Canning tomatoes in mason jars.

[Gary350]

https://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ is a great resource for canning information and recipes.

Gixx, go to wally world and buy the Ball Blue Book. It's a great starter for water bath canning and pressure canning.

Be careful of "good salsa" recipes. Not all of them are suitable for canning. Compare your recipe to a proven canning recipe first. Acid content is a major concern for water bath recipes.

Gary, if you are filling your pressure canner with that much water you don't really need to. 3-4 inches in the bottom before you put the jars in is enough. It takes less time to get the canner up to heat and pressure that way too. I lower the heat after the canner is up to pressure so the jiggler rocks several times a minute, you'll not have to worry about cooking the canner dry that way.

If anyone needs help let us know, there is lots of brain power on the forum.

The problem I worry about with low water level in the canner is the water boils too soon. Water boils at 212 degree before the vegatable in the jar have time to come up to the same temperature. If the water boils and the food in the jar is only 150 deg and you boil for 20 minutes then the actual time the food boils will be less because it will take long for the food to come up to temperature. I just now measured a pint mason jar it is 5" tall. I think 4" of water would be fine and like you said it would heat up faster. I am all for anything that makes it faster.

[Ozark Lady]

It is my understanding that too much water in the pressure canner will actually lower the temperatures of the foods.
Boiling water will not get hotter than the boiling temp of water, in my case I use a higher altitude processing time, because water boils differently for me at my 1500-1800 feet.

The idea behind pressure canning is: you only have steam in there, because steam is hotter than boiling water. The rack protects the jars... they used to can in the oven, same temps and no water. But the oven doesn't have pressure to drive the temp into the jar. Don't oven can!

When I put foods on to pressure can, I have to vent the cooker for a certain amount of time, prior to adding the weight gage.
I have noticed that the water starts boiling and steam venting, and my timing of that process varies with how hot the food is that I put in there.
With room temperature foods, it could be 10-20 minutes until that first trickle of steam rises and I start my timing, prior to weighting and beginning actual timing of the processing. But with really hot food, it could start venting steam in only 5 minutes or so. It also varies on the density of the food that you are canning. If you have lots of liquid and little solids it is not difficult to heat all the way through. But, if you are canning spinach packed in tight with little moisture, then is when I add an extra 5 minutes to the processing time, to make sure that the temperature all the way through is high enough. Boiling water will not kill the spores that lead to botulism, and it only grows anaerobically.

On another forum, a poster cans all their food with no water added to the jars. I am serious, he has the most beautiful corn that he shows, and it has no water in it at all. It stays yellow and gorgeous. I am going to review that thread and see if he still gets it hot enough to be safe.

I pressure can fish that we have caught, and the bones are just like sardines, soft and chewy. I can milk, and meats not just vegetables. If you pressure can milk, you follow meat recipes on time, it will change colors and look like evaporated milk, and taste very similar, great for same uses as evaporated milk.

I need to do some milk canning, I have 6-7 gallons in the fridge at the moment. Guess I need to get my camera home!

I love my pressure canner!

[TZ -OH6]

Water temp in a pressure cooker is the same temp as the steam. Example: Water boils at room temperature in a vacuum (at 32 degrees it will sublimate from ice to vapor, passing the liquid stage altogether), It will boil at lower than 212 at altitude (lower air pressure), at 212 at sea level, and the water coming out of hydrothermal vents on the sea floor can be 600 degrees or higher but does not boil because of the pressure.

Letting the pressure off in a pressure cooker will drop the pressure in the air space quickly while the water stays the same. The super heated water will then boil. All of that rock and roll around the lids can't be good so covering them with water would protect them a bit from swinging conditions that could pop the tops off.

[Gary350]

Here is a super heated steam table.

https://www.simetric.co.uk/si_supersteam.htm

The water in a pressure cooker will always be the same temperature as the steam. At 15 psi steam pressure water boils at 250 degrees.

If you use a very low water level in a pressure cooker it will boil much faster and build up steam pressure much faster than a higher water level. It takes time for the temperature inside the jars to warm up to the same temperature as the water.

