How to Can Tomatoes - Canning Made Easy

Learning how to can tomatoes is easy.

I love canning food in the late summer and early fall. Ever since I first learned how to can tomatoes, for some reason I've found it to be therapeutic. Give me a good Blackberry Mojito Cocktail to sip on in the kitchen, and I'll work at canning tomatoes all afternoon.

There's nothing quite like turning twenty pounds of blemished tomatoes into eight or nine quarts of whole tomatoes that will add the perfect amount of garden zest to a crock-pot full of chili or soup in the winter. It's amazing what you can do with this (which by the way I picked up at the Farmers Market for 50 cents a pound because my garden did so poorly).

If you're not familiar with canning, processing tomatoes is probably one of the easiest places to start. It's a little different than making a simple Pico Sauce, because you're going to want to ski the tomatoes first. This is really easy to do though.

As far as canning the tomatoes, all that is required is a water bath canner, jars, and lids. You'll also want to use a jar lifter when removing the jars from the boiling water. If you're just getting started, this canning kit is the one that I have used for years and it has everything that you need in it to get started. With the exception of the jars...which you can get at any retailer, or you can order those on Amazon as well.

Depending on whether you are canning whole tomatoes or delving into delicious salsa recipes, you'll want to have both quart and pint jars on hand. I highly recommend having a combination of quality canning jars in stocked up.

I've used the same USDA approved process for the last eleven years, and it is simple and easy.

Recipe:

This recipe is great because it can be used for any number of tomatoes. You can can a few jars at a time if that's what your garden is producing. Or, if you happen to either have an overly abundant garden--in which case I'm SO jealous--or have loaded up on a couple boxes of fresh tomatoes from your farmers market or farm share, then you can also use this recipe to make loads of jarred tomatoes.

Use it for whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sliced tomatoes--whichever way you like your canned tomatoes. The joy of this recipe is the acidity of the tomatoes and lemon juice work perfect magic and you can enjoy your jarred tomato creations ALL year long.

And that's yum!

Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water and rinse good.

Drop tomatoes into a pot of boiling water and let sit for 30 seconds or until skin has cracked. Remove tomatoes and set aside until cool enough to handle.

When tomatoes have cooled off, slip off skin and remove cores and imperfections using a corer, melon ball utensil, or knife. Fill jars to within a half to ¾ of an inch of the top, squishing the tomatoes down so the juices cover them. Use a wooden spoon or a spatula around the inside of the jar to get rid of any air bubbles.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to each jar.

Wipe down the jar rims and place new lids on jars and screw on. Process the jars by placing them in a water bath canner in boiling water for 45 minutes. I always start the water while I'm filling the jars so I don't have to wait as long for the water to boil again once the jars are placed in the canner.

Recipe

And wallah- awesome canned goodness.

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