucosa of the small intestine, a layer of the intestine that consists of naturally occurring collagen. They have been used for a very long time and are still the most popular choice today because they’re also flexible, tender, easy to stuff, and are durable enough to hold up to smokehouse processing. Your natural casings will come either packed in salt or a saline solution. Casings packed in salt must be flushed then soaked overnight before stuffing. Pre-flushed casings are ready to stuff after a 20-minute soak in warm water. Both can be repacked in salt and stored in the freezer for up to a year. TAB Tip: Natural sausage casing are from the intestines or stomachs of various animals and is permeable to air and outside flavourings while also being very strong and edible. However, as you are imagining, there are many types of natural casings, depending on the animal they are extracted from. Grab pen and paper and get ready to learn all about them Hog Casings: they are made from the intestines of pigs and they provide a very meaty flavour to sausages. They are also the traditional choice when making any type of link sausage like bratwurst, Italians, kielbasa and many more. Sheep casings: They tend to be smaller than the other types of natural casings and are used for small or thin sausages. The smaller diameter of sheep casings makes the perfect for making small link sausages like breakfast sausage and hot dogs, to snack sticks. Beef rounds or casings: These are very durable, can be very large and can be used for a variety of large sausages or salamis. Beef rounds get their name from their characteristic round shape. They have minimal fat and are ideal for fresh, cooked or smoked sausage such as Ring Bologna, Polish, Mettwurst, Holsteiner, and Blood Sausage. Beef middles: These straight long casings have a heavier texture wall with some fat. These casings are ideal for dry and semi-dry sausages like Salami, Liverwurst, Bologna, or Summer sausage. Beef bung caps: Made from the end of a cow’s large intestine, beef bungs are large-diameter casings that are typically used for large bologna, headcheese, souse, capicola, and mortadella. Now that we have discovered the variety of natural casings, we’re ready to move onto the artificial sausage casings, that can be made from collagen, cellulose, cotton or plastic and are generally not edible or as flexible as a natural casing but are much more cost effective and consistent in size and quality. Collagen Casings Collagen casings are processed, edible casings produced from the collagen in cow or pig hides, bones, and tendons. While they do not give much of a snap, they are inexpensive and give more uniformity in weight and size compared to their natural counterparts. Collagen casings are packaged in sheets around a tube that can easily be loaded on your stuffing horn, with no soaking required. They also come in two varieties based on processing: Fresh: fresh collagen casings are used specifically for fresh sausages like bratwurst and breakfast links. These tend to be more tender casings that are unable to withstand hanging in a smokehouse. Smoke: smoked or processed collagen casings are great for making any type of smoked sausages like snack sticks or wieners. Their durability holds up well when hung on smoke sticks during processing and are available in clear and mahogany colors (no taste variation). Fibrous Casings Fibrous casings are inedible casings made from a form of cellulose material that peels away easily when cooked. They are most commonly used for making pepperonis, summer sausage, bologna, liverwurst, and other fine smoked sausages. Their durability allows tight stuffing, making them ideal for fine or emulsified sausages. Fibrous casings can be made from different types of fibers and are very strong; a lining of proteins inside the casing also gives them the ability to shrink as a sausage dries. Fibrous casings should be soaked for at least 25-30 minutes in warm water (80-100 F). Lay the casings flat in warm water and submerge completely, with the tied ends lower so that any trapped air can escape. After soaking, squeeze excess water out before stuffing. Alternative Casings If you do not have access to natural or artificial casings, or just do not want to use them but still want to make sausage links, you can make casings from strips of muslin. To form casings about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, cut strips about 6 inches wide and 16 inches long. Fold lengthwise and stitch edges together to form tubes. There is also vegan style casings.This vegan Sausage Casings are suitable for you DIY sausage making. If you do not use casings at all, you can still form links by rolling up the mixture in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerating until firm. You