When I planted Mortgage Lifter, Mr. Stripey, German Red Strawberry, Early Girl and Roma seedlings in my backyard, I had dreams of filling baskets with sun-ripened tomatoes. I imagined jars of canned tomatoes cooling on the kitchen counter as well as a winter filled with a sense of self-sufficiency and just a little bit of gloating.
Instead, the squirrels and I have had our battles. There will be no moments of happy homesteading. I harvest one or two tomatoes a day and the little monsters snack on the rest. If squirrels, bunnies or groundhogs have invaded your garden, take heart: It’s been a banner year for small farmers. Summer tomatoes are abundant, delicious and at a good price.
It is a great time to start a tomato canning tradition.
Tomatoes are the most useful ingredient in my pantry, particularly through the winter when many cold-weather recipes call for a can of them. In my dinner rotation, sauces, stews, soups, enchiladas, pizzas and parms all use them. It’s such a relief to give up lugging home heavy cans from the grocery store and, instead, reach into the pantry for my own home-preserved version.
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If you’re new to canning, here’s some advice:
Select tomatoes that are ripe or slightly underripe, cutting out any black spots or bruises. Slicing tomatoes such as Brandywine, Beefsteak and Big Red are the most commonly preserved, while Roma tomatoes are another excellent choice — all are meaty varieties with thick walls and small seed sacks. Heirloom tomatoes are fine but often have a higher water content and may result in a watery flavor once canned. Red tomatoes are prettiest in the jar, but a mixed bunch of every shape, color and size also works well, with the exception of grape or cherry tomatoes, which are too hard to peel.
Clear the counters and make room. This is a big, messy job that starts with placing the largest pots, pans and bowls into an assembly line and ends with cleaning the kitchen.
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Remove seeds and skins. They may turn bitter in the jar. Remove the skin by blanching: Slice an X through the base and dunk in boiling water, and the peel will lift off in satisfying swaths. Plunge your fingers into the cells, scooping and discarding the seeds and gel. Then tear the remaining tomato flesh into large pieces.
Crush the tomato pulp. Crushed canned tomatoes can separate into liquids and solids in the jar. This does not affect the tomatoes’ usefulness, but it isn’t as pretty. I crush, smash, tear and combine the pulpy and watery tomato meat until it’s a cohesive, chunky mixture, then begin cooking those crushed tomatoes — about a quart at a time — as I continue peeling, seeding and tearing the rest. Essentially, I’m a one-person band concurrently banging the cymbal, playing the harmonica and fiddling. This is the big work of tomato canning and shouldn’t be rushed.
Adjust acidity. Safe water bath canning relies on preserving foods with dependably high acidity, measured as pH. Because tomatoes have a wide-ranging pH, bottled lemon juice or citric acid is used to adjust the mixture to a safe level. Citric acid is a shelf-stable synthetic version of the naturally occurring compound found in citrus.
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Salt is not needed for preservation but may be added for flavor. Use only kosher or fine sea salt, not iodized, which can add a metallic aftertaste.
Use what you have. The greatest yield will come from blanched, peeled and seeded, hand-crushed tomatoes. Canning does not require special equipment. It is possible to preserve pint jars in a large stockpot, fashion a rack for the bottom of the canner from a cake rack and to use a cooler for an ice bath. Two tools I highly recommend: a jar funnel and a rubber-coated jar lifter. I’ve used a measuring cup to add ingredients to jars, and I’ve McGyver’d a tool to help lift hot jars from the boiling water by twisting rubber bands around the ends of kitchen tongs, but the two low-cost tools are safer to use.
Veteran canners rely on special kitchen tools to make the preserving process easier. For example, a food mill processes quartered, cooked-until-tender tomatoes, removing seeds and skins for a smooth sauce. The near-legendary, budget-busting Squeezo is a grinder that removes peels and seeds and melds the textures for ideal crushed tomato consistency.
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Tomato preservation is a task best shared with family or friends, but if working on your own, you will still end the day in a kind of exhausted glory and with a pantry full of summer’s bounty.
Troubleshooting: Never add anything except lemon juice or citric acid and salt to the jar. Adding meat, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, onions, herbs or spices will alter the pH and will render the contents dangerous for consumption.
After processing, if the tomato water and pulp separate in the jar, the liquid rising to the top, the tomatoes were not crushed enough or were added to the pot too quickly. It does not affect the taste or the shelf-stability at all. Shake the jar before using.
Any tiny amount of food left on the rim of the jar before placing the lid can interfere with the seal. Clean the jars meticulously before covering.
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Do not move the jars from the water-bath canner too quickly. Allow them to rest in the canner for 10 minutes to slow the boiling inside the jar. Vigorous boiling can trigger siphoning; the contents may bubble up and lift the lid, breaking the seal.
After processing, any jars with failed seals should be refrigerated and used within 2 weeks.
Canned Crushed Tomatoes
Almost any tomato can be canned, but meaty types such as Brandywine, Beefsteak, Big Red and Roma varieties are preferred.
Storage: The jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 18 months.
Where to buy: Canning supplies are available at hardware stores, groceries and online.
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