Urban Homesteading - We Canned Tomatoes!

When Co-conspirator Jess called me last week to ask if I wanted to come over and help her can the 800 tons of vegetables she had gathered up from her garden, I was:

1. Relieved - "Canning Vegetables" is pretty much the "Selling Cookies" of Urban Homesteading Merit Badges. Basic, assumed, and passed down from generation to generation with handfuls of anxiety and expectation. I was relieved, because if Jess showed me how to preserve fresh fruits and veg, I could take myself seriously as a Homesteader. I could then move on to all kinds of other old-timey things like making my own cheese and dehydrating tomatoes in the sun...
2. Anxious - Even though I have fond memories of my mom and her sisters and friends steaming up the house with their canning adventures in the summer when I was a kid and none of us ever died, the word BOTULISM kept rolling around in my ears.
3. Nostalgic - for the memories of my mom's huge canning pot, the weird looking canning sieve, and the beautiful Ball jars that held mom's favorite bread-and-butter pickles, stewed tomatoes, and raspberry jams (and later decorated my wedding).
4. Thankful - That Jess knows how to do this stuff, and that she is willing to teach! And also thankful that her neighbor gave her two big buckets of free tomatoes that I got to use, since my garden consists of a big basil plant in the window sill.

So anyway, I said YES, and last night I headed out to Western Springs to can it up with Jess and her friend Jessica. Jessica's mom was kind enough to let us invade her beautiful kitchen for the night (thank God for kitchen islands and counter space!).

We just made very simple crushed tomatoes. Just the 'maters, and a 1/4 tsp of citric acid powder in the bottom of each jar (to maintain consistent acidity. Or something. An extra precaution.) just before you add the hot tomatoes.

This isn't exactly a how-to. I'm definitely not confident enough in my knowledge to instruct anyone yet (remember botulism?) but think of this as an overview of the process. It's not as intimidating as it seems.

First, you have to prep your tomatoes.

Yay for free tomatoes!

Cut off the tough or questionable bits and give em' a quick pulse.

Then simmer them up in a pot.

While your tomatoes are prepping, heat up a CAULDRON canning pot of water:

Big Pot of tomatoes on the left, canning pot of water on the right.

Then take a nap while everything gets good and hot. (Just kidding, don't leave stuff boiling while you nap).

Sterilize your jars! (and your lids) Canning tongs are a must.

Jars taking a hot bath in the canning pot with the support of the jar frame.

Sterilized jars with citric acid powder in the bottom, patiently awaiting some action.

Using a canning funnel to get the tomatoes into the jar with surprisingly little mess.

Ta-da!

Go team!

There are a handful of other steps involved, like poking air bubbles out of the tomato-filled jars, reboiling the filled jars, and clapping with glee when your newly-canned tomatoes start to "PLINK!" as their vacuum seals officially clamp tight.

Note: Jess says that it is very important that newly canned jars REMAIN MOTIONLESS for 24 hours after they are tucked in (covered with a towel). No one she consulted could tell her why this is (our best guess is to give the vacuum seal a full 24 hours to convince itself that it is totally sealed), but in any case, I didn't get to bring my beautiful jars of red goodness home with me last night. Next time I see Jess, I'll get to carry home 11 jars of awesome.

We got started around 7pm and were tucking in the last few jars around 10:20ish. Simple, efficient, and yielded 23 jars. We just couldn't quite eek out the 24th jarful. Oh well. my share of 11 should keep our household in pasta sauce for most of the winter at least (for the cost of $8 worth of jars!).


Go forth and can!