Canning tomatos

[SingleWhiteFemale]

My grandmother used to can tomatos from her garden, and made amazing chili and marinara sauce with them. After years of begging, I finally got the recipes. Now, I'm lost. I have no idea even where to begin when it comes to canning! I am aware I do need tomatos and jars... but thats about it. I know she didn't use a pressure cooker or anything.

I'm lost :( Help!

[fuzzy]

It's SUPER easy!

Get some canning jars -- make sure you get two piece lids. You can re-use the rings, but need to replace the top portion of the lids.

Prepare the tomatoes following the recipe (skin them and pack them tightly in the jars, draing off a lot of the liquid). Add our lemon juice and salt. Make sure you have about a 1/2 to a 1/4 inch of "headspace", that is, the space between the top of the tomatoes and the lid.

Fill up a canner/large stock pot with water. Place the jars in the water, making sure the water is above the tops of the jars. Bring it to a rolling boil and let it boil for however long your recipe calls for it. Remove the jars and let them cool. After their cool, check the seal by unscrewing the ring and kind of lightly pluck the top lid to see if it "sticks." Then store and your done!

[mrstim]

I can tomatoes and salsa each year as well. I use basically the same technique as above, although I do things slightly different. I skin the tomatoes (best way is slice an X in the ends of the tomato and dunk in boiling water for 30-45 seconds, then dunk in ice water and the X ends will peel back - grab the ends and pull, and it peels the tomatoes) Then, take the tomatoes, crush them, or whatever. Add lemon & salt, then here's where I go differently.

The Acid of the tomatoes can allow them NOT to have to be water bathed or pressure cooked. Get your jars hot before putting ANYTHING in them - if you put hot anything into a cool jar, it will crack or explode the jar. (I put the jars onto a cookie sheet and place them in the oven - turn the oven on at the lowest possible temp, which is 150F on mine) Also have your rings & lids hot by putting them in a pot on the stove and keeping them hot. I use a canning funnel and a measuring cup, fill the Hot jars with the tomatoes, then put the hot rings on the jars, then let sit. You'll hear the jar lids pop. This is the way I did all my tomatoes & salsa last year, and my MIL did over 200 quarts this way last year as well! It makes things a LOT easier and faster to not water bathe, and we're still eating on the salsa and tomatoes and they're all perfectly fine!! I also can other stuff each year, if you'd have any questions, I'll be glad to try to answer them!

Good Luck - canning can be SO much fun!

[paiger]

mrstim and fuzzy ~ I posted a question about the pressure cooker vs water bath thing in the Storing Homemade Pasta Sauce Thread. I'd love your insight!

I'd also LOVE any recipes that y'all have for tomato based canning ideas like the Salsa or anything else. Thanks!! Paige

[mrstim]

bump for this year!! :D I guess this could be our official "canning" thread. Anyone else can????


We planted 20 tomato plants, and I'm planning on doing salsa, chopped/whole tomatos, and putting up peppers, corn, okra, squash, cabbage, peaches, pickles, jelly & pears this year. Hopefully!! (since I'm due in august we'll see!)

[Pineknot]

I can some things. I grow my own tomatoes, so I like to make my own sauce.

I also canned dill beans last year. They were great. :p

Also, I have an apple tree that, thanks to the rains last year, has got such an abundance of branches and apples. I make applesauce and can it.

I also will have a ton of peaches this year. Mrs. Tim, how do you canyour peaches? I remember growing up in the south, my aunt used to pickle them? At least, I remember that..something to do with cloves.

Also, I just planted okra today so I know it won't be long before I'm drowning in those little pods. When you can the okra, is it slimey after it's pickled? Or, are you just canning to use it later on in gumbo and stews?

thanks :)

[paiger]

I tried it for the first time earlier this month!! I made a Basil Tomato Sauce that I found on the GardenWeb Harvest Forum. I'm really excited about it.

We are in an apartment, so we only have 1 Roma tomato plant and some cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket. I do have a container herb garden, which will cut out some costs from making tomato sauce and salsa.

We are planning on getting all of our supplies from the local Farmer's Market. We always get our veggies from them anyway, and we've already talked to some of the sellers. They said that in the summer they have 'canning tomatoes' which are bulk amounts with some places on them that are really cheap. I'm so excited and can't wait for the season to start.

I'm getting the KA Fruit/Veggie Strainer for my Bday. We already have the grinder to make kielbasa, so I just need the attachment.

[elladee]

Wow, I'm jealous of all you who have planted already! We're not out of frost danger yet. We rent, too, so I've only got a small garden, maybe 4x8. Enough for eating veggies, but not for canning. Last summer my neighbor and I got a half-bushel of tomatos for canning from the famers market to make sauce and salsa. It was ~55 lbs of tomatos for $15!

[elladee]

BTW, here's the canning thread from last year:
Canning, Anyone? (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=4699)