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In order to reduce tomato sauce to make a nice thick tasty topping for pasta, you often need to let it simmer with the lid off for a very long time. This always seems to result in tomato splatters all over my kitchen.

How can one prevent the splattering without preventing the evaporation of liquids that allows the sauce to thicken? Thanks!

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3 Answers 3

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You can lower the temperature to simmer and reduce your sauce, it will take a longer time, but will do the job.

or

Have a look at splatter screens at your local stores (or online)

or

Or just put the pot lid on with a wooden spoon to keep it slightly ajar.

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    Spatter screens do the job well without raising the temp or stopping as much stem as a lid even with the prop. Can be a pain to clean if you do not get the washed promptly though on the con side.
    – dlb
    Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 14:03
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Make your sauce in a pot which is both deep and wide. Wide, so it has enough evaporation surface. Deep, so the walls are high enough to prevent spatter.

Also, the correct temperature is low enough that it doesn't really boil, but simmer. If you boil it, it gets done somewhat quicker, but the flavor is not as good. Simmering sauce can still have a little bit of spatter, but no big bubbles erupting.

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    They do make a screen for pots & pans. Buy one & place over pot.
    – J Bergen
    Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 19:50
  • I know that they make screens, but that is covered in the other answer. Personally, I don't bother with yet another gadget if I can simply use the optimal pot and temperature from the beginning.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2017 at 20:48
  • The problem, for those of us that batch cook is that given a bigger pan, we cook more portions (up to the available freezer space). So I'd have to dig out the 10 litre stock pot for a typical batch of 3-4 litres. That makes for a use case for splatter guards, and saves space in the dishwasher compared to oversizing the pan. But of course that's also a valid option.
    – Chris H
    Commented Oct 20, 2023 at 14:51
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I think it will not splatter if you put something solid in the pot like maybe a whole small potato or a small onion Or else just keep stirring it for several minutes

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    I'm not sure how your first point is supposed to work, but it doesn't in my experience. And stirring for several minutes isn't going to do much for a sauce that might simmer for nearly an hour
    – Chris H
    Commented Oct 20, 2023 at 14:48
  • Yeah that doesn't work. Any tomato-based stews I make, for example, still do splatter, even though they are full of solid things. Tomato just does that.
    – Esther
    Commented Oct 20, 2023 at 16:12

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