Anyone live anywhere near Kenosha WI?

[TheLorax]

Anyone live anywhere near Kenosha WI?
If you do and you know how to can tomatoes, I'd love to hang out in your kitchen to be taught how to do this.

If no one is in the local area who cans, looks as if I may have some extras that I could share as it appears I am going to have mucho tomatoes out the rear here in the next few months. I'd rather give them away rather than be forced to feed the composter.

Here are the tomatoes I've got growing-
Roma
RoadRunner
JetSetter
First Lady
some sort of a grape cluster
Brandywine
Mortgage Lifter
Sausage
Middle Ten

I think I may be getting a Black Prince and a Cherokee Purple.

Editing to correct above list.

[JennyC]

Well, you know I'm way too far away to be your canning demo, but you can also freeze tomatoes if you have the space. Cook until soft, peel, let cool, and pack in their own juice (leave an inch at the top for expansion). They'll be suitable for cooking, not salads!

[cynthia_h]

I gave some info on canning under the Cucumbers! thread.

Since tomatoes are considered an acid food (esp. the traditional varieties), they can be put up with hot-water-bath canning. I've canned tomato sauce from Romas in the past.

I learned how to can from The Joy of Cooking, '70s version.

Cynthia H.
El Cerrito, CA
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[TheLorax]

Too bad you don't live closer. I could really use somebody like you to sponge off of.

I may be freezing some if I end up with too many. Never thought of freezing them before but have frozen strawberries, peaches, and melon and they did fine.

[cynthia_h]

Maybe this will help:

I just did a Google search on

"How to can" video

and got 72,400 hits! (Of course, I only looked at the first three or four.)

Watch a few videos and see what techniques they have in common, aside from the specific recipes. Internet video is a tool that wasn't available to me when I learned out of The Joy of Cooking!

Let me know if these help.

Cynthia

[TheLorax]

I checked the box I bought over 5 years ago. I have an 8 qt pressure canner with lots-o-dust on it. Brand new though as I can assure you it has never been used. I simply lost my nerve when a few people told me some horror stories.

I'll go to the cucumber thread in a little bit. Guess it's time to go check out canning videos! I still wish both of you lived closer to me... why we could all dig holes together... just kidding.

[TheLorax]

I found a lot of videos to buy but I found more than enough available online for free at this site called YouTube. After having watched a few, I feel somewhat more comfortable with feeling uncomfortable if that makes any sense so it was a good suggestion to watch a few videos.

Here are the free videos I found:

How to can pears
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYsQu5D_t_Y

The Basics of Making Jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVaqyiTRW9A

Making Raspberry Jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t2ebnWLQis&feature=related

How to can fruits and vegetables, a series
https://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/69_canning-preserving.htm

How To Make Small Batch Strawberry Jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaPpxWlyrfw
Video 1 Making Jam and Infusing Fruit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOoAIwaz4w

Video 2 Canning Fruit in Syrup or as a Pie Filling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1rytBysLKA

Video 3 Canning Tomatoes; Tomato Sauce & Salsa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKl4sSilnk

Video 4 Canning Vegetables; Soup and Ratatouille
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWA92T5aX0I

Video 5 Canning Whole Meals; Chili and Stew and Meat Sauces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXSBCrw9dSg

Video 6 Canning Pâtés, Meatloaf and Fish
You can download video 6 from here-
https://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=28227

Home Canning Basics- Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeSQmYK8uE4

Home Canning Basics- Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke-iE6rTWvw

Home Canning Basics- Part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLB5b0l2uqg

Urban Preservation I - Jam Session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZCf1InejWY

Dry Pack Canning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbDUR7Xb2KQ

Canning beans 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcw2pTmKRuE

Canning beans 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk7GBIEm9oY

Canning beans 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb371Nj-PZ4

Some recipes here-
https://www.canningusa.com/
https://cookingupastory.com/

Canning book-
https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Plume-Janet-Greene/dp/0452268990/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211744699&sr=1-6

What about this book-
https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving/dp/0778801314/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b

Or this book-
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Preserving-Harvest-Vegetables/dp/1580174582/ref=pd_sim_b_title_5

Better yet, what about Canning and Preserving for Dummies?
https://www.amazon.com/Canning-Preserving-Dummies-Karen-Ward/dp/0764524712/ref=pd_sim_b_img_4

I think my mother used a ball book of some sort.

