4. Stir in the water, pickling salt, and vinegar. Over high heat, bring everything to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and ladle into the jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
6. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, center the lids, and screw on the bands and adjust until they are fingertip tight.
7. Place the jars in the canner and bring to a boil. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of water covering the jars.
8. Process for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars from the canner and cool.
9. Store in a cool dark place. It takes about 2 weeks to perfectly age, and then it is ready to eat.
Canned Plum Tomatoes
• 5 pounds plum tomatoes
• 16 quarts water
• 4 cups tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon citric acid per pint
• 8 leaves fresh basil
• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 pint jars, lids, and bands
1. Fill the canner with enough water to cover the jars. Boil the water, reduce the heat to low, place the jars in the water, and simmer until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands by simmering them over low heat in a small saucepan.
2. Bring two pots, each filled with 8 quarts of water to a boil. Fill a bowl full of ice water. Place half of the tomatoes in one of the pots of boiling water for 1 minute.
3. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place in the ice water. Repeat with the other half of tomatoes.
4. Heat the tomato paste in a saucepan until hot to the touch.
5. Add the lemon juice or citric acid to each jar.
6. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, carefully remove the skins and place in the jars.
7. When jars are filled with tomatoes, pour the hot tomato paste in, top each jar with a fresh basil leaf and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Leave ½ inch of headspace.
8. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, center the lids, and screw on the bands and adjust until they are fingertip tight.
9. Place the jars in the canner and bring to a boil. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of water covering the jars.
10. Process for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars from the canner and cool.
Fresh Tomato Salsa
• 12 pounds tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 4 green bell peppers, chopped
• 3 large yellow onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 15 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 4–5 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
• 2 (12-ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1¾ cups white vinegar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup pickling salt
• ¼ –½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 10 pint jars, lids, and bands
1. Place all of the tomatoes in a large stockpot, and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Drain the tomatoes, reserving 2 cups of the liquid, and return just the tomatoes to the pot.
2. Stir in the green peppers, onions, red pepper, celery, garlic, jalapeños, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, hot pepper sauce, and reserved tomato liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low.
3. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring frequently.
4. Fill the canner with enough water to cover the jars. Boil the water, reduce the heat to low, place the jars in the water, and simmer until ready to use.
5. Ladle the hot mixture into the canning jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace.
6. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rims, center the lids, and screw on the bands and adjust until they are fingertip tight.
7. Place the jars in the canner and bring to a boil. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of water covering the jars.
8. Process for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars from the canner and cool.
Homemade Tomato Paste
• 8 quarts fleshy tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped red bell peppers
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, if your tomatoes are really acidic
• 1 teaspoon pickling salt
• 1 whole clove garlic
• ½ cup fresh or bottled lemon juice
• 9 half-pint jars, lids, and bands
1. Fill the canner with enough water to cover the jars. Boil the water, reduce the heat to low, place the jars in the water, and simmer until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands by simmering them over low heat in a small saucepan.
2. Quickly blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for no more than 40 seconds, and then toss immediately into ice water. When cooled, peel the skins off the tomatoes. (If you’d like to skip this step, you can press the paste through a sieve after cooking.)
3. For the smoothest texture, put the tomatoes into a blender or food processor.
4. In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, bell peppers, bay leaves, oregano, basil, sugar, and salt into a large saucepan. Simmer for 1 hour. (This can also be done in a slow cooker on high heat for 1 hour, but be sure to stir occasionally.)
5. Push the cooked mixture through a fine strainer or sieve, and return to the saucepan. Cook for about 2½ hours more, until the mixture is a paste. Stir frequently or the paste will stick to the pan.
6. Pour the paste into the jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. Add ½ teaspoon of lemon juice into each jar, leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Lemon juice prevents spoilage and helps seal the color and flavor.
7. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, center the lids, and screw on the bands and adjust until they are fingertip tight.
8. Place the jars in the canner and bring to a boil. Make sure there is at least 1 inch of water covering the jars.
9. Process for 45 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars from the canner and cool.
10
GETTING STARTED WITH PRESSURE CANNING
The potential for the presence of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum in low-acid foods makes it unsafe to preserve them using the water-bath method. This is because the 212 degrees F that a water bath typically reaches isn’t hot enough to kill the bacteria. High-acid foods aren’t at risk for C. botulinum, because the acidic environment isn’t conducive to its growth. However, to safely preserve low-acid foods, they must be processed at a temperature no less than 240 degrees F.
If low-acid ingredients are mixed with high-acid ingredients such as in stocks, stews, or soups (e.g., when meat is matched with tomatoes), the pH of the acidic food is lowered sufficiently to make the entire recipe a low-acid food that needs to be pressure canned.
Pressure canning is the safest method of canning for low-acid foods such as meats, poultry, seafood, and vegetables. Although you need to be careful, pressure canning is easy to learn, so don’t stress; by the time you’re finished here, you will be pressure canning like a pro. The following checklist will help you get organized.
Basic Instructions for Pressure Canning
1. Wash and heat your jars and lids as instructed in the water-bath method section. Be sure that you don’t boil your lids, as it may damage the seals. Be very observant with your jars and bands. Check for cracks, dents, uneven threads, or other signs of damage, and throw out any that are imperfect.