Since you mention Spaghetti sauce.......I find that a lot of my (picked) tomatoes are not “perfect” and are not perfectly free of any blemish. In fact many have little blemishes which of course grow in size the longer they sit out on the table. If put in the fridge the advance of the blemishing stops. I don’t have room in there for them all though.
My question is if the “yuck spots” can be cut out and the rest of the tomato be used for sauce that is not destined to be canned. Like in a Spaghetti sauce. I am positive that my Grandma never threw away all the tomatoes that had imperfections, yet the canning books all say to only use perfect tomatoes.
I used the only perfect tomatoes I had to make my unusually delicious Ketchup, because I do can that. Although this year I only had enough ripe PERFECT tomatoes to make a single pint (late start planting) it is very thick and used 15-16 tomatoes to make. One pint. That’s it.
My husband asked if I didn’t get mad or frustrated from all the work to produce such a small amount, but I don’t let it bother me. If I know going in that I will have so little (and I absolutely knew before I started), then I weigh the work against the reward, and I love this Ketchup!
Anyway, is it “safe” to use the tomatoes that have spots if the spots are completely cut away?
The people who wrote those books never saw the (major national company) cannery where my grandmother & mother worked in the 1920s!
The bad ones & the ones shoveled back up off the floor went to the ketchup line! Neither of them would eat store-bought ketchup well into the 1950s.
Really, they HAVE to say that, because too many people like to push limits, and would use moldy, rotting, or otherwise grossly bad "imperfect" tomatoes. Cutting out minor blemishes or bad spots is fine, whether cooking or canning a sauce.