[cynthia_h]

Yes! Some of those (esp. the small batch strawberry jam) were among the ones I checked earlier.

I hope you develop the confidence to try hot-water-bath canning this season. It's just incredible, during the weather of January/February, to open a jar of pasta sauce and "smell the sunshine," if you will.

Cynthia H.
El Cerrito, CA
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[opabinia51]

I love canning and do apple and tomatoe sauce each year, I've pickled heart (don't knock it till you've tried it) and this year I plan on doing antipasta, pickling some more beans. and who knows what else I'll try

[TheLorax]

I'll try a few this year. We'll see how it goes.

Soups freeze easily enough and so does ratatouille but I'd like to try canning a tomato sauce.

The pears and peaches I'll probably can in syrup.

I do think I'd like to try one jam. Possibly strawberry? I am growing two types of strawberries this year in a strawberry pot. Have no idea whether or not that pot will yield enough strawberries to try strawberry jam or not but it would be nice. The two strawberries I am growing are Honeoye and All Star. Do those work for jams?

I was particularly interested in the video on 'Canning Pâtés, Meatloaf and Fish'. I love canned venison and pickled herring in cream sauce. I'd probably like pickled heart. Out of my league for a while but the video was interesting.

[doccat5]

You could come to VA and I'll teach ya how to can.....

[TheLorax]

How close do you live to DC? Looks as if I've got to go back there a few times in the not so distant future. I can ask that they book me an extra day or so.

Virginia in the fall is gorgeous.

Do you know how to make applesauce? My mom used to put cinnamon red hots in her applesauce. Made it a really pretty pink.

Whatdoyathink Homeland Security will think about a woman toting tomatoes boarding?

[JPlovesflowers]

Lorax, Canning tomatoes is so easy, I'm sure you can do it. I was in charge of peeling tomatoes as a little girl (probably why I have asbestos hands) and I bet we canned thousands every summer. I have never had enough space to have a veggie garden, but have taken tons of them from my mom over the years. Although I don't do traditional canned tomatoes, I have made gallons of salsa and marinara sauce over the years and it is so easy. You don't need a special pot, I've canned in every pan I have I think. When you're doing a hot water bath you just boil the closed jars in water for about 30 minutes. Because of the high acid content in tomatoes, you can't go wrong. Other than that, all you have to do is peel them, which you do by dunking in boiling water for a minute or so, and remove the core. I've got a great salsa recipe if you're interested, and the marinara sauce is basically just tomatoes, oregano, basil, garlic and salt and pepper to your taste...If you're interested, I'll call my mom and get the step by step on the actual canning of just tomatoes. This link is from Better Homes and Gardens and you can't miss on any of their recipes: https://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=34071
I use their cookbook as a reference guide whenever I get the opportunity to can. I have never been brave enough to use a pressure cooker as my maternal grandmother had one explode on her many years ago. My mom cans a basement full every year with one though, so I'm sure it's just a matter of getting used to it. Good luck!
JP

[JPlovesflowers]

Oops, forgot about the applesauce....my mother-in-law made hers in a crockpot. She served it at every meal...no kidding. She passed away a few years ago, so I can't ask for her recipe, but here's a link to a recipe that sounds just like it: https://www.recipezaar.com/69127

[TheLorax]

I have never been brave enough to use a pressure cooker as my maternal grandmother had one explode on her many years ago.

