Help! If I have NO canning experience...

[Stacy]

…what do I do with all these tomatoes?

Can I learn how to put up salsa or sauce without much work with no risk of poisoning myself with salmonella?

Seems to me that the best way to fix the lack of canning experience is to actually can something. Tomatoes aren't so hard to can, just a lot of work. I found instructions on how to water-bath can tomatoes online from a county extension service, but you could also get a book like Ball's canning book of Putting Food By. You're not going to kill anyone if you keep your equipment clean and follow instructions.

[lessisbest]

Lessisbest...........The USDA canning guidelines started driving me nuts, back when I was still canning. I think they make their rules to cover the dumbest canners out there, and began saying to can the hell out of everything. (pressure can). I can't imagine there would be any nutrition left after all that time in the pressure canner.
I've never heard of making tomato powder. What do you use it for? Is it bitter?

Even though I occasionally still teach canning classes, I haven't used it as a method for food preservation for a LONG time. Too expensive and there's not a whole lot of nutrition left after all that high-heat processing. The trick is to just make sure you acidify the tomatoes when using the boiling water method. I help a couple friends do canning and if they are canning tomatoes, they'll give me their skins to dehydrate. I hate to see anything go to waste.

You can purchase tomato powder. It's stronger than the homemade version - to make tomato paste 3-parts water to 1 part tomato powder, and for sauce use 4-parts water to one part tomato powder. Once I started using tomato powder, I was able to remove several tomato products in my home food storage (freeing up space). I use tomato powder to make tomato sauce, tomato paste, and tomato juice. I actually buy it in #10 cans (vacuum-seal it in small user-friendly containers (pint or 1/2-pint canning jars), but you can buy smaller amounts to see how you like it from The Spice House - http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/tomato-powder.

I use it anytime I need tomato sauce, tomato paste, pizza sauce (1 T. tomato powder, 3-4 T. warm water, drizzle of honey - or other sweetener of choice, shot of vinegar, pizza seasonings and a pinch of salt (optional), red pasta sauce. I use it to make a quick version of ketchup or bbq sauce - nice for anyone who is on a sodium-restricted diet so they can control the amount of salt in these items. Add it to soup/stew, casseroles, make rubs, sloppy joes - lots of things.... It's a perfect food storage item since it has a long shelf-life. I store the IN-USE jar in the refrigerator because of the low humidity. I also will stick a moisture absorber in the top of the IN-USE jar to keep it from clumping or getting hard. Now, the only tomato products I store are tomato powder (commercial and homemade), dehydrated tomatoes, and if I have room, some frozen tomatoes. Occasionally I will use a can of diced tomatoes.

[herbgeek]

Hmmm herbgeek. I hadn't heard of that. Does the skin tend to make it a bit bitter?

I've never noticed any bitterness. Could be the variety of tomatoes I prefer (St. Pierre).

[bae]

On nutrient loss from preservation procedures:

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/234-779.pdf

Our household is in the midst of fall canning frenzy at the moment. Today has seen tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, pears, and garlic. We're not too terribly concerned about nutrient loss as the science seems to show "it depends..." and "it's complicated..." are the standard of Best Available Science.

On the best way to can/preserve: have a teenager who was an avid 4Her in the house, then stand back :-)

[bae]

Ha, just caught them in the act, they are preserving everything that isn't nailed down. I'm letting the cat hide in my office to avoid mishaps...

[catherine]

Great pic!! Wonderful family activity!

[libby]

Ha, just caught them in the act, they are preserving everything that isn't nailed down. I'm letting the cat hide in my office to avoid mishaps...

I am in the muck of canning season also (but with no teenager) I couldn't help but notice all the garlic in your picture. How do you preserve that? I am thinking of freezing some but not sure if this is the best way yo keep it.

[bae]

I am in the muck of canning season also (but with no teenager) I couldn't help but notice all the garlic in your picture. How do you preserve that? I am thinking of freezing some but not sure if this is the best way yo keep it.

They apparently are pickling the garlic. It smells insanely good, and I'm not allowed to break into any of it until Halloween.

[SteveinMN]

I couldn't help but notice all the garlic in your picture. How do you preserve that? I am thinking of freezing some but not sure if this is the best way yo keep it.

I've had great luck with freezing. I remove the husk from each clove and then put them all on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer. Individually quick frozen. Then they go into a large zipper-lock bag and they're good for months. I buy garlic in bunches at the farmer's market so it's fairly new but it has been cured (allowed to dry out a little). When thawed, it's as good as having a fresh clove. The texture is fine and it still tastes right.

[libby]

I've had great luck with freezing. I remove the husk from each clove and then put them all on a cookie sheet and put that in the freezer. Individually quick frozen. Then they go into a large zipper-lock bag and they're good for months. I buy garlic in bunches at the farmer's market so it's fairly new but it has been cured (allowed to dry out a little). When thawed, it's as good as having a fresh clove. The texture is fine and it still tastes right.

Thanks for the info. I will give it a try.