will need to add a binder (breadcrumbs, soy protein concentrate, etc.) to the sausage mix, normally 5% to 10% of the mix, to keep the meat from separating during cooking. After all of this information, you might be wondering: what is the best type of casing for the sausage I have in mind. Well, we have made it easy for you with this guide for choosing the perfect casing: HOG CASINGS SHEEP CASINGS FIBROUS CASINGS Length Usage Length Usage Length Usage 29-32 mm Small Brats, Link Sausage or Landjaeger 20-22 mm Breakfast Sausage or Small Snack Sticks 1" Thuringer, Pepperoni, Salami, Cracker-Sized Sausages 32-35 mm Brats • Italian Sausage • Rope Sausage 22-24 mm Breakfast Sausage or Snack Sticks 2-2 .5" Traditional Summer Sausage 35-38 mm Polish • Kielbasa 24-26 mm Small Hot Dog or Wiener 4" Large Summer Sausage or Hard Salami 38-42 mm Bologna 26-28 mm Large Hot Dog , Wiener or Landjaeger 8" Olive & Pimento Loaf, Mortadella, Deli & Sandwich Meats   And don’t worry if you don’t know how much meat should you use per type of casing, because we have the ultimate guide for you to answer this question easily. If you want, you can download this following image on your computer or smartphone and recheck it anytime: Thank you for reading our articles and allowing us to share our artisan expertise with you. If you happen to follow our tutorials for wine making or if you share this information with your friends and family, do not forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega sharing your pictures! We love checking up on our Artisans Family.

By now, you might have probably discovered that there are many ways for you to brew your own homemade beer, and that is why we want to teach you a new alternative that would make it easy for you to do so, without using cracked grains or fancy equipment. Welcome to Tin Brewing 101 with The Artisan’s Bottega: TAB Tip: Here at the Artisan’s Bottega, we stock many easy-to-use beer kits that make 23 Litres of Beer and can be done in any 30-litre fermenting vessel with minimal equipment. The basics of tin brewing: For brewing with a brew tin, you have to follow six easy steps on the brew day: Sanitising your equipment Mixing your brew kit with water and adding the required sugars. Topping up the water to roughly 23 litres Pitching the yeast Installing your airlock Waiting roughly 2 weeks for it to ferment. Once it is fermented, you can bottle your brew using carbonation drops to add the sugar it needs to carbonate, and then you can leave it for another week before you invite all of your friends to enjoy your brew. Equipment for tin brewing: Although you can make these brews with minimal equipment, there are still a few things you need, and all of these are available for purchase at our store. A brewing vessel – In this case we recommend one of our 30 Litre Plastic Fermenters: An airlock and grommet (if needed) A sanitiser A tap for the fermenter A stick-on thermometer A spoon for stirring and mixing A hydrometer for checking the sugar and alcohol levels A measuring cylinder for the hydrometer TAB Tip: As we have always discussed, sanitisation is a key component on this process. Please make sure that any equipment that touches the brew is sanitised (including spoons or stirring equipment). Bear in mind that a sanitiser is different from a detergent and after cleaning any gunk off your equipment, it is important to use a sanitiser. We recommend any of our no rinse sanitisers, such as potassium metabisulphite Get ready to brew: The time has come! And after sanitising your equipment, please make sure that you have the following equipment and ingredients: Beer tin Yeast, which is usually supplied with the tin Over 23 litres of water Extra sugar for fermentation (you can use Dextrose for extra alcohol content but no extra flavour) With a brew tin, all you have to do is to empty the contents of the tin into a few litres of water, add your sugar, and boil it all together, just until mixed and there are no more sugar solids. Then emptying that mixture into your fermenter, adding the water, and stirring. At this point, we recommend you use a Hydrometer to check the sugar level of your wort. Extracting some of the liquid into the measuring cylinder and then checking the level at which the hydrometer floats will give you how much sugar is currently in the mixture, and therefore how much alcohol you will end up with when it ferments. Aim for roughly 4% sugar for a beer. If you find the sugar is too low; add some more malt extract or dextrose, and if it is too high; add some water. After this, you can pitch your yeast by just simply adding it into the fermenter is fine. However, make sure the temperature of the wort is not higher than 22° Celsius; otherwise, you run the risk of shocking the yeast. After you