Do this experement. Cut a piece of clothes hanger wire 6" long. Hold one end of the wire with your finger tips and stick the other end of the wire in the flame of a candle. Hold it there and watch the clock to see how long it takes for the heat to transfer through the wire to your fingers. Mason jars in a pressure cooker do the same thing as the wire. Water in the pressure cooker heats up and has to transfer that heat through the glass jar and into the food. Glass has a very low heat transfer rate. If the water in the pressure cooker boils quick the food inside the jars will only be warm. If you boil the water for 10 minutes the food in the jars will get hotter but it still may not be up to the same temperature as the water in the cooker. I have had jars crack and break when using only a few inches of water in the pressure cooker. The bottom half of the jar gets hot in low water volume and the top half of the jar is still cold since glass have a very low expansion rate the hot end makes the glass crack. I method may be a little slower filling the pressure cooker up 1/2" above my jars but it is much safer I don't want to loose any jars especially after all the work I have done growing the garden and canning the vegatables.

It works best to put lots of water in the cooker so it heats up slow this gives the food in the jars time to heat up too.

I have experemented with no water vegatables in jars but my vegatables come out dehydrated. Corn and beans are a little dry. When I want to eat food in one of those jars I heat the corn on the stove with water in the bottom of the pot and a lid on top to hold the steam. The steam tends to re hydrate the vegatables. I have not experemented with this very much because I did not like the results. Maybe I need to read the information on the forum OL mentioned. One time I did an experement where I had 1" of water in the bottom of the jars with corn. Again the corn was a little dehydrated but not too bad much better than no water at all.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

The pressure should never be released like that when using a pressure canner. The super heated liquid will boil out 99% of the time. The weight or the pressure release shouldn't be taken off right after time is up. Just turn the heat off and let the pressure reduce slowly through the weighted gauge. When it stops moving, the pressure is normalized. If you rush this you're gonna lose your liquids inside your jars. You also risk pushing food particles past your seal or between your jar and seal... Which can cause spoilage. I have the original directions for my mirro pressure canner, and these are the directions for propped use of their pressure canner. It also says that only 2-3 inches of water is neccessary when pressure canning.

I love, love, LOVE both types of canning.

I too water can plain crushed tomatoes. I pour boiling water over them in the stopped up sink. Let em sit for a few minutes, drain em, spray them briefly with cool water.(Phill swears my hands are made from asbestos) I keep a pot on the left( I am right handed), and as I take the core out, the skins fall off easily and I then crush em over the pot with my left hand. Instant crushed tomatoes! I bring em to a boil, skim the skum and can. The whole process takes me about 2 hours, but I have 2 huge water canners that hold 7 quart jars or 20 pints when stacked,each, so that speeds things up a bit. I do add citric acid to them when I water can, but I wanna try Apple's technique with the red wine vinegar

[hit or miss]

Gary
I understand your concern with the heating up of the vegetables in the jars. That is built into the cooking time under pressure in tested recipes. So, theoretically, if you put 212 degree vegetables into the jars and brought the pressure up quickly, you would have shorter times in the canner.

This is a great thread!

[gixxerific]

All good stuff, you guy's are awesome. I'm learning a lot but still a little skeptical about doing this myself and having a safe product in the end. I'm sure it will be good.

To those that suggested I get the blue book I saw it a Lowe's the other day and almost bought it, I was in the process of buying a 100$ fan for work at the time, I was waiting for some more money to flow my way. They even have little spice bags for pickling.... well pickles which I would like to try as well.


P.S. not to throw this topic off topic. Let's say I don't have a ton of tomatoes to pick one lovely Sunday morning. But they have been coming in here and there, though not enough to go into a full canning adventure all at once. Can I blanch them and freeze them than once I have enough for it unthaw them than and go do a canning-alcoholic weekend?

[hit or miss]

Clean them and throw them in the freezer. Don't blanch them. When you thaw them out the skins will slip right off.

Then you can go insane making salsa and stuff some weekend.

[Ozark Lady]

Or:::
Hit some yard sales and find a dehydrator.
Or build yourself one, I found some great plans for homemade ones, online.
Think of the fancy dried tomato... sun tomatoes? You could dry them, then store them as is... or powder them, and use it to add to things that you want a bit of tomato flavor added to.

