Canning Tomatoes – a Tutorial

Prerequisite background story and lead in photo:

I grew up in a hippy household. It wasn’t a love-beads-and-drugs-on-the-porch type of hippy house (I don’t think), it was a back-to-the-land-don’t-accidentally-get-caught-up-in-a-cult-commune type of household, where my parents, especially my mom, relished making bread, having a big garden, and doing as much as they could with what we lovingly called a two-acre “hobby farm”. That included things like raising and butchering chickens, foraging for mushrooms, and canning.

I, as a free range child at the time, don’t remember much about the process of taking tomatoes and cucumbers (which, aside from some applesauce, was the extent of what I recall Mom putting up) and sealing them up in jars, except that it was one of those activities that took over the kitchen and made the non-air conditioned house even hotter. Still, as I left home and became my own sort of back-to-the-lander (more a conservationist who wants to use all consumables to their most waste-free extent), I started toying with the idea of canning on my own. I wasn’t really an applesauce eater, and though I like pickles, I know what a badly-canned pickle tastes like (like a soft soggy pickle juice flavored sponge). Tomatoes, on the other hand, I use in an almost unimaginable amount of ways.  

I visited my mom in 2016 and documented her step-by-step instructions. Then, in 2018, I picked about 20 pounds of tomatoes as part of the now-defunct Vermont Valley CSA and tried very successfully on my own to replicate the process. Therefore, I would like to put forth my own how-to below.

Before I start, a few notes. The images show us using QUART Mason jars (32 oz.). When I did my own canning, I used WIDE-MOUTH PINT JARS (16 oz.) which were a much more convenient size for me.  For reference, the “big” cans from the grocery store are 28 oz., and the small are usually 14.5.

ALSO – SAFETY. If you are looking to can, most likely you already know that CANNING GONE WRONG = DEATH. There is a lot of info on the US Center for Disease control website. https://www.cdc.gov/features/homecanning/index.html My own story of caution comes from a recollection which may or may not be accurate of my mother telling me about someone who canned carrots and, when they opened them, they thought they might have not been sealed right, so they touched one to their tongue and then decided to throw them out. They ended up in the hospital with botulism poisoning, caused by the horrifying clostridium botulinum bacteria which produces botulinum toxin - THE MOST POTENT NEUROTOXIN YET KNOWN https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/11/1/34/htm   

HOWEVER – botulism is rare. Also remember, even if you fail to seal one or more of your jars (i.e. if they don't 'ping), you have every right and ability to just store the unsealed jars in the fridge and use them in a few days without a problem. I will have a note about acidity later (too little = bad, too much = bad ☹ ). So take precautions, but don’t get too wacked out about it.   

So YEAH! LET’S PLAY WITH DEATH!

YOU WILL NEED (for 12 pints):

• 20 pounds of tomatoes -1.5 lbs. tomatoes per pint jar – try to get ones not overripe, and not too green (you can apparently can green tomatoes, but that is not what this post is about)
• Lemon juice

-

• 12 Pint jars, lids and collars
• Your favorite knife
• Three big bowls
• One big pot to boil water to dip tomatoes into
• Big soup pot or canner to fit at least a couple jars in for a water bath
• A cutting board
• Plastic scraper (small)
• A set of tongs – possibly a couple, possibly a set of jar tongs

WHAT TO DO:

In the canner, heat jars fully covered in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil (just ‘cuz you’ll run out of water).  Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.

In the big pot (not the one you are using for a canner) start some water boiling

Wash off your raw tomatoes      

Cut out the stem top

(Some people swear by cutting an “X” in the bottom, but I don’t find it necessary)

You need two bowls, one to dunk the boiled tomatoes in filled with cold water (I don’t find it needs to be ice) to SHOCK them that will help sluice their skin off (you may need to refresh the water). 

Another to pile the skinned tomatoes into.

In the boiling water, dip the raw tomatoes (maybe 3-4 at a time) for a 10-20 second bath to help loosen their skin for peeling. Don’t try to leave the skin on for more fiber – it ends up turning into leather and floating around in the tomato juice inside the jar and tastes like your eating preserved human skin with no flavor. Just don’t.  

After you have a bowl full of naked skinless tomatoes, chunk them up. If possible, cut them in quarters or eighths. Smaller ones can be cut in half. Some biggies may need to be cut even more fractionally. Also – a tip. If there are any white areas where the tomato is not yet ripe, do yourself a favor and cut them off. They won’t taste like anything and will add a weird texture to your finished product.

Also – SADLY – you should really scoop out the guts: the seeds and juice. Seed and juice just add more water to an already really watery vegetable

If you can, find a wide-mouth funnel and a scoop and start filling the jars.       

You will want to fill them 7/8 full (Leave ½ inch of head space in each jar.)

