View Full Version : Help! If I have NO canning experience...
…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?
iris lilies
9-4-15, 7:26pm
…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?
DH cans tomatoes, they are pretty safe because they are acidic.
But me, I just chop them up and put them in the freezer. We do have a big freezer, maybe you don't.
Yeah, I just read you can freeze them! Do they taste the same unfrozen, or do you use them to make cooked dishes?
iris lilies
9-4-15, 7:34pm
Yeah, I just read you can freeze them! Do they taste the same unfrozen, or do you use them to make cooked dishes?
Oh, we use them in cooking. We use a LOT of tomatoes in cooking, so it doesn't much matter whether they are soft and smushy from being in a can or from being frozen.
Well, that looks like the path of least resistance to me. Gotta get me a few Ziplocs! Thanks!
Yeah, I would definitely go with freezing them. It would be sort of complicated to can them, if you never had before. Tomatoes are hybridized to be less acid........which has caused problems for the usual "water-bath" method and canning with a pressure canner can be tricky. And you're supposed to add citric acid to them now too, for canning.....to make them have an acidic environment so botulism doesn't grow.
I started freezing them awhile back and they are great for soups and stews. Here's what I do (although others might do it differently). But this has always worked great for me.
Wash the tomatoes. Then dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute. Then dump them into ice cold water. This will make the skins much easier to peel. Peel. Then cut them up in a big container. Then, if you want them more like stewed tomato-type texture, mash them up a bit. They used to say you needed to heat this to a boil. But I started reading on a food preservation forum that it was unnecessary. This was great news, because cooling them down after bringing them to a boil took hours. So now, after I mash them up a bit, I put a quart-sized ziploc bag into a quart plastic freezer container. It holds it up real nice so you can fill the bag without making a mess. Make sure you divide the liquid between all the bags. I've found that mashed-up tomatoes seem to freeze better than big chunks of them.
Make sure you seal the baggie well, squeezing out any extra air.
I partially freeze mine, and then put them in a second ziploc bag.....just to protect it from the freezer.
Sometimes when you want to use a bag of this, if it's frozen, it can be hard to get out of the baggie. Just hold the bag under warm water a bit, and it will come out more easily.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Chicken lady
9-4-15, 8:42pm
I wash off the whole tomatoes, roll them across a towel, pop them in a bag and freeze them whole. Then, when it is cold outside I put them briefly in a sink of warm water, slip off the skin, and make tomato sauce.
For a food-safe guideline, you can check the information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation http://nchfp.uga.edu/. There is an on-line self-study coarse to take for canning beginners, and I advise you do just that as a certified canning instructor. The site will also guide you through how to freeze or dry tomatoes. I LOVE dehydrated tomatoes - it's amazing how many you can stuff in a jar!
FYI- Today's varieties of tomatoes may not be acid enough for water bath canning, so you MUST add bottled lemon juice (do NOT use fresh lemon juice because you can't be sure how acid they are) or citric acid powder to the tomatoes to make sure they are acid enough. Do NOT fail to use a tested recipe for canning tomatoes and tomato sauce/salsa, and those are found at the National Center for Home Food Preservatiion. Or get a recent copy of the Ball Blue Book and follow instructions there.
If you can the tomatoes, you will usually need to remove the skins using the boiling water method. I suggest you save the skins and dehydrate them in an electric dehydrator until crispy dry. Once dried, store them whole in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. You can then use the skins as needed to make tomato powder. To make tomato powder, zap the dried skins in a coffee/spice mill.
To use: A ratio of 1:1 tomato powder to water for tomato paste, or 1:2 for tomato sauce (or the thickness you'd like). Tomato powder mixes best with warm water, but any temperature water will work. Allow the mixture to sit for a minute or two to allow the powder to absorb the liquid. Occasionally you need to add a little more water to achieve the consistency you need/want.
Just be sure to wait until you need tomato powder to make it. Because there are no ingredients in the tomato powder to keep it free-flowing, you will end up with a tomato powder "brick". So only make it as you need it.
When space is at a premium, I'll puree the tomatoes (with skin) in my food processor and pour it into a Ziploc, then lay flat on a cookie sheet until frozen. Makes it easy to break of off a chunk when you only need a little bit.
