Thursday, September 10, 2009

canning maters

I've decided to give my first "blog tutorial". I canned tomatoes for the first time a couple weekends ago (and again this past weekend) and I couldn't believe how easy it was, so I'm hoping to inspire someone out there to do it too. It's SO dang easy. With some tips I learned, it's even easier.....

1) Ask a tall, hunky guy to rinse the tomatoes (rinsing the tomatoes isn't absolutely necessary, but if you happen to find some hunk of a man willing to do it, why not?)

2) Lay out tomatoes on towels. (Again, not absolutely necessary, but if you're going to rinse them, this makes clean up a LOT easier! Not to mention the towel keeps the maters from continually rolling off the counter.)

3) In a pot of boiling water, plop in a few tomatoes. Leave them in for about 30 to 60 seconds. It all depends on how ripe they are as to how long to leave them in, so I just take them out when I see the skin popping open. If you take them out too soon, it makes step 5 a lot more difficult. If you take them out too late, it makes step 5 a lot more messy. That's why I only plopped in a few at a time -- it's easier to tell if they are ready if there are fewer in the pot.

4) Plop the tomatoes in a bowl of ice water. This cools them off quickly so you can move on to the next step more quickly.

5) Core and peel the tomatoes (I found it more efficient to core THEN peel the tomatoes). If the tomatoes were in the boiling water long enough, the skins just slip off the tomatoes. If they weren't, you have some time-consuming peeling to do. If they were in the boiling water too long, you've got yourself a mushy tomato, but very easy to peel and still good to can. Again, put a towel on the counter as this is a VERY messy step and towel soaks up a lot of the juice that will otherwise be all over that counter, the floor, your shoes, etc.....

6) Cut the tomatoes -- chop, cut in quarters or halves, or even leave them whole, it doesn't matter. Whatever you want to do is fine. However, more fits in the jar if you cut them up a bit. I hope you have a lot of old towels cuz a towel under the cutting board is also advisable for the same reason as in step 5. It's a lot easier to throw towels in the laundry than to wipe all your counters, floor, and shoes, for a good 15 minutes once the canning is complete.

7) After sterilizing the jars and lids (just put the cleaned jars and lids in the big pot/canner of boiling water for a minute or so), fill the jars with the tomatoes. You don't have to, but you can add about a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each jar along with a couple fresh basil leaves to add a little bit of flavor. With a wooden spoon (a metal one might react to the acidic tomatoes), press the tomatoes down to get all the air bubbles out. Be sure to leave about a 1/2 inch space at the top so the jars don't explode in the next step. Wipe the rim of the jars and put the lids on.

8) Put the filled jars in the boiling water of a large pot or canner, if you have one. Make sure that about 1 inch of water is covering the jars. Leave them in the boiling water for 45 minutes.

9) Voila! You've got yourself a jar of some delicious and nutritious tomatoes for the cold winter months!! YUM! I can not WAIT to try mine. However, I have a lot more tomatoes ready to pick and eat and cook with -- or even can some more! -- in our garden, so I won't be opening any jars for a while.....

This weekend I'll be canning beets! I hope it's as easy as canning maters......

3 comments:

Unknown said...

awesome! I love that I have this to refer to:)

my grandma makes the BEST pickled beets. mmmm. I used to eat a jar every time I'd go to her place for dinner. I'm a fan.

xx

Hannah said...

Great tutorial. I love the idea of adding basil...definitely am going to try. And hello...I can't believe I've never thought of using all those towels...! So much easier!!! Happy canning!

www.ahandmadechildhood.blogspot.com

Linda said...

Thanks Amy! Now that I have mastered the art of canning and freezing peaches (thanks to your great example!)...I am moving on to tomatoes myself with one slight variation...this southern girl is making and canning cooked/stewed tomatoes...YUM!