Adventures in Tomato Canning!!!

I have the GREATEST neighbor who is a community outreach activist. Yesterday he gave me a whole box of yummy tomatoes! This is nothing new - I have received several donations from him- unfortunately he can't find enough people in need willing to take the food for themselves. He is reduced to giving the food to those he can, my family being one of them!

 

As excited as I was to receive this generous donation, I was nervous all the same! I have canned a few time but never tomatoes! Thankfully I have an awesome book that I picked up at Wal-Mart in the canning section called - Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving! This book is my go-to book when I am canning.

 

My canner/pressure canner is not big enough to water bath the tomatoes so we ended up pressure canning these bad boys! Which was better because it takes less time! WE LOVE SAVING TIME!!!

 

~What You Need~

Jars with lids, Canner (water bath is fine), Citric Acid

 

~What To Do~

1. Heat seals and lids in a pan. Also heat water to pack tomatoes in

2. Sterilize Jars ( I do a bleach water wash method because my dishwasher sucks and leaves residue on everything!)

3. Wash and core tomatoes

4. Blanch and skin tomatoes (Blanch is not one of the Golden Girls, it's a process to remove the skins of the tomatoes)

5. Place 1/4 tsp (for pints) 1/2 tsp (for quarts) Citric Acid in each jar.

6. Cut tomotoes as desired (or DON'T it's up to you!)

7. Fill jars with tomatoes (leave 1/2" - 1" head space)

8. Fill jars with heated water (leave that head space again!!!)

9. Get the bubbles out (don't want exploding jars do ya?)

10. Wipe the rim of the jar (this ensures a clean seal - gunk on the rim will not allow the jars to seal properly and that's BAD JUJU!!!)

11. Apply lid seal and ring (Don't be He-Man here - tighted only until you feel the tension starting)

12. Place in canner and pressurize (or water bath) for allotted time (ours was 28 minutes but you should DEFINITELY follow your canner's manual guidelines - safety first!)

13. Time's Up - take them out of canner and put on a covered surface to cool. (Be careful that a fan or A/C breeze doesn't hit the jars - this is also bad JUJU, unless you like cleaning up boiling hot food and broken glass!)

 

VIOLA!!! Canned Tomatoes!!!

 

Several hours and 14 jars later we have whole, quartered and diced tomatoes that will last a lot longer than a few days in my fridge! These are great for stews, chillies, spaghetti or even some salsa. Anything that you use tomatoes in really!!!

 

 

Canning is one of the greatest ways to preserve food for a long term storage! You can preserve practically any kind of fruit, vegetable and even meats! There are many ways to can foods as well and different foods call for different methods. High acidic foods, such as fruits, tomatoes and pickles, require only a water bath method (though you can pressure can them for time's sake). Vegetables and meats, because of their low acidic content, require pressure canning (and strict times should be adhered to). I have also canned using a dry method in the oven, this is for dry goods like crackers. We will go into canning methods and times in future posts!

 

Find more Canning and Food Preservation tips on our Pinterest board - http://www.pinterest.com/nevadawatchmen/food-preservations/

 

See ya on the flip side!!!

~ G