Hmmm herbgeek. I hadn't heard of that. Does the skin tend to make it a bit bitter?
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?
…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...........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.
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).
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 :-)
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...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KZ1tqUTL1Eg/VeuEo11DOVI/AAAAAAAAQrY/1Uv1246EBT0/s912-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
Great pic!! Wonderful family activity!
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...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KZ1tqUTL1Eg/VeuEo11DOVI/AAAAAAAAQrY/1Uv1246EBT0/s912-Ic42/Awesomized.jpg
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That tomato powder looks like a great product. I just might try it out. I'm trying to reduce the space it takes for our food storage and if it works out, it would replace a few cases of tomato paste and sauce. That would also mean no cans to throw into the recycling. I hate making tomato sauce or paste from scratch because of all the time it takes to simmer and I usually save my tomato canning efforts for things like salsa, stewed tomatoes, and plain chopped tomatoes.
Just a p.s. on this post. DH and I did spend a couple of hours freezing the tomatoes: we blanched them and removed the skin and cut them up, and put them in ziplocs, so thank you all for the advice.
I was away for a week: my DIL-to-be had a bridal shower in VT and then I had a week on the road for business. I just got home and was SO SAD to see that all the tomatoes are pretty much gone. DH said there were a lot of them, but he gave many away, which is fine. I'm just sad that I was not at home when they took their leave for the winter.
If I were a farmer with a lot of land (like the small organic commercial farmers I know) I'd be happy to see the end of the growing season because they are working from sun-up to sundown, but I am truly sad.. almost depressed about seeing my fresh food and herbs reaching the end of their summer cycle. Do any other gardeners/horticulturalists feel the same way?
I have sort of mixed emotions at the end of summer, catherine. I'm exhausted from having to deal with so much, but yes, I'm sad to pick that last cucumber/pepper/tomato. Usually I have a ton of butternut squash to cure and then cook and freeze, so that keeps me distracted from my sadness for awhile. Toward the end of summer, I always talk to my garden like it was a friend who was leaving. But........we have next year to think about/plan, right?
Were you happy with your garden this year? Are you going to do anything different next year?
I'm changing over to lots of raised stock tanks next year, which will make gardening a lot easier.........but I'm sad at the same time that there is plastic involved, and things aren't directly in the ground. But I'm grateful that there are some ways around getting older, but still being able to garden!
Maybe if you start looking over the seed offerings for next year, it might help a little?
You scared me at first........I thought you were going to say you got home and the freezer had stopped and you lost all your frozen tomatoes! So glad that wasn't the case! Enjoy them all winter!
Not only do I feel sad the food is gone, but the light and warmth they represent...and I only do tomatoes, blueberries and asparagus- each with their own season. I am sad to see the last of the peaches at the fruit stand, but there are still apples.
lessisbest
9-26-15, 6:00am
I love spring gardening (it's in my DNA to plant something), but after a long hot summer of hand-watering from the rain barrels, fighting pests, playing hide-and-seek with scratchy cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and cantaloupe plants (and still missing some and having to compost a giant missed cucumber or zucchini), I'm ready to put the garden to rest. The kale and tomatoes have been destroyed by grasshoppers and we are going to do a lot of garden clean-out today. I still have pole beans I'm working on, and will let them go until we get a good freeze. And I won't harvest the amaranth until after it freezes. Now I have to get the indoor gardening up and running - growing wheatgrass, sprouts, micro-greens, the AeroGarden (http://www.aerogrow.com/) and the Window Farm (http://www.windowfarms.com/), and bringing some herbs indoors.
catherine........I took this pic a couple years ago. To me, it represented the end of the garden and summer.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f129/Catherine50/end%20of%20summer.jpg
Perfect picture of this transitional time! Thanks for sharing it. The cycle of life and death. Reminds me of a quote that I just saw the other day, and unfortunately, I don't know who said it.
"The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let dead things go"
Tussiemussies
9-26-15, 3:41pm
Cathy, whenever I have a garden and start my plants from seeds I feel like a nuturing mother and delight in seeing the sprouts as they change too. I could never thin out my seedlings and always have an intensive garden. When the end of the season comes I let my plants die a natural death before I pull them out of the soil realizing that this has been one chapter in time that will never be again. Everything is unique to its own time. Christine
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