I freeze, can or dehydrate my produce. Sometimes in small quantities, I find the dehydrator works just as well. I love dehydrated apples, I dip them in lemonade (homemade) then dry them to chips, past the soft stage.. great snack.

And after you dehydrate, where do you store stuff? Well, mason jars work great! And they come in various sizes too!

[applestar]

I think it's ultimately easier if you cut out the stem ends and any green core or shoulders before freezing.

For cooked strained tomatoes, last year, I used the food mill (based on Gary's advice, I think ). Mine came with three different hole size inserts -- medium to remove skin and some but not all seeds, large to remove skin but keep all the seeds (that turned out to be too much seeds IMHO), and small to remove the skin and all the seeds (but this takes FOREVER and clogs up -- In the end, I found it easier to go with MEDIUM holes for the food mill and run it through a strainer 2nd time for tomato juice (small mesh) and no seed tomato sauce (medium mesh)).

[LindsayArthurRTR]

OL! I'm SO glad you said this because it reminded me of my question for you I was gonna PM you but I figured there's gotta be someone else wondering about this out there...I pulled my old ronco food dehydrator out today. I have been getting about a gallon of mixed cherry, grape and yellow pears out of the garden every two days, and I think they have FINALLY started to die off. Anyway, I have about 2 gallons that I haven't given away and I really want to dry them and then store them. I am worried about them molding, though.

My plan is to cut them in half lengthwise and then put them in the dehydrator cut side up. I want them like sundried tomato texture . Kinda pliable. Is that safe for storage? It has been years since I used this thing...

I know I have to rotate the trays like every day or so. I'm not sure about the air vent...All the way open? Should I treat them with anything after I cut them?

Thanks!

[Ozark Lady]

You can do tomatoes in various ways.
If you don't mind seeds and skins, just wash them, cut them in half, and I put the cut side down in my dehydrator. I don't know if it matters based on brand? no idea. Or you can remove the skins, cores, and use a spoon to get out most of the seeds. If larger tomatoes slice them 1/2" thick. I do normally sprinkle on some salt. But that is all I don't add acid to them.

I start the tray on the bottom closest to the heat, and as I fill additional trays I move them up to put the new one on the bottom.
When all that I want to dry are in the dehydrator, I rotate the trays by simply moving the bottom tray to the top every couple hours. With mine I shut it off before I go to bed, I have slept and had it overdry. So in the morning I check them, move wettest to bottom, and dryer as I go to the top. I don't have a temperature gauge on mine, it is simply on or off.
I guess I am the gauge? If you have a meat thermometer, you can use it, you want to dry about 135 degrees. It should dry within 24 hours, but as long as it is decently hot, don't worry.

Dryness will determine how you store them... if you dry them to still fairly flexible, they are fairly wet, and you should bag them and freeze them. If you have a seal a meal, and can do airless bagging, all the better.

Or if you dry them to fairly dry, then you can oven them for a few minutes to extra dry the surface, and then cool them, and store in a jar... you do need to watch for condensation on the jar, if you see any, you need to dry them more, or freeze them. Again as airless as possible.

You can also dry them to the brittle stage, this works great for when you want to powder them, for instant tomato soup, or times when you have a recipe that calls for 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste. I put these in the smallest jars that I have usually a half pint, because you open and close it alot. Once I start using a jar, I keep it in the frig, because every time you open it, you let moisture in.

You can blend them just like a fruit leather, and add some flavorings and vegetables or not, your preference, and make them like a thick V-8 drink, then just pour them in your fruit leather inserts and dry them, until you can roll them up, be sure to check these after drying to make sure they won't mold from condensation or store in the freezer, you can still take them out and pack them for back packing etc. While hiking you can snack them as is, or put them in water to have a hot drink. With the leathers, just like the dry tomatoes, it is optional if you remove seeds and skins, but cores just have to go...

I hope this helps!
And happy preserving!