With your plastic scraper, poke down the tomatoes in the jar, trying to get all the air out. (Air bubbles are bad because they can let bacteria get into the jars.)

HERE IS THAT NOTE ABOUT ACIDITY – I usually think of tomatoes as incredibly acidic. Eating too many  can cause heart burn or acid reflex due to the malic acid and citric acid inherent in the fruit (oh yeah, tomatoes are fruits – botanically they are berries because they have no stone and are produced from a single flower. So, in fact, are cucumbers.) However, because of the need to be as careful as possible to avoid as much DEATH RISK as possible, we add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the top of each jar. The juice helps to prevent the tomatoes from spoiling while they are in the jars, and also helps to retain their color and flavor..

With a dry paper towel, dry the edge of the jar to insure a good connection for the seal 

Pick up a heated lid with tongs

Gently place the lid on the jar. Finger-tighten (just lightly) the rings around the neck of the jar.

Water bath – in the images, we had a rack, but on my own, I put a flame spreader under the canner to make sure the glass jars don’t get hot spots https://www.ebay.com/bhp/heat-diffuser

SUBMERGE the jars (as many as fit w/o touching) in the simmering water bath with 1 to 2 inches of water covering them. Leave them for 40 minutes (making sure they are continually submerged).

  

           

VERY CAREFULLY remove the jar from the bath – if at all possible, using the jar tongs. Have a calm, gentle towel set on the counter, and set each jar onto that.

CONGRATULATIONS! Crack a beer pour the wine and listen for the “ping” of the seals! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfIEZziOI4k  You are done. You have canned!! As stated before, if any jars DON’T seal, please, just put the puppies in the fridge and eat them like any already-opened tomatoes. Enjoy!!  

Purple Viking Potato Salad

Step 1: Boil some eggs. This was actually the key to making potato salad for me. Set aside.
Step 2: Boil some potatoes. I chose some incredibly white potatoes with purple skins that I had grown in my garden - called Purple Viking I fear because they were "invented" in Minnesota. I was very hesitant to try to grow potatoes - it seemed so unfulfilling. Here, take these little potatoes, put them in the ground, and in a few months, dig them up and get bigger potatoes. But they were actually pretty satisfying. Grew pretty plants, I got to play in the dirt and mount up around them, then go buy a spading fork to flip them up, shake them out, and put them in a mesh bag to hang dirtily in the basement to "cure". Eventually, I brought them upstairs and scrubbed a couple up for the salad. You will need about, oh, 8 of various sizes.
Step 3: Mix up the dressing. Here is what I used -
1/4 C. real or lite Hellmann's Mayo
1/4 C. plain yogurt (low, no, or full fat)
1 sm. onion chopped fine (or some minced dehydrated onion to taste)
Celery salt to taste
Maybe some pickle juice*
A squirt or two of your choice yellow or brown mustard
Pepper to taste
Parsley for color

*If you have kimchi, I very highly suggest dribbling some kimchi juice in. It really added a lot of flavor!

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake it up. Dump into a bowl.
Step 4: Coarsely cut up the potatoes. Stir with dressing. Feel free to taste and add more of something if it needs it. You can add a little vinegar too if you need it more juicy.
Step 5. Cut up those eggs - just one or two - sliced, and lay them on top. Serve!

Monkey Bread Dough

Got the majority of this recipe from a Rachel Ray Magazine article but of course had to augment it a bit. I loved the idea of savory monkey bread - one of those eye opening "why didn't anyone think of that before" sort of things (like cookie dough ice cream). My mom loves sweet things though, so when I was working to make some to take home for the weekend, I split the recipe and made one cinnamon and one Parmesan.(As an aside, I also made this recipe again and formed the dough into loaves and baked it as plain bread.)

INGREDIENTS

1 envelope (2 1/4 t.) yeast (I used bread machine yeast)
2/3 C. 110 degree water
2 c. all purpose white flour (I used King Arthur white whole wheat)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat
1/4 c. wheat germ
2 T. vital wheat glutton
2 T. sugar
1 t. salt
2 large eggs
1 stick butter, room temp, cut into 4 chunks

Mix water and yeast and let stand 10 minutes.
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly.
Mix yeast, butter (will be way chunky) and eggs slightly.
Dump wet into bread machine, pour dry on top.
Set to "dough" which for my machine set the time for 1.5 hr.
After that time, you should have a nice poofy dough.

For monkey bread...
I then split the dough into two halves. I made each half into little 1" dough balls.
I greased two cake pans.
I tossed the one half of dough with cinnamon, brown and white sugar, and dumped the balls into the pan, then drizzled 1/2 stick of melted butter over the top.
The other half I tossed with garlic powder, dried parsley, and Parmesan-style cheese, dumped into a pan and poured the other 1/2 of the stick of melted butter over the top.

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.
   

