Tomatoes

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How to can tomatoes at home, from fresh tomatoes - Canning tomatoes made easy and illustrated!
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This month's notes: September 2012: Apples are in, and early; don't miss them. Blueberries are finished, but fall raspberries are here. Corn mazes and pumpkin patches are open.  Figs, grapes, muscadines and most vegetables are strong everywhere. See this page for hundreds of easy canning and freezing instructions/recipes, canning equipment guide! Also make your own ice cream - see How to make ice cream and ice cream making equipment and manuals. Then see each state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops. Organic farms are identified in green!  See our guide to local fruit and vegetable festivals!. Please tell the farms you found them here - and ask them to update their information!!!!

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How to Can Fresh Tomatoes with a Water Bath Canner!
Click here for a PDF print version
Making canned tomatoes is something families remember years later.  Home-canned tomatoes have been a tradition for many generations.  In the middle of the winter, you can use the tomatoes to make a fresh spaghetti sauce, lasagna, chili, or other tomato-based meals for that fresh garden taste.
Ingredients and Equipment
•    Tomatoes - about 20 lbs to make 7 quarts (7 large tomatoes will fill one quart jar.)
•    lemon juice - fresh or bottled, about 1/2 cup
•    1 quart tomato juice (or plain water)
•    1 Water bath Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 - $30 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores.  Note: we sell many sizes and types of canners for all types of stoves and needs - see canning supplies). Tomatoes are on the border between the high-acid fruits that can be preserved in a boiling-water bath and the low-acid fruits, vegetables  and meats that need pressure canning
•    1 large pot (to scald the tomatoes, step 3) and 1 medium sized pot to heat the tomato juice or water to add to the jars (step 6) and 1 small pot to sanitize the lids.    •    Pint or quart canning jars (Ball or Kerr jars can be found at Publix, Kroger, Safeway and local "big box" stores - about $8 per dozen jars including the lids and rings). Quart jars are more economical!
•    Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar.  They may only be used once.
•    Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars.  They may be reused many times.
•    Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)
•    Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper online from our affiliates)t)
•    Jar funnel ($3-Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger and Safeway and local "big box" stores; sometimes even hardware stores)
•    Large spoons and ladles
Process - How to Make Home Canned Tomatoes from Fresh Tomatoes
 Step 3 - Removing the tomato skins
Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough)

then....

Plunge them into a waiting bowl of ice water.
This makes the skins slide right off of the tomatoes!  If you leave the skins in, they become tough and chewy in the sauce, not very pleasant
Step 4 -  Removing the skins, bruises and tough parts
The skins should practically slide off the tomatoes.  then you can cut the tomatoes in quarters and remove the tough part around the stem and any bruised or soft parts.
 Step 6 - Add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and liquid
After you fill each jar with tomatoes, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart jar, 1 per pint jar.  This helps to reduce the odds of spoilage and to retain color and flavor. Then fill to 1/2 inch of the top with either boiling water or hot tomato juice.
Step 7 - Free any trapped air bubbles
Using a flat plastic or wood utensil (like a plastic spoon, up side down) free trapped air bubbles by gently sliding it up and down around the inside edge.
Recommended process time for Crushed Tomatoes in a boiling-water canner.
     Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack    Jar Size    0 - 1,000 ft    1,001 - 3,000 ft    3,001 - 6,000 ft    Above 6,000 ft
Hot    Pints    35 min    40    45    50
    Quarts    45    50    55    60