Oh, and coat your trays very lightly with just a drop of vegetable oil no matter what you are drying, or move the food around alot to prevent it sticking. I forgot to once, and the apples stuck on, was hours getting it off and they broke up badly... I had apple dust!

I close the airvent until it heats up, then I open it all the way, as long as the top tray stays hot, which it does, heat does rise, and you want airflow to get the moisture out.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

OL here is a tasty use for plums. It uses up lots of them too.


[url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=151129#151129[/url]

IMHO, These need to sit in their jars for a couple weeks before you use em. I gives the flavors time to mingle and mellow. It really good stuff though, especially on fish and grilled meats.

My mom is vegan, and she eats it on beans. I make a peach chutney almost just like it. will post that one later in the week. Thank you SO much for the dehydrator info.

[Gary350]

I bought this at a yard sale for $1. it works great for canning tomatoes. It has 3/16" hole that allows seeds, juice, and pulp to all the pass through. It is the best and fastest thing I have to remove the skins. This was part of a broken vegatable steamer I trashed the bottom and top parts and kept this piece. I put it in a pan then pour in the cooked tomatoes. Then I lift it out of the pan and I stir with a large spoon and every thing goes right through except the skin in about 10 seconds.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/mikeweaver/s1.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/mikeweaver/s2.jpg[/img]

This screem wire basket is the best thing to remove seeds and skins. I have tried lots of things and this works best for seeds. Pour in the cooked tomatoes, stir with a large spoon and the juice and crushed pulp goes through in 30 seconds but not the seeds or skins. There are several special garden gizmos designed to remove seeds that work but they are very slow and expensive. I can show you pics of those gizmos if you like they may be for sale on ebay soon. My wife sometimes needs some juice with no seeds. I like juice with seeds and it makes some great tomatoe basil soup with about 1/4 tsp of red pepper.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/mikeweaver/s3.jpg[/img]

[engineeredgarden]

The only time I can anything with tomatoes in it is when I make salsa - which I made tonight.
Gary, do you add any vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice to your jars? The NCHFP website is adamant about doing this.....

EG

[hit or miss]

We alway add lemon juice to the tomatoe juice we make, it's never even noticed. My salsa recipe has vinegar in it, I like the flavor it gives the salsa. The big reason to add acid to today's tomatoes is the newer varieties are much lower acid content than the old ones. I always wondered about heirloom tomatoes though, do they have a higher acid content?

[cynthia_h]

We alway add lemon juice to the tomatoe juice we make, it's never even noticed. My salsa recipe has vinegar in it, I like the flavor it gives the salsa. The big reason to add acid to today's tomatoes is the newer varieties are much lower acid content than the old ones. I always wondered about heirloom tomatoes though, do they have a higher acid content?

Often, heirloom varieties are more acidic than modern hybrids, although to what extent I can't say and refuse to rely on. Regardless of the varieties I've canned or made products (e.g., spaghetti sauce) from for canning, I have always added lemon juice or citric acid powder to the tomatoes / sauce before canning them. We want acidity in hot-water canned products. This is what provides the safety margin for non-pressurized canning: acidity. Low pH.

On the subject of canning (and this is mostly for those new to the practice or wanting to try it out):

I learned from books. This means that you can learn from the web and from books, too. No one I knew canned or even knew anyone else who did when I was faced with a friend's tree absolutely laden with cherry-sized plums way back when.

Rule #1 of Canning: There is no such thing as "too safe" when home-canning foods.

Do not improvise your own cooking times or preparation methods. Do not take chances with the safety of your family or friends. If you can afford to purchase only one canner *and* can afford a pressure canner, do so. Both kinds of canning (hot-water bath and pressure canning) can be performed in a pressure canner; the reverse is not true. I got along with a hot-water canner (also referred to as a "baine Marie") for several years before I felt comfortable enough to look for a pressure canner, but the web wasn't around then, and printed info on pressure canning wasn't all that encouraging.

Now it's different; there is a TON of information, but not all of it is reliable. Unfortunately. Know your sources. The Ball Blue Book is excellent; the USDA extension nearest your home is also excellent.