have added the yeast, install the lid and airlock, filling it with a clear alcohol or water up to the line, and let it ferment for 2 weeks. When the hydrometer tells you there is no sugar left, and it reads consistently for a couple of days, you are ready to bottle. Make sure there is no sugar left in the brew otherwise, it could re-ferment in the bottles and cause a mess. Fermenting: Once you have added the yeast and installed your airlock, the mixture will start to foam and bubbles will start escaping through the airlock. This means your brew is fermenting and is completely normal. The yeast will start to convert the sugars in your wort to alcohol and release carbon dioxide in the process. The airlock helps the carbon dioxide escape, as a build-up of this gas creates pressure, and if it cannot escape then you end up with a messy explosion of your vessel and a ruined brew. We are aware that this is probably a lot of new information for first time brewers and we know that you might be wondering: what if my brew does not foam? of what if there aren’t any bubbles coming out of the airlock? Well, here is the answer: There could be a couple of reasons for this: First, if it’s been a couple of days, check the brew with a hydrometer, if it has been fermenting, there may be a leak somewhere that the gas is escaping from, so seal that up and let it go. The temperature may be too cold or too hot. In this case, there are a number of ways to heat up your mixture, and we recommend a heating belt or heating pad that you can use to bring the temperature up by a few degrees. If the mixture got too hot, however, and it is not fermenting, you may have killed the yeast, so you can just add in some more yeast and try to move the brew to a cooler area. If the wort was too hot when you added the yeast, you may have shocked and killed it, so try adding in more yeast to get it going again. If it isn’t the temperature, and you aren’t sure what’s wrong, you can try adding in some yeast nutrients (https://artisansbottega.com.au/diamonium-phosphate-nutrient-for-yeast.html) to give the yeast a boost, or, if the yeast is dead, rehydrating some yeast with a bit of sugar and water and adding that in. After 2 weeks the foaming and bubbling should settle down, and this is when you check your brews sugar level, aiming for a reading of 0 sugar, and after it reads this for a couple of days in a row, and fermentation has fully stopped, you are ready to start bottling. Bottling your brew: When you are ready to bottle, make sure all of your bottles and bottling implements are fully sanitised, and depending on the size of your bottle, add 1 or 2 carbonation drops to your bottled beverage before closing the lid. 1 drop is for 375ml bottles, and 2 drops for 750mls. After this, wait a week for the brew to carbonate and you can start enjoying your beverage, storing it in either the fridge, or a cool dry place. Your future brews: From here, there are a few ways you can start customising your tin beers. Using a different yeast strain is a great way to bring different flavours to your beer. You can also add hops to your brew to give it a hoppier flavour. The best way to do this is with little hop bags made by Morgan’s. These little hop bags contain a small number of hops in a bag that you can add to your brew as it ferments. After you have mastered the basics of kit brews, you can move on to grain brewing. Grain brewing is a lot more complex and involved, but it allows you to have full control over the flavours of your beer. The basic fermentation process is much the same, but there is a lot more preparation of the wort, boiling the grains, adding the hops, and so on. However, kit brewing takes out most of the work, so it remains the best way to get started making delicious beers. Thank you for reading our articles and allowing us to share our artisan expertise with you. If you happen to follow our tutorials for wine making or if you share this information with your friends and family, do not forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega sharing your pictures! We love checking up on our Artisans Family.

Are you ready for another wine making lesson? For this time, we want to make a graphic interpretation of the step-by-step process for white and rose wine making, so that you can understand it and put it practice easily. We know that in this process there’s a huge variety of components, ingredients and additives that come into the mix, so that’s why we will also tell you when you should use, mix and apply each and every of them. Now without further ado, this is our wine making flow: If you found this information useful, click here to download the image on your phone or computer and make sure to follow us on social media. We love getting in touch with our Artisans!