See! See! See! That's exactly what costs me my nerve. All those horror stories and then you meet the person who has a glass eyeball who casually comments that a portion of her pressure cooker took out her eye when it exploded in her face. I was aghast. Her eye looked so good I didn't even realize it was a fake but I can't imagine being reduced to one eyeball. Wonder if they take their eyeballs out at night to clean them like people take out their false teeth?

I am going to try canning though. I've been putting it off for years and no time like the present to start. How about you? If I can brave it after meeting the woman with the glass eye, maybe you can brave it?

I have the Betty Crocker Cookbook. That seemed to be the one everyone received when they got married in the early 80's. I think I'm going to order one book specifically on canning that was recommended to me in another thread and then I can just suck recipes off of other people like you. So yes, I'll take your salsa recipe. I'll probably buy that 'Putting Food By' suggested by JennyC and then I'll try to figure out which book my mom used that was just recipes. Chances are good I could find what ever she had on eBay. You know something... I know somebody who cooks very well AND is into tomatoes. Bet I could ask her for some recipes too.

Can the applesauce recipe from RecipeZaar be used to preserve applesauce?

I don't know if your mom has time or even has a computer but maybe ask her to critique that Video 3 Canning Tomatoes; Tomato Sauce & Salsa. If she thinks it's good enough, no need to write anything out. I watched it and it looked as if it covered the bases well enough. I'm sure everyone refines the process and tweaks it to suit what's best for them.

Say, at the bottom of where I'm typing there is a little area that says jump to and in the box there is a select a forum. What does that do exactly?

[JPlovesflowers]

oops, didn't mean to private message that last one....guess I got sleepy and pushed the wrong button. I couldn't figure out why it navigated away from the forum....too much sun and too little sleep today

[TheLorax]

oops, didn't mean to private message that last one.

Could have been worse... you could have posted something in an open thread that was supposed to be in a private message!

I'll go take a look at what you sent me!

[TheLorax]

Hot off the press from a tomato friend who cooks like a fiend-

Instead I boil them down and freeze them for winter use in cooking and as stewed tomatoes. The grape tomatoes, I just throw them in a big pot of boiling water wait long enough for the skins to split and fish them out with a slotted spoon to remove the skin and dump them back in the pot to boil away the water, leaving the meat. With larger tomatoes I first cut out the stem section and then follow the same procedure. After they are done I freeze them in meal sized portions and then vacuumed seal them with my Food Saver. I have more freezer storage space then canned space.
At the end of the season I make a piccalilli from my grandmother's recipe which I'll attach. It uses green tomatoes.

GRAMMY Tâ€

[JennyC]

Lorax, here's a possibility for you:

The National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia (UGA has one of the more respected family and consumer science progarams in the country) at https://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

There's a free web based course on home canning as well as tons of info. I didn't know about their book on preserving food or I'd have recommended it along with Putting Food By.

[TheLorax]

That's a real nice site.

Say JennyC, me and my neighbor are cheating-
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8349

[JennyC]

[Lauraluvstomatoes]

A GREAT resource on canning, gardening, and life is the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It is one of my all time favorite non-fiction books. She and her family moved to Kentucky and lived off of food they grew or purchased locally (I think within 100 mile radius). Fascinating read.

[TheLorax]

Hey JennyC, had a chance to poke around at your website. They had some nice Power Point Presentations. They had a lot of files that were something called .ram. I couldn't figure out how to open those up or even what those were. Have you any idea or did your computer just do it for you? Also too, are those .ram files the web based canning course? If so, I'm going to be really mad that I can't figure out how to open them up!

HeyLauraluvstomatoes, Interesting book. I poked around online and found that all of the recipes from the book are here-
https://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Recipes.html

[cheshirekat]

Lorax, .ram files are playable with the RealPlayer program available at https://www.real.com/

[JennyC]

Thanks CheshireKat.

I don't think the .ram files are the online course; it looks like you have to register for that (unless you did already?) I didn't register for the course; maybe I should.