Wisconsin Fish Boil: A Recipe

4 small red potatoes, scrubbed
2 small white onions, pealed
2 whole Lake Michigan whitefish, cleaned and heads removed
Salt, pepper, rye bread slices, good coleslaw

-- Boil a pot of salted water. Drop in potato and onion and cook until just tender. Add whitefish, cut into hunks. Boil until fish is flaky. Drain. Serve potato and onion in a bowl with lots of butter. Lay fish on a plate with rye bread and butter. The butter is important. Salt and pepper to taste --

Sausage treats to try for the holidays

Recipe = Sausage and Grapes

I am linking you to an ad. Don’t get upset.

I was browsing Saveur (say it like “concur”) magazine no. 179 (December 2015) and came across the mug shot of a red-headed bespectacled man named Ben Mims. Not quite sure what caught my fancy and made me read on – perhaps the placement, layout, or maybe the brevity of the answer Ben gave to the question: “What’s your go-to?” But the reason I am sharing it (in video format – which expands on the printed version but still holds the same charm) is because of the voice that comes through in this little clip. “Oh you just had a baby?" Have some sausage and grapes. "Someone’s sick? Here’s some sausage and grapes; it reheats beautifully.”

Doesn't that sounds like a great sausage pot luck dish? I will be trying Grapes and Sausage soon – but I am actually going to try something a little different and have red grapes and loose pork sausage (with, as Ben suggested, cheese grits on the side).

Ingredients =
1 lb. pork sausage
1 C. grapes
Garlic
Red pepper flakes

Brown sausage. Toss in other ingredients and reduce until sticky and caramelized.


Recipe = Cheesy Sausage Balls

In the same issue of Saveur, there was another sausage recipe that I was intrigued by, possibly for one of the same reasons the Sausage and Grapes caught me - it was short. The recipe listed before this one had 3 components (caramel sauce, dough and filling), 5 steps and clocked in at around 27 ingredients.This looked to be an easy sausage ball recipe that would make a great Christmas breakfast.

Temperature = 375 Degrees

Ingredients =
1 lb. pork sausage
 ½ lb. grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
¼ C. flour
1 T. sage
 1 egg
 Salt, black and cayenne pepper as you like

Mix. Form into 2” balls. Arrange 2” apart on parchment paper* lined baking sheets. Bake for about 30 minutes – the cheese will bake out and form a little cracker underneath. Serve during the winter holidays for breakfast.

GUEST POST: WGB Gundersen Lutheran Louisana Sausage Soup

I think it's the best soup they serve at Gundersen Medical Center where I worked. In fact, I once recommended it to the CEO while he was in the lunch line with me and he later told me it was great! I couldn't believe my good fortune when I found the recipe for the small portion version laying in the volunteer office one day. Here goes:

9 3/4 oz. Italian Sausage
2 1/2 oz. diced onion
4 3/4 oz. diced carrot
4 3/4 oz. fresh zucchini sliced 1/4" quartered
4 1/2 oz. green pepper diced
1/4 c. white wine
2 T. liquid chicken base
3 1/2 c. cold water
1 qt. diced canned tomatoes w/juice
1/2 tsp. basil leaf
? oregano leaves
1/4 tsp. salt
? black pepper
1 1/2 oz. orzo pasta
2 T. grated bulk Parmesan cheese

Brown the Italian sausage and drain well. Place in a soup pot with onion, carrots, zucchini, and green Pepper. Add white wine, chicken base, water, tomato, and herbs. Bring all ingredients up to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10-15 min. Cook the orzo in a separate container with salted water to al dente. Season soup with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Add cooked orzo to pot right before serving.

I always looked forward to this soup being served at the cafeteria. If you don't think you'll like it, eat it for health sake because I'm sure it is healthy. But look out, you'll probably love it!

GUEST POST: Linda's Rooted Vegetable Soup

This was a made up dish that was really, really good so I thought would share it.  


1 tbs olive oil
1 large sweet onion sliced
2 nice large leeks cleaned and sliced thick
2 cups water
Handful or two of baby carrots
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup of cooked rice with cashews ( leftover from stir fry)
1 can garbanzo beans drained
Sliced ginger (about 3 tbs)
1 tsp. Allspice crushed
Salt 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp White pepper 
Chopped baby bok choy (or other green veg. Like broccoli inclining stalk)
Feta cheese, or goat cheese 

Take olive oil in 3 quart pot and brown the onion slices till slight carmelization, add sliced leaks, cook for about 5 min storing.  Add water and ginger bring to boil and turn down to simmer.  Add carrots, allspice, garlic,cooked rice w cashews, garbanzo beans, allspice, salt and pepper.  Let this simmer for about 45min.  About 10 min before serving add the bok choy.

Serve in bowls with feta cheese crumbled on top.