And so it begins. The season of tomatoes. The primary reason I moved to a community garden plot two seasons ago was to have the capacity to grow enough of my own tomatoes to can a year's worth of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Last year, I succeeded but I also tossed the skins, cores and scraps of my first few batches because I didn't know any better!
Since then, I have been enlightened by Erica over at Northwest Edible Life. It turns out, you can save all those scraps and turn them into sauce - and even if you bought your tomatoes, it's basically free since the sauce is from things you would have thrown out anyway!
I follow Erica's directions but do a couple things differently.
- I use a slow cooker
I cook my initial batch of scraps on high in my slow cooker, blend it and strain it into a different bowl. Then I rinse my slowcooker and put everything back in. I cook it on high without a lid until reduced to the thickness I like (about half). - I use a pressure canner
I prefer pressure canning tomatoes in part because it's faster but also because I grow different colors of tomatoes and am unsure of their accidity levels. I just feel better about canning them in a pressure canner instead of a boiling water canner due to the acidity issue. If you want to try this, too, process pints 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
Supplies
- Tomato skins, seeds and scraps
- Immersion Blender
- Canning jars, lids, rings
- Bottled lemon juice or citric acid
- Standard caning tools
(jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, funnel, etc)
- Slow cooker
- Pressure Canner
or Water-Bath Canner
Directions
Find the directions online at Northwest Edible Life: Stop Throwing Away Free Tomato Sauce
About the Author:
Carissa B is a cookbook author and busy mom of two creative boys. The owner and lead writer at Creative Green Living, she has won multiple awards for her work on Creative Green Living including the "Best Green Lifestyle Blogger" award in 2019 from ShiftCon.
She is the author of the hardcover cookbook, Beautiful Smoothie Bowls, as well as the backyard chicken keeping guide: Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens. Her recipes have been featured in Urban Farm Magazine and in several cookbooks where she was a contributing author. Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living Tribe on Facebook.
She is the author of the hardcover cookbook, Beautiful Smoothie Bowls, as well as the backyard chicken keeping guide: Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens. Her recipes have been featured in Urban Farm Magazine and in several cookbooks where she was a contributing author. Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living Tribe on Facebook.
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Thank you for the tips Carissa! I had never thought of canning tomatos (bad Malia!)... I appreciate your post!
ReplyDeleteGreat reminder!! Thank you for sharing on Foodie Fridays! :)
ReplyDeletei have been blanching and removing skins always on tomatoes, and recently deseeding as well. i began cooking down the juice, seeds, cores and skins until is was almost a paste getting ready to scorch at the bottom. i press through a food mill and pour into silicone ice cube trays. i add one or two cubes into every batch of sauce i make out of my frozen tomatoes. it feels so good not to waste and to not have to buy cans of tomato paste!
ReplyDelete