We’re know that you’re a definite wine making lover and you enjoy the process of making, producing, preserving and tasting your homemade wine. That is why today we want to dip dive a little further on this process for one specific step that could be confusing for some of you. Today we will teach how to rehydrate your yeast before adding it to your wine must. TAB Tip: What is “Must”? “Wine Must” is the freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. It’s one of the first steps in the wine making process. Before we begin, it’s important to bare in mind that you should rehydrate yeast before adding it to the must, because the correct rehydration of the yeast could boost the fermentation process, reducing the chance of wine spoilage by bad yeast and bacteria from grape skin. It’s also important to remember that yeast is more likely to ferment the wine completely dry and with a minimum residual sugar (only if the yeast us rehydrated properly) With that being said, let’s get started on this yeast rehydration: Procedure: The first thing you need to do, as we have discussed before, is to rehydrate the yeast with water before adding it to the must. Second thing is to measure the temperate of the must beforehand, because depending on its temperature, we have 2 different methods to hydrate and add the yeast: Method A: For red or white must (juice) at 20°C or hotter. Method B: For colder red must So now that you made sure that your yeast is re-hydrated and once you have taken the must temperature, you’re good to go! Method A: Step 1: Select the yeast type required for your homemade wine (could be aromatic, fast or slow fermenting, etc) and determine the quantity of yeast required. At The Artisan’s Bottega we recommend 25 grams of yeast per 100 litres of wine.To begin, you have to sterilize with boiling water (not with a chemical sterilizer) a suitable container in which you will make the process of rehydration. Allow the container do drain and cool and then part-fill a bucket or similar container with water at 38-40°C Step 2: Calculate the weight of yeast required and then, add ten times this weight of 38- 40°C water to the container you sterilized and place it in the bucket of warm water. Example: 25 grams of yeast requires 250 grams or 250 ml of water. Step 3: Weight the yeast and add it to the sterile bottle. Mix quickly with the water until the yeast is wet. Keep in mind that it’s time to stop mixing when the yeast is wet, and that’s when you will put the sterile bottle in the bucket for 15 mins without any more mixing. Make sure that the temperature is still 38-40°C by topping up the bucket with hot water (if it’s necessary) Step 4: After 15 minutes, mix the rehydrated yeast briefly and then add it to the must (only if it’s 20°C or hotter). Mix the rehydrated yeast through the must. Remember that if more than 15 minutes elapses (at 38-40°C) the yeast starts to die. Method B: If your must is colder than 20°C this is the method you should opt for: Prepare a plastic screw-top bottle of 4 to 20 litres capacity full of hot water from the tap. Place this bottle in the middle of the crushed grapes. Then follow steps 1-3 above and right before the end of the 15 minutes rehydration period, make sure you remove the hot water bottle while checking the must’s temperature on the place where the bottle was located at (it should be 20-25°C). Mix in a little cool must from the edge if it is too hot and then pour the rehydrated yeast into this warm area, making sure that you DO NOT mix and covering the must. After several hours, the fermentation process will start, first in the centre of the must and the it will spread throughout the must in a day or so. Once the skins rise up, plunge the fermentation as normal. For white must (juice): Before we give you this optional tip, it’s important to acknowledge that cold settled white must (juice) needs to warm up to 18-20°C before you add the yeast. Also, bare in mind that sulphur dioxide of the must can’t exceed the 10-ppm free SO2. In case you don’t know how to warm up the must, the answer is a microwave oven! And if by any chance, you want to ferment cold, start the ferment at 18-20°C and then wait for the must density to drop by 1-2° Baumé before cooling the must to the desired fermentation temperature. Congratulations, you’re now a yeast rehydration pro! And we know you’re ready to start this wine making process. In case you want to learn the whole process of wine making, we have several blog posts, depending on the type of wine you want to produce at home: Redwine Whitewine Rose Sparklingwine And if you happen to follow our tutorials while making your wine, don't forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega sharing your pictures! We love checking up on our Artisans Family.