I can tell you that I have experience, but I will also tell you that I am *not* experienced in canning at elevation or in canning meats. I have also not done much canning of quarts; most of what I've canned has been jelly-sized jars, 12-oz. jars, pints, and 1.5-pint jars. Each of these has a *different processing time* which is dependent on its size and on your elevation. Find out what that processing time is from a reliable source: again, the Ball Blue Book or the USDA.

Rule #2 of Canning: There is no such thing as "too clean" when home-canning foods.

Even after years of experience, I still demand almost hospital-like sterility from my jars, flat lids, and screw-on bands. I want my food hot hot hot when it goes into the jars, my water boiling, and my jars / flat lids sterile (or as sterile as I can get them). My own hands are clean clean clean. I do not touch my hair or my face while working with the jars. If I do, I wash my hands again before touching a jar.

If you have a dishwasher, you're golden: put the jars and the screw-on bands on a good, hot cycle as you're getting the food ready for canning. Turn the dishwasher on. The jars and screw-on bands will wait for you. Hand-wash, in soapy hot water, the flat lids. Yes, even if they *just* came brand-new out of the box. Rinse them well. Have a bowl or small pot into which you can lay them without them sticking to one another. I turn them alternately right-side-up and upside-down. Then pour boiling water over them. They will also wait for you.

Now your equipment is good and clean.

Prepare/cook the food, fill the jars per your recipe (head space varies, depending on what you're canning), and make very sure there are no particles of food on the rim of the jar. Place the flat lid on the rim of the jar and a screw-on band over the lid. When you have a rack of jars filled (usually 7 jars) *and* the water is boiling, place the jars into the water. There should be enough water to cover the jars by 1 inch when the water is boiling.

Rule #3 of Canning: Follow established procedures, and you will get it right the first time.

After the prescribed processing time has elapsed, use the "jar-lifter" and place each jar carefully onto a folded towel which has been set in place out of drafts. This is where the jars will cool, probably overnight. My best counter for this cooling is next to the stove but also next to the window, so I close the window *sigh* when the processing time is almost up. After all my work, I do not want a jar to crack....

There's a nice "ping" sound when the lids invert. Count these pings; you'll know whether all the jars sealed or not. If any did not seal, those go into the refrigerator for eating in the near future; do not put them in long-term room-temp. storage.

And feel good about yourself!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Ozark Lady]

I also learned from a book! I think it was the Blue Book.

The next morning, I look them all over. Any not down, are put in the frig or reprocessed. Then, I go get a metal spoon, and I tap each lid in the dead center, I want a clear ringing sound, not a thud. Any thud, goes into the frig or gets reprocessed.

If it is something that the texture won't be harmed by more cooking, I reprocess it, if it is something that can't take more cooking it is eat it or freeze it.

[Gary350]

The only time I can anything with tomatoes in it is when I make salsa - which I made tonight.
Gary, do you add any vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice to your jars? The NCHFP website is adamant about doing this.....

EG

I never add vinegar, lemon or lime juice to my jars. If corn, beans and other things that have NO acid in them can be canned the tomatoes with low acid will do fine. I follow the instructions in my canning book. I have a few short cuts to speed up the job but I pretty much follow the rules in my canning book. My gook calls for 1/2 tsp of salt to pint and 1 tsp salt to quarts but I never do that my wife can not eat salt because of blood pressure problems and all salt does is make the vegatables hold their color. If you cook something that calls for less salt you can not remove it from the jars.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

I never add vinegar, lemon or lime juice to my jars. If corn, beans and other things that have NO acid in them can be canned the tomatoes with low acid will do fine.

These foods cannot be waterbath canned. Corn, beans and mostly ALL other vegetables (if not pickled) MUST be pressure canned. I have not read a book produced in the last 20 years that suggests otherwise. It is very unsafe to process low acid foods without pressure canning. It is also highly suggested to add additional acidity to tomatoes when waterbath canning.

It's risky to process low acid foods this way. Your particular brand of tomatoes may be acidic enough for canning this way, but it's not the norm or suggested safe way to home can.

I agree totally and absolutely with everything that Cynthia said about home canning.

[applestar]

USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009 revision
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publi ... _usda.html