Do I need to pressure can tomatoes or is it ok to water bath them these days?

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
I bought an insane amount of tomato plants because I just couldn't narrow down choices, so come summer will have tomatoes of all types coming out my ears.

What kinds did you ask? Well happy to share the insanity! This is what I got at the farm plant sale this weekend. Yes, some peppers and eggplants too!

Rosa Bianca

Hawaiian Pineapple

Orange Russian 117

Lemon Boy

Galine

Purple Beauty Bell

Orange Sun Bell

California Wonder Bell

Sungold

New Girl (replaces Early Girl given it's now owned by M*nsanto)

Green Zebra (Alice Waters fav)

Blondkopfchen

Yellow Pear

Love Apple tomato

Fruit Punch

No I didn't get any black ones as their smokey flavor isn't a favorite and as you can see I didn't need to add to the mix!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/434878907738924705/

 
It's about the acidity and you can water bath if you can adjust it correctly. Freezing is

a great way to preserve also if you have the room--even a small chest freezer?

 
Freezing has worked well for me in the past. I blanched, and peeled then put into

quart bags and laid them flat in the freezer. I put four into a gallon bag and it worked very well.

 
You may pressure can if you wish, and this is actually a quicker way of putting up . . .

a whole bunch of jars of maters all at once. BUT the recommendations for water-bath (WB) canning are to automatically add either lemon juice or citric acid to the jars before ladling in the hot tomatoes.

When WB-ing tomatoes, I much prefer citric acid over lemon juice. Citric acid has no flavor other than sour, so it does not detract from the tomatoes' flavor. Citric acid is also know as "sour salt" in jewish/middle eastern cooking and can be ordered on-line, purchased at local brewing supply stores or sometimes can be found in well-stocked grocery stores in the Jewish food section. Make sure you buy the finely granulated Citric acid and shop around on-line for the best price.

And if you can, buy more than a couple of ounces of Citric acid; if you have citric acid around, not only can you cook and preserve with it--it also makes a dandy acid solution for hard water mineral deposits, and cleans the toilet like a wizard!

BTW, when WB canning *home grown* tomatoes, I never peel the tomatoes; too hot, too much work. I have found that if I leave the skin on quartered or chopped tomatoes and prepare them/pack them as usual, the skins are not objectionable at all and seem to disappear in sauces made from said tomatoes. Most of the varieties I have grown have been around 20+ years and the skins seem plenty tender and unobjectionable to me. Of course your mileage may vary!

 
I discovered this wonderful way to preserve plum tonmatoes when(more)

I bought 120 lb of ripe San Marzano for a canning party.
No one came to help and I just could not keep up with the ripe tomatoes, peeling them, canning them, etc.
I froze some on a cookie sheet, one layer then put into ziplock bags, planning on dealing with peeling them later.
I found that when I dropped the frozen tomato popsicles into the sauce the skins just floated to the surface!

 
I agree with the citric acid addition. I used to use white vinegar. >>>

I WB all my garden Romas. I bought some pH paper test strips and I am safe to WB can mine.

 
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