If you enjoy a nice glass of homemade wine for a dinner with friends and family or for some special occasion, you are part of the large group of people that relish producing, bottling and wine tasting. But on this process, there’s more ingredients that come together aside from the grapes, to guarantee that you have the best quality and taste possible. Today, we will show you everything about the additives to be used on this wine making process. But before we begin, it’s important to acknowledge some history of wine making industry in Australia, considering that our country is the sixth largest producer of this delicious beverage, that is also made all across the nation, but mainly in the southern states, where the climate is cooler. TAB HINT: Did you know that there’s more than seventy different varieties of wine grown in Australia? Including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Semillon, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. This whole tradition of making wine in Australia dates back to 1788, when the first grapevines were imported and planted on a Sydney site called Farm Cove. After years and generations of different processes to accomplish the goal of enjoying a delicious glass of homemade wine, now we know that this beverage is widely popular and that even, in the late 1980s, the government sponsored growers to pull out their vines to overcome a glut of wine grapes. We’ve come a long way from that first discovery of the process and now that we’re able to make it at home, we want to show you some special additives that can be used on the making, assuring the stability, taste and quality of this precious beverage. Buckle up! We’re about to learn all about wine additives: TARTARIC ACID: It’s the natural acid of wine grapes. Most of our Australian grown grapes do not contain sufficient acid to make good wine, so we recommend that you use this additive when you crush the grapes at the beginning of the process. Don’t forget to test the crushed grapes with a pH paper or meter and add the necessary amount of tartaric acid accordingly. TAB Extra Tip: To use the acid properly, you have to dissolve it in a small quantity of warm water and mix into the crushed grapes. If you have any unused tartaric acid, keep it on a sealed container for next wine season. CITRIC ACID: This additive can be used to rinse stainless steel containers after cleaning with Oxyper, Neodestersol or any other caustic-based cleaners. You can use from 2 to 5 grams or one teaspoon per litre of water. Its main purpose is to prevent the production of hydrogen sulphide when the wine comes in contact with freshly-cleaned stainless steel. This hydrogen is responsible for that rotten eggs smell in wine and we know that you’d definitely want to avoid it. Well, Citric Acid is the answer! Remember that you can store the unused product and it will be OK to be used next year. MALO-LACTIC BACTERIA: With this natural bacteria product, you can reduce the acid taste of red wine. It does so by changing the harsh, sour malic acid of the grapes into softer-tasting lactic acid. The normal way to use it is to add the bacteria to the wine when pressing off, making sure to keep the wine warm for 4-6 weeks after adding it, to allow completion of the malo-lactic fermentation. TAB Extra Tip: We recommend a laboratory test to confirm completion of this process. You can use one packed per 250 litres of wine, but it’s important to purchase only the amount you need to use, considering that this additive will not preserve for longer time. BENTONITE: By using this additive, you will prevent white wine from going cloudy after bottling; This is a natural occurring clay product and a special grade is used for wine and the recommended dosage is usually 50-200 grams per 100 litres of wine, according to a trial. All you have to do is to mix the dose into 20 parts of water, leaving it for 24 hours and mixing again before adding to the wine with a strong mixing. For this part, you will get better results by using a high-speed electric mixer. Keep in mind that if you have any unused product, you can leave it on a sealed container and it will preserve for the next year. CLAROUGE: This is a natural fining agent based on egg-white and with a low dose of 5-20 grams per 100 litres, it will clarify your homemade wine. With a higher dose (40-200 grams per 100 litres) it will also remove the bitterness. The process for this additive is quite simple. Just mix it up to 100 parts of cold water “like concrete”, avoiding making foam. Then, add the wine and mix it well, letting it settle for 2-7 days. Afterwards you can rack the wine and discard any unused product, since it doesn’t keep for longer periods. EFFERGRAN: It’s a tabled form of potassium metabisulphite with effervescent self-mixing action in wine. Effersol 2: Just add one tablet to each 40 litres of dry wine. Two tablets in case you’re aiming for a sweeter wine. Effersol 2: Add one tablet to each 100 litres of dry wine. Two tablets for a sweeter wine. This does will preserve the wine for the first year and more tables are needed for wine to be enjoyed over the next year. Remember to use more