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Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

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  • Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

    The last two years, DH planted probably two dozen tomato plants, and they all yielded extremely well. We had a tomato jungle. We only had a few of the smaller varieties, and I don't think we canned those.

    Canning tomatoes is a little overwhelming to me, just working with the pressure cooker and the boiling water. DH did most of it, but I also took care of some canner loads, and nothing went wrong.

    The thing with a large crop of tomatoes is that they keep ripening, incessantly, and you have to deal with them NOW. Here's how we took care of processing them, until we had a free day here or there to actually focus on thawing and canning them:

    Load the tomatoes into a sink of water. Rinse them, get the bugs off, and cut out the stems and any bad parts.
    Drop batches of tomatoes into a pot of boiling water just until the skin cracks.
    Use a slotted spoon to bring the tomatoes back out of the pot, and put them in a sink of cool water.
    When the tomatoes are cool enough to work with (doesn't take long), peel the skins off.
    Put the peeled tomatoes into gallon freezer ziplocs and freeze until you're ready to can them.

    You'll need to peel the tomatoes anyway before you can them, so this isn't really any extra work.

    We also had a large crop of okra, plus some jalapenos and green peppers. We ended up processing a lot of our tomatoes into a tomato-okra salsa that is very good - but hot.

    I don't remember the recipe or instructions for canning tomatoes, but the pressure canner will have instructions. PM me if you want me to look it up in our canning book. I use our canned tomatoes a lot for italian sauces, but the canned salsa gets eaten pretty quickly, too.

  • #2
    Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

    I can't find my canning book, after the move.

    The basic idea, if I remember right, is that you fill the jars with tomatoes and a little salt, put the sealer lids & rings on them, stick 7 jars in the canner with water up to a certain point (the jar necks??), and then adjust your heat carefully to keep the pressure needle on the canner lid showing at about 10-13 pounds during the canning process (10 min???). Let the pressure drop, remove the jars, and start again with the next batch.

    Wish I had the instructions...

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    • #3
      Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

      I would think you could mix tomatoes for sauce....but I don't really know.

      If you freeze the tomatoes (skinless like Deb said) then you can make sauce later when you have a bunch and a big pot. I make sauce in large batches and then freeze meal-sized portions individually....keeps great!

      I make a meatless sauce and a (turkey) meatball/sausage sauce. And I've never had a problem with freezing them in tupperware.

      Michele
      Mom of 3, Veterinarian

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      • #4
        Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

        First can I say I am very jealous. I am a huge gardener in my head but my actual results are slightly above nil.

        I have a great book called Stocking Up that is all about canning, with tons of recipes. Might be worth checking out at the library.

        I also belong to a cool forum with lots of resources for preserving the harvest or just fulfilling your inner farmer. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/

        I put up jam every year, and have done tomatoes the one year I grew them well. I think it is pretty fun to can, esp to eat the results later. I have a food dehydrator that I use alot- I made my own dried tomatoes, and would mix them in a little olive oil just before using them. They were delicious. I used whatever I had- grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, all turned out well. I have a great goat cheese torta recipe I used them in. I also dehydrate apples, strawberries etc after we go u-picking, and you can make potpurri that way so it is a fairly useful kitchen gadget.
        Mom to three wild women.

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        • #5
          Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

          My mother always makes the following: plain tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, tomato soup (with the spice, etc. already added because that way she can use up the peppers, too.) She doesn't 'can', she just dumps the various stuff into tupperware and freezes it. (she would 'can' the jams and jellies but not the tomato stuff)

          Jenn

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          • #6
            Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

            Originally posted by oceanchild
            You can mail them to me. I am garden deprived.


            I like Deb's suggestion of blanching and freezing. That sounds easiest. You could also make sauce with them and freeze that. I would like to learn how to can food but it doesn't always sound so fun in the heat of summer.

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            • #7
              Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

              How about making your own sun-dried tomatoes!

              http://www.pickyourown.org/tomatoes_sun_dried.htm

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              • #8
                Re: Tomato overload - suggestions and/or canning advice?

                Drying them in the oven?? I'd loan you our dehydrator if we lived close... but the oven works, too. You might try this recipe:
                http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetabl ... Drying.htm

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