5 beautiful jars of tomatoes from 20 pounds of tomatoes.
Every week, I cruise the Farm & Garden section in Craigslist to see if there are any edible offerings. In the past I've gotten large amounts of lemons, chestnuts, vegetables, and even chanterelle mushrooms for very low prices. Most of the items come from gardens of people who can't keep up with the harvest. Anyway, last week, a local family was selling 20 pounds of homegrown organic tomatoes for $5. What a steal!
Of course, I went and bought them, and I knew before I left the house that I was going to be canning them. A friend provided me with a really easy method. Basically, I put as many tomatoes as I could fit in my roasting pan - since I just have one pan, I had to do this in batches. I put them in the oven under the broiler until the skins started to turn black, about 10 to 15 minutes. Then I removed them from the oven and let them cool. While waiting for them to cool, I brought a large stock pot full of water to a boil and placed my canning jars in it. Once the tomatoes were cool enough to handle, the skins slipped right off, and I just broke the tomatoes up with my fingers in a large pot. I placed the pot on a stove and brought the tomato pulp to a boil, and let it simmer for about 7 minutes. The tomatoes were ladled into the hot, sterilized jars, sealed, and then placed in the boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Et voila! Canned tomatoes!
These will be a perfect base for sauces and any recipe calling for chopped tomatoes.
Related:
How Do I Make And Preserve Tomato Sauce?
Putting Up Tomatoes: An Encouragement
(Images: Kathryn Hill)
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I love the roasting tip, Kathryn! Easy way to get the skins off and add some flavor.
view Dana V's profile
You can also freeze instead of can - just throwing it out there!
view Astur's profile
Beautiful!
view bfisk's profile
You're so lucky - our Craigslist Farm & Garden section (Milwaukee) pretty much lists horse saddles and tractors. And the occasional snowblower. :)
view keltrue's profile
@keltrue - try freecycle! Several people in the area gave away veg this season. I saw more zucchini than anything else though. I was just wondering if the Milwaukee craigslist would be worth checking out. :(
My mom and I put up 20 quarts each. That *might* hold us 'til next year, if I'm judicious. I like to leave the tomatoes whole or at most, quartered, because it leaves you more options down the line.
view MaryWynn's profile
I just write what it is and the date on the lid with a Sharpie, you can't re-use them for canning again anyway.
view Peggasus's profile
I have been told that if your water bath time is over 20 min, you don't need to sterilize your jars first. After buying about 60 bucks worth of home canning books I found the USDA online guide to home canning and it ROCKS!
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html
view Denvergirl's profile
For how long do they keep?
view Thora's profile
I assume you added citric acid/lemon juice as well?
view RLB's profile
RLB-Most tomatoes are acidic enough to not need citric acid or lemon juice. Most varieties have a pH lower than 4.6. If it is higher than 4.6 the extra acid is needed.
Thora-they should keep for 12-18 months
view bfisk's profile
thanks @bfisk!
view Kathryn Hill's profile
It looks beautiful,thanks.Patch panel
view water meter's profile