tables again at bottling. Bear in mind that this Effersol tablets lose their strength rapidly and should be used within six months of purchase. WINE YEAST: We use natural yeast for making good wine at home. However, for best results, we recommend re-hydrating the yeast before adding it to the must on day 2 and immediately after adding yeast nutrient. If you happen to have any further questions on this, contact us through social media or visit our stores to receive guidance. YEAST NUTRIENT: It’s important to understand that Australian grapes are deficient in nutrients for the wine yeast. This deficiency can cause bad smells to develop in the wine during the fermentation and also can cause the fermentation to stop before all the grape sugar. Our recommendation is for you to add the yeast nutrient 20 grams per 100 litres wine on day 2 of the process, and 20 grams per 100 litres again on day 4 or 5 to prevent the formation of bad smells while assisting in fermenting all the sugar so that the wine finishes dry. Consider that if by the end of the process, you have any unused nutrient, you can store it in a sealed container in a cool place so that it can be used later. POTASSIUM METABISULPHITE: When you use this additive on day 1, it will help you preventing bad bacteria and yeast from causing problems in the wine later. This product is way more effective when you use it along with tartaric acid. Remember to discard any unused Potassium Metabisulphite, because it won’t preserve. SODIUM METABISULPHITE: This product is a general sterilizer for wine making and you can use 10 grams or one tablespoon or every litre of water to sterilize equipment and bottles. All you’ve got to do is to rinse with cold boiled water and drain before using. It’s important to remember that you should only buy the amount that you will require and re-purchase every year. And now that you know all of the chemicals, nutrients and additives that could help you in the wine making process, you’re ready to give this a try and let us know if you liked or loved the final result. If you happen to use these products, share your thoughts with us on social media and let us know what you think of it!

As it’s core, it might be easy to think of tomato passata as just a tomato puree that you can use on your favorite preparations. However, there’s more to the true passata di pomodoro made right at home. On this blog you will discover the main differences of each one while uncovering some tips and hints to make it perfect: To get started, it’s important for you to understand the few characteristics that define tomato passata and set it apart from the basic tomato puree: Passata with seeds? At first, tomato passata is strained through a sieve either electric or a manual Mouli. You do this in order to remove the seeds from the puree and pulp; and of course, this extra step isn’t always there when you’re making a tomato puree. Passata is strained, raw tomato blend: Another differential point is that passata is NEVER cooked, but always bottled or used in its uncooked raw form. Tomato puree, on the other hand, is often cooked before canning/bottling to reduce its water content and sweeten the tomatoes. Intensity of the taste: many people prefer to use passata over regular tomato puree since the authentic taste of tomatoes is much more prevalent in the passata. Ready to use: you do not need to puree passata or alter it in any way! It’s ready to use right out of the jar, and once you try using it rather than canned tomato puree, you will never go back due to its natural and delicious taste. Yes, we know that both products are very similar, but these items are essential to understand their difference. The practice is on-going, specially in Australia, where many Italian families gather around in the kitchens and garages to produce large amounts of that delicious tomato puree for the next year. In just a day or two, they’ll process enough tomatoes for a full year of fresh passata. And now that we’re talking about the family tradition, everyone has a role in the process; and “Tomato Day” has become a very special date and a social event, where family, friends and even neighbors, come together to work as a team to keep the tradition going. Well, we can’t blame them! That incredible taste of fresh, summer tomatoes available year-round can’t be beaten by anything. But now that we’re all-hands-on-deck in the process of making tomato passata, what exactly is this delicious sauce used for? The answer is up to you, cause passata can be used in pretty much any recipe that requires tomatoes. From soups and stews to sauces, the traditional passata di pomodoro will give you the full flavor of fresh tomatoes in any dish. As we have discussed it before, passata making is more than just a process and has become a long-standing family tradition in Italy (specially in Southern Italy, where tomatoes grow in abundance). And if this is your first time making passata (the Italian way) or tomato puree, these is some of the equipment that you need: EQUIPMENT: Large Crates – for washing and storing the tomatoes. Small paring knife – for scoring the tomatoes Large aluminum stock pot – for boiling the tomatoes Large ring gas burner – used with aluminum pot and metal drums Full gas bottle (depending on the number of tomatoes, you may need to refill it) Large stainless-steel strainer. Large piece cheesecloth (or a tea towel for small quantities) Electric tomato Machine (required for large batches, or a Mouli for small quantities) 720ml Passata bottles – with bottle cap (1kg tomatoes makes approx. 