Tomato season
is upon us!!!! . Fresh, ripe, beautiful, juicy tomatoes! As many as I could ever want to eat!
Actually, more. Many many more.
In fact, we are so up to our heads in tomatoes that the time has come for drastic measures…
This week, with the help of some very patient assistants, I decided to embark upon my very first large-scale canning operation. I was told canning was a lot of work, and I was not disappointed in this regard. The process took nearly all day, left me with many tomato stains, and a couple of scalding burns…but it also made my kitchen smell wonderful, and now I have 24 pints of tomatoes which can be used anytime I want to cheer myself up during those gloomy tomatoless winter months.
Below, I will give a step by step account on the canning process. If you are bold, have several hours to spare, and an abundance of garden veggies, this could be the perfect time to gather some friends for a festive canning extravaganza. Before I begin, let me preface this-I am no canning expert. I have attended one very well run canning workshop, and done a fair bit of reading, but this was really my first experience with the canning process. For those of you looking to get into the canning business please be sure to consult additional sources before beginning your endeavor.
And now, without further ado, how to can tomatoes
What you need:
- Good quality jars (I used a pint-sized Ball jar. Mason jars are good too), screw bands (these can be reused along with the jars) and lids (these must be new each time you can)
- Pressure cooker or a large pot for open bath canning. The Pressure cooker is the recommended method, but as we only had one small pressure cooker, we did both methods simultaneously. I will instruct both methods below.
- Something to remove jars and lids. I purchased this canning set for $10 at Kroger, but you could also use thick rubber gloves if you are careful
1. Picking!
This is the fun part! Finally, after months of watching, watering, weeding, thinning, waiting…it is finally time to pick your tomatoes. Here in the warmer weather of the Southeast, we have actually been fortunate to have ripe tomatoes for over a month now. Suddenly, though, the tomato production seems to have exploded, to the point where if we didn’t do something with them soon, they would rot and go to waste. The perfect time for canning!
When picking tomatoes for canning, be sure to stick to those that are fully ripe, firm, and healthy.
2. Washing and coring
Make sure to thoroughly wash all tomatoes. Remove the core, and any blemished spots
3. Blanch to remove skin
Blanch tomatoes by sticking them in boiling water for approximately 30 seconds then remove and shock in a cold water bath. This should allow you to remove the skin easily.
4. Boil and simmer
stick skinned tomatoes in large pot, boil, and then simmer for at least five minutes
5. Sterilize Jars
Heat canning jars, lids, and screw bands in pressure cooker or pot of water to sterilize: Place jars upright in pot and then fill both jars and pot a little over half way up with water. Do not set jars directly on the bottom of the pot as this can cause them to crack. Instead, set the screw bands or a clean towel on the bottom and set jars on top of them. Boil on low for several minutes.
6. Prepare Jars
Remove jars, lids, and bands
from water with jar and lid lifters (dump the water that was in the jars back into the pot and keep it on low heat). Next, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the bottom of jar for acidity. Ladle boiled whole tomatoes into jars. Push down to fit more, and fill until there is just 1 inch of head space left at the top of the jar. Take a knife and run along the inside edge of jar to remove any air bubbles. Place lid and screw band on jar and secure finger-tight (do not screw tightly!)
tips:
- Only remove and fill one jar at a time. Replace the filled jar in the pot/pressure cooker before removing the next jar to fill. This way, the other jars will not lose too much heat while they are waiting to be filled.
- Try to fill jars with whole tomatoes and smaller pieces if possible, and avoid adding too much juice.
- Once the pressure cooker/pot is full of jars with tomatoes, make sure no jars are directly touching each other. This could cause cracking during the canning process.
7. CAN!
a. Pressure cooker:
- Once pressure cooker is full of jars, cover and close.
- Wait until it boils (it is boiling when you can see steam coming out of the little steamer on top). Start timer for 10 min
- At this point, put the weight on the steamer and once the pressure cooker gets to 10 PSI, start timer again for another 10 min
- Watch and maintain 10 PSI (turn down heat if necessary)
- Turn off cooker, remove from stove if safe to do so, and wait for all pressure to release. Then, wait an additional 10 min before opening.
- Remove jars carefully with jar lifter and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Listen for the lids making popping noises to tell you that its working!
b. Open bath (large pot):
- Once pot is full of jars, turn on high to bring to a rolling boil
- Once boiling, turn the heat down a bit and put lid on pot
- Let boil in pot for 40 min. periodically check to see if water level drops to less than an inch above the jars. If so, add more boiling water to pot (it is good to have a side-pot of water boiling that you can add when needed)
- After 40 min, turn off heat and let jars sit in pot for an additional 5 min
- Remove jars carefully with jar lifter and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Listen for the lids making popping noises to tell you that its working!
8. Check jars
After 24 hours, you can remove the screw bands and hold the jar up by the lid. If the canning process worked, the lid should be securely fused to the jar. Now you are free to store your tomatoes for the winter, send some as gifts, and relax after a hard days work!
Though I will not pretend it wasn’t quite the endeavor, my first canning experience was highly invigorating. It seems to me a very useful and practical skill which, in the convenience of mass produced, cheap, canned food at grocery stores, is sadly becoming forgotten. While it is great that an increased understanding of the food industry, health, and a concern for environment is causing people to rediscover the joys and benefits of gardening, not many seem to have made the full jump to preserving their own veggies for winter.
I would argue that the quick convenience of the store can be easily outweighed by the empowering feeling of creating your own food source, even during a time of year when even the most devoted of gardeners turn to the packaged food aisle. And though the process may seem daunting at first, with a few tries and a few friends it can actually be quite fun.
I am excited to continue to experiment with canning and preserving; especially so that I may be ready to teach this important lost art to our first crew of Smoky Mountain Corps interns next summer! Next week, I am hoping to do something with my corn and some of the green beans we have hanging around. Perhaps even make some salsa. Stay tuned…
-Heather
