Cooking Diced Tomatoes Using Water Bath or Pressure Canning Methods
Canning Diced Tomatoes: A Raw, Simple, and Delicious Approach
Transform your garden-fresh tomatoes into shelf-stable goodness with this straightforward guide to canning diced tomatoes. The recipe's versatility knows no boundaries, perfecting a host of favorite dishes like venison bolognese, spaghetti and meatballs, or venison chili.
Got Fresh Tomatoes? Time to Can
When you venture for shop-bought canned tomatoes, consider a home-canned alternative. Homemade canned diced tomatoes not only offer exquisite taste, but they let you control ingredients from growth methods to canning content.
Can You Trust Your DIY Canning Abilities?
Indeed, you can! Home canning your diced tomatoes is not only secure but an easy endeavor for beginners. Canning diced tomatoes, applesauce, or even pickles make excellent beginner projects—they're water bath canning recipes with few ingredients, simple steps, and limited complexity.
Choosing the Right Tomatoes for Canning
Any tomato variety can be canned at home. Some may release more juice and seeds, but all will suffice. For the best outcomes, especially when canning pizza sauce, San Marzano tomatoes are a top choice—sweet, meaty, and low-seeded. Roma tomatoes are another preferred option for canning. Yet, even if you're growing German Lunchbox, Mortgage Lifters, or a slicer like Brandywine, you can still can them into diced tomatoes and enjoy a tasty product.
To Can or Not to Can, That's the Question
You'll need approximately three pounds of tomatoes for each quart jar or two pounds of tomatoes for each pint jar. To prepare a typical canner load of 9 pints, you'll need 18 pounds of tomatoes. For 7 quarts, 21 pounds of tomatoes should suffice.
Arming Yourself: Ingredients and Tools
- Jars, Lids, and Rings: Quarts and pints, depending on your preference. Pints see more widespread usage.
- Water Bath Canner or large stock pot, with a lid and rack
- Jar Lifter: Assists in retrieving jars from the boiling water canner
- Bubble Remover: Aids in eradicating air bubbles from the filled jars
- Canning Funnel: Keeps food within the jar
- Large Stock Pot, Large Bowl, Collander, Ladle, Sharp Knife: Common kitchen essentials
- Tomatoes: Feel free to use any tomato variety, make sure they're ripe
- Lemon Juice or Citric Acid: Essential to ensure optimal acidity
- Salt (optional)
Canning Without Added Liquid
This tutorial offers a straightforward, no-fuss method for canning diced tomatoes. While peeling and coring might take some additional time, your resulting product will boast superior flavor, texture, and even safety.
How to Peel Tomatoes
Score the bottoms of your tomatoes with an x and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath with ice cubes and cold water in a large bowl. Working in batches, immerse scored tomatoes in boiling water for approximately 30 to 60 seconds until the skin starts to loosen or crack. Quickly transfer the tomatoes to the ice bath, allowing them to cool before slipping off the skins. Remove the cores and any bruised or discolored areas. Then, dice them to your desired size.
Canning Tomatoes
Now, let's get down to canning!
Prepare Your Canner, Jars, Lids, and Rings
Wash the jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water before filling the canner with water. You don't need to pre-warm the jars; doing so may lead to increased breakage due to packing room-temperature tomatoes into hot jars.
Packing Jars
Place a jar on the counter, and add one tablespoon of lemon juice or 1⁄4 teaspoon of citric acid to the bottom. In quarts, the quantities double: 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or 1⁄2 teaspoon of citric acid. Optionally, you can use 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt in pints or 1 teaspoon in quarts.
Once you've added the lemon juice, citric acid, and salt, pack the diced tomatoes into the jar tightly, leaving 1⁄2 inch of headspace. Be sure to press the tomatoes to expel any air and fill in empty spaces with tomato juice. Remove any air bubbles and re-check the headspace, adding tomatoes if necessary. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth, center the lids, and tighten screw bands finger-tightly.
Processing Jars
Place the packed jars back into the hot water bath canner, ensuring that they are submerged by at least 1 inch of water. Place the lid on the canner, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, then process pint or quart jars for 85 minutes. Adjust the processing time for altitudes if necessary. After processing, turn off the heat, wait five minutes, and remove the jars to a towel-lined counter. Allow the jars to stand undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking for proper seals.
Store sealed jars with the rings removed in a cool, dark location for up to 18 months.
When immersing tomatoes in boiling water for peeling, ensure you prepare an ice bath for them to cool quickly, allowing easier skin removal. Furthermore, enhancing the canning foods lifestyle, experimenting with home-canned goodies such as diced tomatoes, applesauce, or pickles can be both enjoyable and cost-effective.
