Instructions for Canning Tomatoes
by Faith Wright-Draper aka
"byfaithonly"
There is nothing in the world that compares to
biting into a fresh tomato just plucked from the
vine. Following close behind that would be having
your own fresh tomatoes in the middle of winter
to make a big hot pot of chili or filling the
house with the aroma of homemade spaghetti sauce.
Canning tomatoes, while not the simplest of
tasks, is fairly easy and is very satisfying.
Before you start you will need the following
ingredients:
Fresh Tomatoes – figure about 7 large for
each quart canning jar
Lemon Juice – fresh or bottled
Tomato Juice or water – to fill spaces
between tomatoes
Ice
The following is a list of equipment you will
need (you can re-use year after year everything
but the lids):
1 Water Bath Canner – this is a large pot
that will hold either 7 or 9 quart jars, the best
are ones that have a rack designed for holding
canning jars – this keeps jars from tipping
over or hitting against each other during the
water bath process.
1 Large Pot
1 Medium Pot
1 Small Pot
1 Large Bowl
Pint or Quart Canning Jars (Ball, Kerr, and Mason
are all leading brands)
Jar Lids & Rings (rings can be re-used but
lids will have to be replaced each use)
Large Spoons and Ladles
Sharp Knife
Additional equipment that helps make the canning
process easier but are not required are a jar
grabber to lift hot jars, a lid lifter to
retrieve hot lids from water pan, and a jar
funnel (wider funnel opening than a regular
funnel).
Getting Started Canning Tomatoes
Step 1, select your tomatoes. Ripe firm fresh
tomatoes are best. There are a variety of
different kinds of tomatoes but Beefsteak, Better
Boy and Roma are perfect for canning. In step 4
you will want to remove any bad spots on the
tomatoes such as bruises or rotted spots. No need
to throw out the whole tomato – simply cut
out the unwanted parts.
Step 2 – you will need to sterilize all jars
and lids you are going to use. If you have a
dishwasher you can run your jars through this to
sterilize but if not you can place the jars in
your canning pot and cover them with water. Bring
this to a boil then remove jars and set them
aside in a warm clean spot.
If you’re not using your water bath canner
for sterilizing your jars you will want to fill
this half way with hot water and start it heating
(placing the lid on the canner helps hold heat in
and speed up the heating process).
Step 3 – preparing the tomatoes to have the
skins removed. Fill the large pot with water and
bring it to a boil. While that is coming to a
boil fill the large bowl with ice water –
depending on how many tomatoes you are going to
use you can add more ice as needed to keep the
water cold.
Once the water is boiling place 3 or 4 tomatoes
at a time in the boiling water for about 30
seconds and then immediately dip them in the ice
water. This will cause the skins to crack and
make them easy to remove from the meaty part of
the tomato. A large ladle works great for moving
the tomatoes from boiling water to ice water and
then out of the ice water.
Step 4 – removing skins, bad spots, and stem
centers. Once removed from the ice water in step
3 the skins will easily slid off. Using a sharp
knife cut out bad spots and the green stem
centers. An additional empty bowl or pan works
great for discarding the skins and such (these
can be added to a compost pile or discarded; ours
are fed to the chickens).
This is also the best time to place the water or
tomato juice in the medium pot to start heating;
this will be used shortly to fill in the air
pockets around the tomatoes. You will also want
to put your canning jar lids in the small pot and
start that to warm you will want these to boil
for a few minutes but no longer – the rubber
seal around the under side of the lid is what
keeps your tomatoes sealed inside the jars.
Step 5 - start filling the warm jars with
tomatoes. You can use whole tomatoes or you can
half or quarter them it just depends on what you
prefer. Using the jar funnel if you have one
place the tomatoes in the jar then fill with
water or tomato juice to 1/2 inch from the top of
the jar and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Step 6 – lids and rings. First wipe the rim
of your jar with a clean rag or paper towel then
place a lid on top with the rubber ring side
down. Place a canning jar ring over the lid and
close snuggly (not too tight). This jar is now
ready to place on the water bath rack (don’t
drop into water until all the jars are filled).
Step 7 – hot water bath. Once you have a
‘batch’ of jars filled lower the water
bath rack into the boiling water. Replace the lid
and let the jars boil for 45 minutes (you may
have to adjust this time for higher altitudes).
Step 8 – remove and wait. After the water
bath time has passed remove the jars from the pot
and set them on a towel or other heat resistant
surface to cool. The most important part of
canning tomatoes is this last step. Now you need
to listen for the ‘POP’ when you hear
the first one you will know the sound. This pop
sound is created when the cooling process causes
the lid to vacuum seal to the jar.
If you happen to not hear the pop you can test by
pressing on the center of the lid lightly. If the
lid center is solid your jar is sealed. If the
lid moves up and down and you press on it then
the jar is not sealed and you will need to keep
this jar refrigerated until use or repeat the
process from step 6 – NOTE it is very
important that you use a new lid if you do need
to do this.
It may take a couple hours for the jars to seal
so don’t panic if you check them before
completely cooled. Once the jars are sealed you
can wipe them down, label them (using a permanent
marker works great on the lids), and store them
in your cupboard or pantry until your ready to
use them.
Fresh canned tomatoes can store this way for
several years and are wonderful for your favorite
tomato based recipe such as chili, spaghetti, and
goulash.
| Faith Wright-Draper (aka
byfaithonly) has been writing for over 40
years as a journalist, ghostwriting, and
freelancing. She currently writes for
several blogs, freelances, and on her own
website www.byfaithonly.com
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