I recently bought a can of soup and it was just too sweet and kind of floury. Now I'm trying it myself with fresh tomatoes from the market, but I'm not sure exactly how long I should cook them for and whether I need to peel the skin off beforehand?
What kind of tomatoes did you find - more the meaty varieties or regular bunch tomatoes?
With fresh tomatoes you don't need to peel the skin beforehand, it takes care of itself. I'd do it like this: chop the tomatoes small, put them in a pot with a bit of olive oil and chopped onion, sauté briefly. Then pour in broth (not too much, or it'll get thin) and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes. That's plenty of time for the tomatoes to break down and soften. The skin basically comes off on its own when you purée it.
After cooking, purée it finely with an immersion blender and push it through a fine sieve - that's where the skin pieces get caught. The key thing to avoid it being too sweet: don't add too much sugar (some recipes suggest it, I'd ignore that) and instead season it at the end with salt, pepper and if needed a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. That balances out the sweetness and makes the whole thing more vibrant. And if you want to add crème fraîche or cream, do it right at the very end, otherwise it gets mealy like your canned version.
Cook the tomatoes for at least 20-30 minutes and they'll break down on their own with the skin dissolving - then just push them through a sieve or blend them, and you won't have to worry about the skins. But the most important thing is not to add too much sugar at the end, even if the soup tastes sour at first - lots of people make that mistake and overdo it, then you end up with that artificially sweet taste like it came from a can. Better approach: work with good butter, fresh herbs like basil, and a splash of cream at the end - that makes the soup creamy without needing much flour or cream.
The sweetness often comes from not having enough acidity - I always add a splash of white wine or vinegar to balance it out, and it tastes way more natural than the canned versions. You don't need to peel the tomatoes, like someone already said - but the trick is to use really good, ripe tomatoes from the market and let them simmer for at least 30-40 minutes until they completely fall apart. Then push them through a fine sieve, and you've got a creamy soup without that floury texture - the problem with canned soups is usually that they have starch in them, which causes that.
The important thing is that you use good ripe tomatoes - if they're still hard, the soup will just be thin and flavorless. I always buy them when they're really red and give a little when you press them. The skin is honestly no problem, like the others already said - after 20-30 minutes of cooking it dissolves and you can just push everything through a sieve. That's way less work than blanching them first.
The trick I'd really recommend: add a good pinch of sugar right at the beginning, but not much - just a tiny knife tip amount. I know that sounds weird given your problem, but it's got nothing to do with sweetness, it actually helps the natural tomato acids come through better. Then the flavor balances out much better. And yeah, a splash of white wine or balsamic helps too, but only taste it at the end before you commit to anything.
One more thing: sauté the onions and garlic before the tomatoes go in, that makes the difference. Just briefly in butter or oil until it smells good - then add the tomatoes. Go easy on the salt at the beginning because everything concentrates as it simmers. At the end you can add fresh basil or cream if you want, but honestly you don't really need it.
for me it works best when i blanch the tomatoes briefly - just stick them in boiling water for a minute and straight back out - then the skin slides right off afterward and i don't have to mess around with it. saves time and the tomatoes don't lose too much flavor from long cooking. after that i puree everything through and let it simmer for another good half hour so the flavors really develop. against the over-the-top sweetness a splash of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar always does the trick for me - way better than that artificial stuff from a can.
Fresh tomatoes automatically give you less of that floury feeling, because the fiber is just different than in processed canned ones. Another tip: if you pass the finished soup through a fine sieve, it becomes creamier and smoother without you needing extra cream or anything like that.
The biggest mistake is pureeing the tomatoes too early. Let them simmer properly for a long time - at least 45 minutes - that's when the full flavor develops. Most people do it way too quickly and then wonder why it tastes thin.
About the skin: yeah, you don't need to peel it beforehand. But the other answers are right that it breaks down - only if you really cook it long enough though. What I do is press it through a fine sieve after about an hour. That gives you the smooth consistency without that floury texture you get from canned tomato soup. And here's the thing: use really ripe, red tomatoes, not the hard ones. If they're still green or hard, it won't work.
For the sweetness I wouldn't jump straight to vinegar - that can get too sour pretty quickly. Try some salt and pepper first, that brings out the natural flavor. If it's still too sweet after that, a small splash of balsamic or lemon juice, but go easy on it. And add some tomato paste, a tablespoon or two, it intensifies the flavor and keeps it from being too thin.
What often gets underestimated: blanch your tomatoes first for a short moment, then the skin really comes off like butter and you save yourself the long cooking time. Just dunk them in boiling water for a minute, then into ice water, and the skin comes right off with a knife. After that you only need to cook the peeled tomatoes for 10-15 minutes - that's plenty to get the flavor out without it getting mealy. With this method you also get a much clearer, less gluey consistency than if you just cook everything together into mush.
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