How to Can Tomatoes

Canning tomatoes is a great way to preserve the abundance of tomatoes that come from your garden. If you love tomatoes you can also buy them in bulk from your produce store. Canning tomatoes is fairly simple and will provide you with the fresh taste of vine ripe tomatoes all winter long. Read on to learn how to can tomatoes.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Three large stock pots
• Quart glass jars
• Tomatoes
• Sugar
• Salt
• Sharp Knife
• Canning lids and rings

1. Wash tomatoes thoroughly under running water. Be sure to get all the sand or dirt off if they have come from your own garden.
2. Blanch tomatoes in hot water. Fill your stock pot with water and bring it just to boiling and drop tomatoes in a few at a time.
3. Hold blanched tomatoes under cool running water. The peeling should flake right off. Use your sharp knife to remove the core.
4. Place peeled tomatoes in a stock pot and simmer until the tomatoes are tender but not mushy.
5. Ladle hot tomatoes with liquid into hot sterilized jars. Leave about 1/2 inch of space and add one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar to the top of the jar.
6. Wipe off the rim of the hot, tomato filled jar with a clean cloth and place a hot, sterilized lid on the jar.
7. Secure a hot, sterilized ring to the top of the jar and tighten down. As the tomatoes and jars cool the jars will seal. Check for proper sealing by pushing down on the top of the lid. There should be no clicking sound if the jars have sealed properly.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep lids and rings in a pot of simmering water after they have been washed and boiled for five minutes.
• Work with one hot jar at a time. Use tongs to submerse each jar into boiling water. Take the jar out with the tongs after five minutes and place near your pot of cooked tomatoes to fill easily.
• Use a large canning funnel for filling jars. This will help keep the rim of the jar clean. A jar rim that has any tomato residue on it will not seal properly.
• Every utensil used for canning should be thoroughly washed with hot soapy water and sterilized.