You need
Pressure canner. I
use a 23 qt Presto with a dial gauge
Canning jars
Lids and rings (lids need to be new each time, rings can be
re-used)
Tomatoes, Roma (paste type) are really nice to use because
they are meatier, less water and fewer seeds so the cook down faster but I use
whatever I have. This year we were lucky
enough to have some neighbors who shared their bounty and we had a really nice
mix of great big tomatoes and nice firm Roma types.
Spices, this is what I used this year and I think it tastes
really yummy.
About 40 lbs of tomatoes (4 large salad bowls full, like the large Tupperware
bowl)
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| This is what about 20 lbs of tomatoes looks like |
1 cup minced green peppers
1 ½ cup dried onions (or two
cups minced fresh onion)
½ brown sugar
¼ cup salt
½ cup Italian Seasoning
3 tsp. minced garlic
Paring knife
Extra’s
that you don’t need but make it quite a bit easier
An extra large pot of boiling water
A bowl of ice water
A jar funnel (fits inside jar to make it MUCH easier to fill.
A lid lifter ( a magnet on a stick),
A jar lifter
A dish washer
Cutting board and a place to put your skins (garbage can right under the counter works well)
lots of extra bowls and dish rags
someone to entertain you or better yet do the work for you
someone to entertain you or better yet do the work for you
First
things first
This is how I do it anyway . . . put your jars and rings in the
dishwasher.
Now boil another large pan of water, and in a small saucepan
on low simmer your lids (this will keep them sterile and warm) – don’t forget
about them they really stink if the melt!
Fill a large bowl with ice water.
Wash tomatoes. Cut off
ends and any yucky spots or cracks.
The quick way is to drop your tomatoes in the boiling water
for about 45 seconds then with a slotted spoon move them to the ice water for a
few minutes, the peels will then slide of pretty easily .
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| First in boiling water for 45 seconds |
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| Then in ice water for a few minutes |
Now I spend a bit of time getting rid of excess water. Cut them in half and squeeze over the sink to
drain and remove some of the seeds.
Squish them into a colander. The
more juice you remove now the less time you have to simmer to thicken. (You can also add tomato paste to thicken,
and as an added bonus make your sauce stretch further, 2-4 cans).
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| after squishing |
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| my new invention the double bowl squisher |
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| creepy looking hand but it's squishing out lots of juice (you could save this to make tomato juice) |
I boiled the tomatoes for about 10 minutes and then put them
in the blender with all of the other spices (I did microwave the green peppers
and onions for about 3 minutes to soften).
When I had blended all of the sauce I put it back into the
pot and simmered it until I had the thickness of sauce my family likes.
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| this is what it looked like after blending and simmering awhile |
NEXT
Remove your jars from the dishwasher, while they’re still hot
add spaghetti sauce.
Fill the jars to within ½ in to 1 in from the top.
Wipe off the rims with a clean cloth.
Fish your lid out of the hot water (this is where the
magnetic thing would be nice, I use a fork)
Put on the lid and ring and tighten (just finger tight, you’re
just keeping the lid on, not sealing it).
Follow the directions for your canner CAREFULLY.
- For me I had 3 quarts of water heating in the canner with the rack already in, then I added the jars, I had more than one layer so I staggered the layers. I also added 2 Tbsp of white vinegar to keep my jars from staining. With the pressure regulator removed and the lid on. I heated the water until steam was coming out the vent and let it vent for 10 min (I turned the temp down just enough to keep the steam coming). Then I put the pressure regulator on , turned up the heat until I got to 13 lbs of pressure (for an altitude of 4000 ft). Processed it for 20 minutes (pints), for quarts go for 25 min. Then I removed it from the hot burner and let it cool until the pressure was at 0 and the air vent cover had dropped. After that I removed the pressure regulator and let it cool for another 10 minutes. Then I opened it!
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| ALL of those tomatoes made 11 pints but it does taste really yummy, one thing to remember is that spices may intensify during the simmering process and once in the jar so you may want to go light and maybe add them at the end. |
Remove the jars to the kitchen counter (careful they’re still
really hot) let them cool for about 24 hours to make sure the seal is
good. After that you can remove the
rings and label your lids.
Store in a cool, dark, dry place for longest life. If you leave the rings on the can rust and
cause the seal to pop.
I have to add too this a BIG thank you to Steve and Linda because the 8 tomatoes that came from our garden would not have made this possible.
I have to add too this a BIG thank you to Steve and Linda because the 8 tomatoes that came from our garden would not have made this possible.
