How to Can Tomatoes

Happy Labor Day! If you have a garden growing full of ripe tomatoes or have recently scored a bounty from the Farmer's market, now's a great time to preserve their deliciousness for winter recipes.

We asked our friend and canning expert, Marisa McClellan from the canning blog Food In Jars for help. Marisa's favorite way to can tomatoes is by leaving the tomatoes whole and peeled, in their own juices. She does this because she likes the "versatility they retain when put up in this manner." Later she can choose whether to puree them down, make a chunky sauce or crush for homemade pizza.

Step 1: Core your tomatoes.

Step 2:  Make two shallow cuts on the bottom of the tomato, to ease the peeling.

Step 3: Drop cored and scored tomatoes into boiling water (make sure not to put too many in at once as this makes it difficult for the water to return to a boil quickly). Blanch for 1-2 minutes until skins start to blister and loosen. 

Step 4: Place your blanched tomatoes in a bowl of cold water to halt cooking.

Step 5: Peel tomatoes

Step 6: Put the tomatoes in the jar as you peel them.

Step 7: Use a wooden spoon to help fill the jars.

Step 8: Fill the jars!

Step 9: acidify. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice for pints and two for quarts. Marisa pours it on top of her filled jars and then uses a chopstick to remove the air bubbles from the jar and work the lemon juice down into its contents. You should have approximately 1/2 inch of headspace remaining after you add the lemon juice and de-bubble the jar.

After that, wipe the rims, apply lids (carefully simmered for 10 minutes at around 180 degrees), assemble the jars and lower the jars into the heated boiling water canner (remembering to use a rack so that the jars aren’t resting on the bottom of the pot).

Quarts of whole peeled tomatoes get processed in a boiling water canner for 85 minutes. Pints get processed for the same amount of time. Tomatoes that are packed in water are processed for 40/45 minutes.

What do you use canned tomatoes for throughout the winter?