To can or not to can?

Our tomatoes came on late this year, but when they finally ripened, oh baby, we had more than we knew what to do with. We attempted a bit of canning last year with mixed results. A salsa recipe that we got from the local extension service was … interesting. The amount of vinegar in the recipe nearly rendered the whole thing inedible. So that was a bust.

However, we rallied and decided to try our hand at tomato sauce and that was a success. I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite prepared for how much work canning would be. When you start out with a big mound of tomatoes and end up boiling it down to fill five jars, it’s a little deflating. Especially when those five jars in the supermarket would cost you a little over $5. But we had five jars of very flavorful sauce and the knowledge that the tomatoes that we grew didn’t go to waste and were used in delicious sauces and other recipes during the winter … at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.

So this year, in addition to tomato sauce, we also canned tomato paste and a roasted roma sauce that will pair nicely with pasta and spinach. In all, we probably canned about 70 pounds of tomatoes.

Here’s a little photo essay of our tomato sauce process:

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In this instance, we started with about 8 pounds of homegrown roma tomatoes.

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We removed the stems and rough chopped the tomatoes to let them soften and cook down on the stove for a bit.

Foodmill

Here was the problematic, messy part. We then ran them through a foodmill to remove the seeds and skins. However, the darn thing broke (the handle fell off) halfway through the process. So we did the best we could with what we had to work with. But it was a much bigger headache than it needed to be.

Empty jars

Once the seeds and skins were removed, we took what was left and cooked it on the stove until it concentrated a bit. Then it was time to fill the jars. We added a little salt and some lemon juice to each jar as per the directions.

Sauce in jars

Aren’t they pretty? Like I said before, it was a little disheartening to have all those tomatoes boil down to five jars. But it is what it is.

Boiling jars

The last step was to process the jars in boiling water to seal the lids and make them shelf stable.

As we live and learn here, we’d love to hear any tips you may have for canning, so feel free to sound off in the comments.

 

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “To can or not to can?

  1. I have no tips! I am learning from you guys. So awesome to see the fruit of your efforts sitting on the shelf. I am not sure if tomatoes are fruit- another blog topic? Or not.🍅 ⁉️ Thanks for keeping me so inspired! I did see a post on fb of a kitchen that had a pressure cooker lid embedded in the ceiling and the pot on the stove crashed through the top of the oven! Ouch. Makes a broken handle not too bad. Seems you did not need the pressure cooker, just the boiling water. I like that. 👋👍

  2. I’ve only ever canned peaches, and agree it is so much work! But, in February when the ground is cold and nothing is really fresh, you will crack open one of those “jars of summer” and all the work will be so worth it!

  3. Hi there! Love your posts!! I used to grow tons of veggies, including tomatoes, in my yard, and just a couple tips I learned over the years that made it so much easier – and for us anyway, flavorful – I didn’t take out the skins or seeds, just cooked down everything, added some sugar to take out the harsh acidity, added fresh basil or other herbs I had, including blended garlic, and that was it. Then, rather than going through the pain of canning, I ended up going with freezing – SO much easier, and just as good! I would freeze the sauce in different size bags, so easy to grab for a single dinner or some more that would provide leftovers. Used the sauce often for chili, stews or pasta sauce. I also had large drying racks and then an electric food dryer, and would dry my fruits and veggies and tomatoes, then freeze them for later use. Bon apetit!

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