Grab those bushels of regular tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market and let’s get to it!
The taste of ripe summer tomatoes are a winter treat for tacos, salsas, casseroles, soups, simply over wild rice as a meal…so many meals!!!! There is no substitute for their flavor and it isn’t available unless you can it up yourself.
See my suggestions for choosing and ripening here. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Here is a very serious #1 tip (learned the hard way): the water needs to be boiling in order to sufficiently pop the skins off. If the water isn’t boiling, you will wrestle with the skins, waste time and tomato, and be irritated 🤯👈.
Cut the stems and any visible core out. Cut an asterisk pattern on bottoms. Using a large slotted spoon, place about 10 at a time into the boiling water (you don’t want your water temperature to drop too much). After a minute or two you will see the skins pop and they are ready to remove from the water and place into large bowls to cool. Bring the water back to a boil between batches, adding more water when needed.
When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, take the skins off. Cut into quarters, trim any obvious remaining core or spots, and put into a large pot. Bring to a slow boil.
Have your jars and lids sterilized and ready from the dishwasher or a hot water bath. Have your hot water bath boiling and ready to can. When the tomatoes are bubbly hot, jar them up. I use a slotted spoon so that I jar mostly tomato and limited juice. I save the remaining juice in jars and freeze for soup and other uses (it’s delicious). Remember to leave adequate head space at the top of your jars and use a utensil to float air bubbles out. This will help assure successful seals. If you are going to salt as you are canning, 1 teaspoon per quart is customary. I don’t salt until I use them, personal choice. Share the love of homegrown tomatoes!!
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