Tons of Tomatoes!

I love to can. That is quite obvious to anyone who has been following this blog, my Facebook page or knows me at all. Apparently, this condition of chronic canning is contagious! I've hooked several of my friends on the joys of preserving homemade goodness. Besides, anything is better when you have people to share it with, right? So when I found some great deals through Sam's, the Farmer's Market and my local HEB on tomatoes, I figured it was high time to get some girlfriends over and get to work!

Now I think all together we had about 24 pounds of tomatoes. I use tomatoes in all kinds of recipes. Diced tomatoes are great for anything from pasta, to soups, to even topping a pizza. And you can never go wrong with tomato sauce for a quick pasta dinner on a busy weeknight. So I figured we could try both methods with this mass of ruby red goodness.

I will outline the method for both here. This was my first time doing any of this so I followed tips in my canning books on what to do. You can never read enough, that is my firm belief, and I tend to go a bit overboard on buying books to help me with all my hobbies. That being said, the book on canning that I HIGHLY recommend is the Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving. Its available pretty much in any book store and also on Amazon and Barnes and Noble's website. If you plan to can, get this book!

Lets start off with the one that requires a bit more time and patience: Tomato sauce.

You will need:

Tomatoes (of course) I used about 12 pounds of Roma
Lemon juice
A food mill, food strainer, or a cheese cloth lined sieve
A Large non reactive pot
Knives and cutting boards
Seasonings and spices should you wish to flavor your sauce
*NOTE* You CANNOT use packaged spices, such as pasta sauce spice mixes in a pouch, UNLESS it is a pre-approved canning spice mix, which you will find in the canning section of your local Walmart, Tractor Supply or grocery store.
Jars (I used pint sized)
Water bath canner

First thing is first: wash everything! All your jars, tools and pans to clear away any dust that may be on them. Fill your water bath canner with water, and two tablespoons vinegar to keep off hard water marks, and get it on the heat to boil. Sterilize and heat your jars either by running them through your dishwasher on a sterilize setting and leaving them in on the hot drying setting, placing them in boiling water and keeping them there until ready for use. Place all tools in hot water, caps in a saucepan of water that has been boiled, and then the burner shut off or turned to low.

Now you want to quarter up your tomatoes, if you are using a food strainer attachment for your Kitchen aid, like I am, or a food mill, this makes it easier to work with.

Next run your tomatoes through the food strainer. I use my Kitchenaid set up as you see here in the photo, one bowl for the pulp, one for the seeds and skin, or as we call it "Fruit Poop". 

Once you have strained all your tomatoes, pour the pulp into a nonreactive pot. This can be messy, I learned. I got covered in tomato goo. Its a good thing my friends, Tracy and Danyale were there to take photos!

Now don't be put off if its watery, that is completely normal. The cooking process will cook off a lot of this water. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once it is boiling, bring it down to a simmer and cook down until reduced by half, or it has reached the thickness you desire. This takes time, so be patient!

Once its as thick as you like you can go ahead and get ready to ladle it into jars, or season it for pasta sauce to your taste. I did mine half and half, filling up four jars and then seasoning what was left in the pot.

Before you ladle your sauce into the jars, add two tablespoons of lemon juice to each jar, whether its seasoned or not. This helps with maintaining acidity, color and freshness and prevents spoilage when preserving.

I remembered the lemon juice after I started on a jar! Whoopsie! Ladle the sauce into your jars, leaving 1/2 inch of head space. I found a neat funnel that does the measuring for me and helps keep your jars clean. But I still recommend wiping the rims before you cap them and twist on the rings.

Once your jars are ready, place them in the canner, ensuring that the jars are covered by at least one inch of water. Do not start timing until the water reaches a boil and process for 35 minutes. Remove from the water, set on a towel on the counter or table and do not move them for 24 hours.

While the sauce was processing we started on the diced tomatoes, which are rather easy, though require a tiny bit more work.

You will need:

Tomatoes (12 pounds here again, beefsteak)
A large pot of boiling water
A bowl of ice water
Strainer
Knives and cutting boards
Jars (pints again)
Boiling water canner

Start by getting a large pot of water boiling.

Wash the tomatoes.

Remove the stems. You can core and seed them if you like, but I leave my seeds in.

Cut a shallow 'X' in the bottom of each tomato.

Get your bowl of ice water ready

Now place the tomatoes in the boiling water for a few minutes, or until you start to see the skin starting to peel away.

Once out of the boiling water, place in the ice bath to stop the cooking. Leave for five minutes. Drain the tomatoes. Do not pour out the water in which you blanched the tomatoes. You are going to use that.

Now peel off the skin of the tomato. Its super easy like this, they just pull away!

Dice up the peeled tomatoes.

Add one tablespoon lemon juice to each of your jars and fill about 3/4 of the way with diced tomatoes, topping it off with the water you blanched them in leaving one inch of head space. Run a plastic utensil, chopstick or bubble popper around the sides of the jar to release air bubbles.

Wipe the rims, cap and twist on rings to finger tightness. Process in boiling water bath for 35 minutes. Again don't start timing until it is boiling again and let the jars rest for 24 hours after they have been removed.

Tracy, Danyale and I spent the whole of a day in the kitchen making the tomatoes into canned goodness. We chatted about everything from husbands, to tv shows, music and of course food. We all celebrated the 'PING!' that announced the sealing of our jars and reveled in the fun of doing something together that would bring enjoyment to our families in the coming months. I was sore by the end of the day, and exhausted but I had so much fun I didn't care and went to bed with a smile. Something about canning just always brings out the best in me, even if I drag friends into it and we may have to start a support group...we already have a canning club, does that count? 

Brightest blessings!