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Yes I can – tomatoes

September 6, 2010 10 Comments
Canning tomatoes was the simplest of all my canning adventures. Just peel and can. Peel and can. I made both tomato sauce and diced seasoned tomatoes for chili.

Peeling tomatoes
At the risk of sounding crazy (and why worry about that at this point), there is something deeply satisfying about peeling tomatoes. I had never done it before making tomato sauce and canned tomatoes. And, it’s just kinda fun. Messy, and fun. You should totally do it.

Cut an “x” in the bottom of the tomatoes, and then put them in a pot of boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, or until the skins begin to crack. Immediately submerge in ice water, and the skins will slip off easily. Ta-da… like magic.

Now, onto the canning.

Herbed seasoned tomatoes
(from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)
makes 6 pints
12 cups halved cored peeled tomatoes
Mexican spice blend (2 1/2 tsp per pint): 

  • 5 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 2 tsp garlic powder 
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

Bottled lemon juice
Salt

  1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
  2. Prepare spice blend and set aside.
  3. Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel sauceplan. (Don’t layer tomatoes.)
  4. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.
  5. Before packing jars, add 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt into hot jar. Add spice blend and pack hot tomatoes in jars within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot liquid into jar to cover tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid and screw band down until resistance is met, then fingertip-tight.
  6. Place jars in canner, completely covered with water. Bring to boil and process for 40 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, remove jars, cool and store.

Seasoned tomato sauce
(from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

makes 6 pints
10 lbs tomatoes, cored
2 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
Bottled lemon juice
  1. Wash and sort tomatoes, removing any bruised or discolored product. Quarter 6 tomatoes and place in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat. Using a potato masher, crush tomatoes to release juices, stirring constantly. While maintaining and boil and stirring to prevent burning, quarter additional tomatoes, adding them to the saucepan as you work. Make sure the mixture continues to boil vigorously while you add, stir and crush the remaining tomatoes. When all tomatoes have been added, stir in onion, garlic, oregano, bay leaves, salt,  black pepper, sugar and hot pepper flakes. Return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and boil, stirring frequently, until sauce is reduced by half and thickens slightly, about 2 hours.
  2. Prepare canner, lids and jars.
  3. Working in batches, press tomato mixture through a food mill to remove skins and seeds. Discard peel and seeds.
  4. Return mixture to saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
  5. Before filling each jar with tomato sauce, add 1 tbsp lemon juice to the hot jar. Ladle hot sauce into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
  6. Place jars in canner, fully covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 35 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, remove jars, cool and store.


On the canning agenda:

Pizza sauce
Pickles
Pickled zucchini
Salsa
Tomatoes
Pepper jam
Pickled yellow peppers
Jam
Preserves
Filed Under: Preserving

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