LibraryLover Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) In additional to the price, this time of year the fresh tomatoes taste icky. The canned ones actually taste better than fresh right now. Those hydroponics ( or whatever else they are distributing mid-winter)have no flavor in my opinion. Disgusting taste. I agree. I don't know why there are not more good jarred tomatoes-- just tomatoes, I don't mean sauces etc. The boxed ones are a good alternative. I froze a bit of sauce from tomatoes made from my garden, but we had a terrible problem with blight this past summer. Everyone here did. Very sad. The San Marzano tomatoes from Italy come in cans, and those are my favorites. Edited January 10, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevergiveup Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Yes, you can add lemon juice, vinegar, or citric acid to canned tomatoes, but it affects the flavor. I like to grow and can Rutgers which is an older variety that is naturally more acidic so I can forego the added acids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I always use a pressure cooker to process my tomatoes. If you're canning tomatoes in their own juice in a boiling water canner, the processing time would be 85 minutes. I just feel safe, plus the actual canning time being short, with using a pressure canner. I also add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart. I do not notice it affecting the taste, however, we don't eat the tomatoes straight from the jar. They are used in cooking. If the smell or color is off, or if it didn't seal properly, it gets dumped immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My dh's family is Italian and every September we can about 1,000 pounds of tomatoes from a pick-your-own farm nearby. You remind me that this month "Saveur" magazine (my very favorite food publication) has a black and white photo on the back-page of sturdily-built Sicilian women making estratto di pomodora (or tomato paste for the less romantic) the really old-fashioned way. They smear pureed tomatoes on big pinewood boards the size of front-doors with their hands (it looks like over-sized finger paints) and they let the paste dry in the hot sun 10 days. I thought I'd mention it for people who think home-canning is too easy :D Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 You remind me that this month "Saveur" magazine (my very favorite food publication) has a black and white photo on the back-page of sturdily-built Sicilian women making estratto di pomodora (or tomato paste for the less romantic) the really old-fashioned way. They smear pureed tomatoes on big pinewood boards the size of front-doors with their hands (it looks like over-sized finger paints) and they let the paste dry in the hot sun 10 days. I thought I'd mention it for people who think home-canning is too easy :D Bill My father-in-law makes this! Although he uses a food dehydrator rather than sun and boards. Such a cheater. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmomtutu Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 http://www.weckcanning.com/ you can find them at specialty stores...or online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumping In Puddles Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 * On second thought two dozen jars for canning would be pretty pricey. But you only take the hit on the first time you use the jars. Unless you break them, you should get many years of use out of them. I think the ikea jars are only for storage, not canning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muffinmom Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 http://www.weckcanning.com/ you can find them at specialty stores...or online. lovely jars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 But you only take the hit on the first time you use the jars. Unless you break them, you should get many years of use out of them. I think the ikea jars are only for storage, not canning. Are they for storage only? I don't know. I have some similar Italian and French jars with gaskets, and I use them for storage, but in the back of my mind I thought they could be used for canning. But I could be (way) wrong. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 But the lined cans do contain BPA's. According to the Dec Consumer Report testing on BPA's, even canned goods that were organic and sold as BPA free cans still registered risky levels of BPA's. So is it *only* the cans with the white linings inside that contain BPAs? Or can it be in any of them (even w/o the white lining)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 If you're canning tomatoes in their own juice in a boiling water canner, the processing time would be 85 minutes. I just feel safe, plus the actual canning time being short, with using a pressure canner. . I've water bath canned and my mom and grandmother did for years before that. I have never heard of a water bath taking 85 minutes. I think it's about 25 minutes for a batch. Even at high altitudes it wouldn't be that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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