Managed to sneak enough tomatoes away from the kids to preserve some for winter!
I know it's not huge amounts but I'm going on the little and often approach. This time I used my small pot and did one at a time while I was doing other jobs in and around the kitchen. My big saucepan takes so long to heat up I though this might be better - in fairness when I started I only planned to do one!
In the end I managed to do some gerkins and some tomatoes.
Dead simple to do a small batch like this once I was set up as well! One really nice thing was when I started my younger daughter came in to make a cake at the same time - no idea how we survived in our tiny kitchen just a few years ago!
I followed the raw pack method for the tomatoes from the Ball Blue Book of canning. I think I'll have to sacrifice one jar next week so we can try them and see what they're like. It would be a shame to can loads and find out that I didn't like them like that! The tattler reusable lids are good as it doesn't feel like I'm spending money every time I make a jar of something!
What method do you use for canning tomatoes? Raw pack or Hot pack? Or make sauce?
I need to buy a pressure canner as my next purchase so soup can be on the menu as well (would be great for my wifes lunch at work!) and I would stop me borrowing my friends canner!
I don't grow enough to can tomatoes, but I do get a couple weeks of glut, so I simply chop them and freeze them, perfect in the cooler months.
ReplyDeleteI love the taste of homegrown in the winter. My freezers are so full though. So many green beans in there at the moment! Need a pressure canner!
DeleteSend thr green beans here,
DeleteI used my Mum's method of stew, mouli, reheat and pour into hot jars and seal (she called it the overflow method). You can also process (oven or boiler) those for a further 10 minutes to ensure sterilization and seal. She didn't and I don't and seldom have a fail. Why the mouli? Well as a child I gagged on cooked tomato skins which Mum believed was just me being fussy but no amount of badgering would make me stop it. We got used to years to mincing all the processed tomatoes and kind of forget why. As an adult I started canning my own without the mouli process and was surprised (and alarmed) when my home canned tomatoes triggered a gag reaction. Then Mum had to explain why she had started doing that way back when I was a nipper. So mouli it is. I guess I could use a food processor but there is something much more organic about hand grinding the stewed up tomato slurry.
ReplyDeleteI have found that canned french beans with a small amount of tomato, are very popular with most people. But runner beans done the same way are not as good.
ReplyDeleteI have had lots of problems with failed sealing, using the tattler tops. I suspect that the jars I purchased from Knutsford, maybe slightly different to Ball jars. Have you found this ?
Kathy
We use the Tattler lids with good luck. They are 'different' than regular metal 'one-time' lids. Tighten the ring just a little when you put them into the canner water - just enough to hold them in place. Then, immediately!, after processing take the jars out of the water bath and give the ring a tightening turn. This is in the directions, but easily overlooked. This is just the opposite of the instructions for the metal lids. With the 'correct' procedure, we have great luck with the Tattler lids. Hope you will, too.
DeleteI find if I boil water in my electric kettle to pour in the canner it takes a lot less time to come to a boil. One of my favourite ways to do tomatoes is chop tomatoes peppers and onion. Put them through the food processor and then into jars and process in water bath canner. Great for soups, stews, casseroles etc. Years ago my sister and I did a lot of pressure canning. Corn, beans, carrots, soups etc. Lot of work but well worth it.
ReplyDeleteHa came here to ask you about your single canner and here is a post about that exact thing. Do you use this one? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stainless-Universal-Multi-Pot-Removable-Steamer/dp/B00381ANTG?th=1 At the end of the monthly market here they seem to chuck loads into the skip. I was thinking about offering to buy what they are about to throw away... a little canner could be the answer to this.
ReplyDeleteI have always used a pressure cooker for canning fruit. Much quicker and more economical. Helen in France.
ReplyDelete