Canning Whole Tomatoes

My canning season is in full swing.  I love this time a year as much as I hate it.  If you have not canned I will say that it is so rewarding.  It is a lot of work but at the end of the day, when you look at all the jars of food you have canned, you feel amazing.  

I love knowing everything that goes into the food that my family eats.  I know that I do not use chemicals or preservatives.   It is also great for food storage and emergencies.  For me, whole tomatoes are essential.  I use them for salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomato soup and many more things.  If you start with one thing I would choose this.  It is simple and versatile.  

What You Will Need:

2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds tomatoes per quart

Bottled lemon juice

Salt

Quart Jars with Lids and Rings

Canning Pot

Instructions:

Select fresh tomatoes.  Wash tomatoes and drain.

Blanch tomatoes for 1 minute.  Remove from water and immediately put into ice water.  Peel off skins; peel any bad areas; cut out core.  Clean your jars very well  and then add 1 TBS lemon juice to each pint jar, 2 TBS to each quart jar. 

  Pack tomatoes into hot jars(I like to put my jars through the dishwasher and take them out hot from there.  If you do not have a dishwasher you can run hot water over your jar to get it hot) It is important to not put hot liquid in a cold jar. It will make the jar crack; press gently on tomatoes until the natural juice fills the spaces between tomatoes, leaving ½ inch head space.  Add ½ tsp salt to each pint jar, 1 tsp to each quart jar.

 Remove air bubbles by sticking a butter knife down the sides of the jar.  Go around the jar until there are no more bubbles coming to the surface. 

In a small sauce pan bring lids to a boil for one minute.  This gets the rubber around the ring soft and promotes the sealing process.  While the lids are coming to a boil, wipe around the top of each jar.  Make sure the are clean and have no juice on them.  **This is a very important step** Failing to do it will make it so your jars do not seal.

    

Put jars down in the water.  Make sure they are completely cover with water.  Bring to a rolling boil and process pints and quarts 1 hour and 35 minutes in a boiling-water canner.