Tomatoes, tomatoes, and more TOMATOES! Our plants are going crazy. Just when I think the weather is too cool to ripen any more of them…
This year I’ve been able to experiment a lot with tomatoes. It’s been…. fun… LOL Honestly though, I have really enjoyed canning up all these tomatoes. It’s been a lot of work but it’s nice seeing all that produce being stored up for winter enjoyment.
You’ll notice today I have pictures of the process outside and inside the house. I decided I wanted to do everything outside and then we ran out of propane for the stove just a short ways into simmering the tomatoes…
First thing to do is get the skins off. So you’ll need to blanch the tomatoes. It’s very quick, and normally for blanching you heat the produce up and remove it to an ice water bath. I never bother with the ice water because the tomatoes are going to be cooked further so if they continue to cook just a little once I remove them from the water it’s okay. Plus, they are always cool enough to handle by the time I get through all of my tomatoes.
Add several tomatoes to the pot and then remove after about 30 seconds or the skins start to peel off.
I place all of the tomatoes on large baking sheets to cool a bit and then we get into the messy part!
Remove the skins and as much of the seeds and juice as you can. I usually have a paring knife and cutting board nearby to trim any difficult spots off the tomatoes but I usually just use my fingers to remove everything.
I use a canner to heat all of the trimmed/skinned tomatoes.
After the tomatoes have simmered for an hour I start skimming off the juice that rises to the top. If you don’t do this, plan on simmering your tomatoes for at least a full day.
Reduce the tomatoes to about half and then puree them in a blender or food processor.
Pour the sauce back into the large pot and simmer for 30 more minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Add vinegar to jars and then fill the jars with sauce and cover with lids and rings.
Place in a canner rack in a water bath canner and bring water to a boil. Process sauce for 40 minutes for quarts and 35 minutes for pints.
Remove jars and let cool. Once they have cooled check the seals. If any of the lids pop that means they didn’t seal. Place any unsealed jars in the fridge and use within 1 week.
Canned Tomato Sauce
Use up all those excess garden tomatoes in this easy canned tomato recipe.
Ingredients
- 35 lbs tomatoes
- vinegar
- salt
Instructions
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Prep- Wash jars in hot soapy water or run the sanitize cycle on your dishwasher. Wash all of the tomatoes in water.
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Removing the skins- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add in several tomatoes at a time. Remove when you notice the skin starting to peel off ~30 seconds and then remove them to a cookie sheet while you finish the rest of the tomatoes. Peel the skin off of the tomatoes and remove stems and any bad spots. Squeeze out excess juice and then put the tomatoes in a large pot.
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Cook- Cover and heat tomatoes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the tomatoes have simmered for 1 hour, start skimming off excess juice. You can either discard the juice you collect or you can can it for later use.
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Puree- Once the tomatoes have reduced to ~half, puree them in a blender. Do in small batches until you have pureed all of the tomatoes. Pour the sauce back into the large pot and simmer for 30 more minutes.
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Can- Add 4 T of vinegar to every quart jar (2 T for pints) and then fill jars with tomato sauce leaving 1/2 in. head space. Wipe the rims of the jars and place a lid and rid on the jar and tighten. Place filled jars in a canning rack in a water bath canner. Place canner lid on and bring to a boil. Once the canner is up to a boil process jars for 40 minutes for quarts 35 minutes for pints.
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Cool and store- Remove jars from canner and place on a towel to cool. Once jars are cool check if the lids sealed. If any of them pop that means they didn't seal. Place in the fridge and use within a week.
That sauce is so pretty! It looks so fresh and delicious!