tomatos

[Pixie]

I need to know EVERYTHING about canning tomatos. EVERYTHING!

 

I was approached by a lady who has organic tomatos, and there is a lot of leftover tomatos after deliveries. she needs someone to can the rest of them, and wondered if i could do it. I said sure! we will work out the details later on sunday or monday, and see if it is something I want to do, but isnt this exciting? she may give my friend charlotte a job as well. pretty cool! the farmers market sure is great, i meet so many different people, and learn so much! imagine how much I would learn if i had my OWN farm! lol anyways, let the advise roll!

 

oh yeah, i dont have a pressure canner, just water bath, and we will be doing this in a seprate kitchen from my home.

[WormGuy]

It really depends on what you want the end result to be. There is juice, whole, quartered, sauces, etc. The easiest for me is whole or quartered.

 

I heat a large pot of water to boiling while I wash the tomatoes. When the water is ready I put 6-12 in the water for 30 seconds, this makes peeling easier. I take them out and put them in a sink of cold water, peel, core, and cut up if needed. I continue this until I have enough for a canner load.

 

I have the jars ready (and the water bath canner), when I fill the jars I pack then so the juice is squeezed out and it covers the tomatoes, get the air bubbles out, wipe them off, put the lids on and process. I add a teaspoon of salt to quarts and 1/2 teaspoon to pints. Don't forget the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon per pint and 2 tablespoons per quart.

 

When I make juice I run the tomatoes thru a juicer, you can see it here: http://www.homesteadhelpers.com/get_item_k...auce-master.htm

I let the juice sit for 30 minutes or so and the water will come to the top. I take a turkey baster and siphon off all the water that I can. Then fill the jars, add lemon juice, wipe, put on the lids and process.

 

For sauce I follow the juice method. I put the juice in a large pot with the spices and then cook it slowly, until it is as thick as I want, usually 3 to 4 hours, fill the jars, wipe, put on lids, and process.

 

Well at least that is how I do it.

 

 

John

[Pixie]

I am not sure how they want to can them, when I asked, they said they will start with just the tomatos,and then we will put together a recipe for sauces and salsas. As long as all ingrediants are certified organic, we have all the freedome we want. I think I will start canning tomatoes here, just to get a feel for it, before I go. I told them I know what I am doing, and soon I will have to prove it. lol

[Violet]

This is the best site for canning foods safely. They have a section on tomatoes. There are some water bath salsas, too.

The processing time for tomatoes, packed in the jars with salt and the necessary bottled lemon juice or citric acid is 85 min. in the boiling water bath canner.

If you heat and crush them the time is not as long.

Some of the foods can only be done in a pressure canner.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck to you !

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can3_tomato.html