Canning Tomatoes

Amy’s Crushed Tomatoes

Canning tomatoes is something I do every year. They are one of my favorites. What made this canning session special, was who was canning with me. My friend Amy, wanted to learn how to can tomatoes. Amy is a great cook, but had never canned before, nor expressed any interest in canning tomatoes or anything else. So what made her want to learn? Pretty sure it was a dinner from the week before. We frequently have dinners with friends and I used a jar of my tomatoes in a dish that night. I let everyone smell them before I added them to the dish. Home canned tomatoes smell wonderful- like summer. Amy was really impressed and asked about canning some herself. So I picked up a bushel and a half of tomatoes at the local farm market the next week, and off we went. A couple of other friends joined in, too. At one point, during the prepping process, Amy wondered if all the work was worth it. We talked about cost and labor etc. Once they started coming out of the canner, she was pretty happy. They looked great. We had a few extra and used them in dinner that night. Now plans are to do tomato sauce, apple sauce and maybe more stuff. For me, this was probably the most fun I ever had canning. Partly, because I normally can alone. so the company was great. It was also special because I got to share an activity I love with a friend, and got her to understand what I have been talking about all these years. We followed the NCHFP recipe for crushed tomatoes. Here it is, in case you want to can tomatoes, too. Invite a friend to join you.

Crushed Tomatoes

Peel and core tomatoes , trim off any bad spots and quarter. Place about 1/4 of your prepared tomatoes in the kettle and cook, stirring constantly over high heat. Use a potato masher to crush tomatoes and extract juices. Once they are boiling add remaining tomatoes, stirring constantly. You don’t need to crush these tomatoes. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. In clean, hot jars add needed acidity listed below. We used lemon juice. You can also add 1 teaspoon of canning salt per quart if desired. Ladle in hot tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean and adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath. Pints 35 minutes, quarts, 45 minutes. 1,000-3000 ft over sea level add 5 minutes. Twenty-two pounds of tomatoes will yield about 7 quarts of tomatoes.

Acidity and Tomatoes

Tomatoes must be acidified before canning. When canning either whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes you must add either 2 T. bottled lemon juice per quart or 1/2 t. citric acid . For pint use 1 T. lemon juice or 1/4 t. citric acid. You can also use 4 T. (5%) vinegar per quart, but it will alter the flavor and is not recommended. You can add a little sugar to offset the flavor, if you like.

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