1 x 750ml bottle of passata) Bottle caps and a capping machine (if using Beer bottles) Large metal drum – for boiling the bottles (or use large aluminum pot for small quantities) TAB TIP: The key to preserve your tomato passata is to ensure that the sauce bottles are clean and sterilized before beginning the process. In case you’re re-using your bottles from last year, make sure that you wash and sterilize them the weekend prior to sauce day. And now, let’s start this process following each and every step : Fill large buckets halfway with water and add as many tomatoes to each bucket as possible. Using a paring knife, take each tomato out of the water, wipe the tomatoes then remove the center core and any bad bits of the tomatoes you can see. Then set cleaned tomatoes aside in washed crates ready for the next step. Fill the large aluminum pot half full with water and heat over the gas till boiling. In batches, blanch the tomatoes till softened, and the skins start to peel slightly. Scoop them out with the strainer and place them on the cheesecloth. Twist the cheesecloth gently to drain off any excess water from the tomatoes (you want to ensure that you are only removing water and not tomato juice) and then transfer the tomatoes to a large bucket ready for the tomato press (or Mouli). At this stage, it is important to start working in batches. Place a large sterilized bucket under the spout of your tomato press where the juice will extract and another small bucket under spout where the skins will extract, and gently guide the blanched tomatoes through the press. After the first pass of a batch of tomatoes, take the skins and seeds and pass them back through the tomato press another 3 times. The skins are really what provides the flavor and the thickness to the sauce. Each time the skins are passed through, it becomes harder for the machine to process them. You will need to press down on the skins to guide them, but ensure you listen to the sounds of your machine and ease off if it sounds under strain. Season the passata to taste with salt, and stir in with a large spoon. And after following all of these steps, you’re ready for the bottling stage: Push a large basil leaf (or two smaller leaves) in the spout of each clean bottle and fill with the prepared passata using a funnel. Ensure you leave a gap of a couple of centimeters at the top and then seal each bottle using a capping machine if using beer bottles or by hand. And right before the end of this process, it’s important to ensure and guarantee the sauce’s preservation. You can do this by boiling the bottles: Prepare the bottles for boiling, placing the drum over the gas hub. Put a thick towel in the base of your drum and start layering the bottles in, ensuring that you use old rags (or newspaper) between the bottles so that when they are boiling, they don’t hit each other and shatter. Continue to build up the bottles in the drum until you are out of space, or out of bottles. Fill the drum with cold water and slowly bring it to a boil over the gas burner. Boil for 30 minutes and then turn off the gas and allow the drum to cool overnight (the bottles and water will take a long time to cool enough for them to be removed from the drum without burning you). Remove the bottles gently and then store in a cool, dry and dark place until you are ready to use them. Now, you’re all set up to make your own tomato sauce. But don’t go anywhere! We still have another form of preparing your tomato passata, like the Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce recipe. Are you ready for it? INSTRUCTIONS: Rip the pedicels off, washing the tomatoes very well and leaving them to dry. Cut each tomato into two halves and remove the green part, also known as the pith. Squeeze the two halves of the tomato in a bowl or in a sink, to get rid of all the seeds. Once you’ve repeated this process with all the tomato halves, put them in a steel pot, and cook the tomatoes on a stove’s hotplate, on low heat, turning them occasionally with a spoon, until dry and disintegrated. Now pass the tomatoes through a food mill. Once all tomatoes have been passed, transfer the resulting sauce in a smaller steel pot while you will again put on the hotplate. TAB TIP: If the tomatoes you are using are not particularly tasty, you can ass a fried onion or garlic to the sauce, making it even more delicious. And now, you’re all set to enjoy a delicious and traditional Italian Passata on your favorite preparations. Perhaps, a delicious pasta? Pizza? Tomato soup? The chances are endless and the flavor too. If you make this recipe don't forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega. Let us know what you think of it! We love getting in touch with our TAB family!