If you have a good harvest of tomatoes you could can them at home. If you do not know the procedure you can easily learn how to can tomatoes – a great way of storing vegetables. Once you can them you will be able to enjoy fresh tomatoes all through the year. Using 1 bushel you can get about 18-20 quarts of canned tomatoes.
Before canning you have to first sterilize your cans. You can use your dishwasher setting to sterilize them. Leave the cans in the dishwasher itself after sterilizing because they will remain hot. In case you do not have the device you can sterilize them by immersing in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Leave them in a warm oven till they are ready to use. The lids and rings of the jars should also be sterilized.
Instructions for Canning
Boil water in a large pot. The amount of water you take should be enough to pour over the tomatoes you have. When the water is boiling, place all the tomatoes in a large container like a tub etc inside your kitchen sink. This will be comfortable to work with.
After the water boils remove it from the stove and pour it over the tomatoes till it covers them well. Leave this for about one minute. Rinse the tomatoes in cold water immediately and place them in another large container.
Next, you have to remove the skin and core of each tomato. If you see any other hard part you can remove that also. The skins will come off easily. Once the skin is removed cut them into medium pieces and put them into your cooking pot.
Heat the pot so that the tomatoes begin to boil. Reduce the flame and leave the pot on the flame so that the contents boil for about half an hour. Using a large metal spoon you can occasionally remove the scum formed on the top.
Take the sterilized jars and add a teaspoon of salt into each. With the help of a funnel pour the boiled content into each jar. Leave about 1/4 inch space on the top. This is necessary because there may be some kind of expansion taking place inside later on when the tomatoes cool. Now close the jars tightly using the lids.
To cool the jars you have to place these jars upside down on your table so that the heat will help to seal the lids properly. Leave them in this way for about 20 minutes. When they are correctly sealed the lids will pop.
Some people recommend a water bath for the jars. However, it depends on you whether you need it or not. Most of the people leave the jars without the bath because they like to see pieces of tomatoes in the sauce. So, the process of canning tomatoes is so simple, easy and interesting, just follow the canning instructions above. Of all ways of how to store tomatoes, there are various benefits of canning tomatoes at home. You do not have to run to the market to get fresh tomato sauce for your dishes. They do not have any kind of preservatives or additives. So they are extremely safe for your health as well.
