Tomato Canning

Last week, feeling somewhat innundated with tomatoes, I decided to can some in self-defense. I picked a bunch of Better Boy tomatoes.

They look so pretty in my purple kitchen.

The first thing you have to do is get the water boiling in the canning kettles. It takes a long time to boil that much water.

Then I cored each tomato and cut an X on the bottom.

 I put them in boiiling water for under a minute, then popped them in the ice water bath.

 And the skins come right off.

Then I just stuffed the meats in the clean quart jars, put on new lids and rings, and popped them in the kettles. I put 1/2 teaspoon citric acid per quart jar in the bottom of the jar before filling. That's because tomatoes, while pretty acid for a vegetable, are still iffy for canning. That's also why I processed them at a full rolling boil for 40 minutes, while pickled vegetables can be processed for much less time.

 And here's the finished product, ready for adding to winter soups or stews.