Canning Crushed Tomatoes

Canning crushed tomatoes is one way that we preserve our bumper crop of our garden bounty at the cottage. We plant enough to eat fresh, preserve and to give. I remember as a little girl mom and grandma coming up from the garden with the tomatoes filling the wheel barrows. She would call the ladies from church to come and share the bounty with them and they would be so amazed at their harvest.

Canning Memories

We would gather as a family in the kitchen peeling the tomatoes and every year we would stand for hours talking and laughing with our hands stained from the tomatoes. Our feet and back would hurt from the long hours but the feeling you get when you are canning and the lids start popping. The blessing of canning crushed tomatoes lasts all year when you open your jars and that delicious garden bounty goes into your soup, chili, on on top of your pasta when winter’s chill is in the air.

This is a large batch of sauce. Only fill the amount of jars that can be processed at one time. Our canners hold seven quarts so we will fill one jar at a time and put it in the hot water in the canner until full. The water should cover the jars by 2″. Then when they are done we will fill the next set of seven jars. Put a hot pan holder or a washcloth under the jars to protect from the cold counter top. This will help the jars not to break.

Let’s get started.

What You Will Need:

• Boiling water canner
• Measuring Cups
• Wooden spoon
• Jar Grabber to get hot jars out of water
• Several Towels to put your hot jars on
• Bowl for tomato skins and cores
• Large stock pot for tomatoes
• Hot Pan Holder
• Apron to keep your clothes clean
• New Canning jar lids
• Quart Canning jars
• Canning jar rings
• Labels or a sharpie to label and date your jars
• Ladle to fill jars
• Paper towel or washcloth to wipe the rims of the jars
• Grapefruit Seed Extract

Ingredients:

• Wash tomatoes in a sink full of water and 5 drops of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract).
• Dip tomatoes in batches into boiling water, leave them until the skin begins to crack and remove them to a bowl to cool. Continue until all tomatoes have been dipped in the water.
• Begin skinning tomatoes (don’t throw away the skins just put them in a separate bowl)
• Once tomatoes are skinned core them and then blend them.
• Pour the tomatoes into a big stock pot, then add garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and salt and heat.
• Wash quart jars and place them in the oven in  a roasting pan 1/3 to 1/2 full of water on the lowest temperature you can set it on.
• Heat lids in a saucepan (do not boil), leave the jars and lids in water until ready to use.
• Fill boiling-water canner half full, put the jar rack in the canner and boil.

Instructions:

• Begin filling the quart jars leaving a 1/2 inch from the top,
• Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean cloth or paper towel.
• Place a new canning lid on jar top, screw the ring on top (don’t over tighten the ring), and put the jars into the boiling water in the canner.
• Water should be 2″ over your jars when you have them all in.
• Once full put the lid on top, and set the timer for 45 minutes.
• When finished, remove your jars to a thickly toweled flat surface and allow to cool.
• Check the lids to make sure they have sealed properly if the lids pop up and down when you push on them they didn’t seal properly- just put those ones in the fridge.
• Wipe down the outsides of the jars and lids with a damp washcloth.
• Label, date and store out of the sunlight.

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Before you go, check out these other articles:

• Canning Peaches
• Zucchini Relish
• Canning Crushed Tomatoes
• Tattler Reusable Canning Jar Lid Review
• Apple Orange Preserves
• Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup
• Cranberry Sauce
• Blueberry Preserves
• Honeysuckle Syrup
• Wild Violet Syrup
• Chocolate Syrup
• Canning Roasted Tomato Sauce
• Roasted Tomato Soup