Franklin County

   July 2009
 

Simmer tomato sauce and salsa

When facing bushels of fresh tomatoes this growing season, turn the abundance into salsa, tomato sauce, or store for later use.

Select only disease-free, firm fruit for canning; vine-ripened is best. Use a pressure canner for higher-quality, more nutritious tomato products.

Yellow tomatoes are canned by the same method as red tomatoes. This holds true for pink, orange, and other rainbow colors of ripe tomatoes. Varieties can be mixed and matched for salsa  or canned tomato products.

Caution: Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations.

Tomatoes used to be considered an acid food, but some of today's varieties are low-acid. To safely can tomato sauce or whole, crushed or juiced tomatoes, add acid when using a boiling water canner or a pressure canner. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice, or a 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid.

In a pinch, substitute vinegar (4 tablespoons of 5 percent vinegar per quart) instead of lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes. Add sugar, if desired, to offset an acid taste.

Carefully follow the directions when canning tomatoes to prevent the growth of Clostridium Botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism.

Procedure. Wash, remove stems and trim off discolored portions. If bruised, set these tomatoes aside for freezer products.

To prevent sauce from separating, quickly cut about 1 pound of tomatoes into quarters and put directly into saucepan. Heat immediately to boiling while crushing. Continue to slowly add and crush freshly cut tomato quarters to the boiling mixture. Make sure the mixture boils constantly and vigorously while adding remaining tomatoes. Lower heat and simmer five minutes after all tomatoes are added.

If separation of sauce is not a concern,  simply slice or quarter tomatoes into a large saucepan. Crush, heat and simmer for five minutes before pressing.

Press either type of heated tomatoes through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. Heat tomatoes again to boiling. Lower heat and simmer in a large saucepan until sauce reaches desired consistency. Simmer until volume is reduced by one-third for thin sauce, or by one-half for thick sauce.

Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars as mentioned previously. Add 1 teaspoon canning salt to each quart jar if desired. Fill hot jars with hot tomato sauce; leave 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust lids.

Process in a boiling water bath canner: Process tomato sauce pints for 35 minutes and quarts for 40 minutes. At altitudes between 1000 feet to 3000 feet, process pints for 40 minutes, and quarts for 45 minutes.

Or process in a dial-gauge pressure canner:  Process pint jars for 20 minutes at 6 pounds of
pressure at 0 to 2,000 feet altitude. Process quart jars for 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure at 0 to 2,000 feet altitude.

Or process in weighted-gauge pressure canner: Process pints for 20 minutes at 5  pounds of pressure at 0 to 1,000 feet altitude. (At 10 pounds of pressure in a weighted-gauge canner above 1,000 feet altitude).

Process quart jars for 15 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure at 0 to 1,000 feet altitude. (At 15 pounds of pressure in a weighted-gauge canner above 1,000 feet altitude).

For best quality and nutritional value, use home-canned tomato products within one year.

Source: Quality for Keeps: Tantalizing Tomatoes, University of Missouri Extension guide sheet gh1456 (http://extension.missouri.edu/explorepdf/hesguide/foodnut/gh1456.pdf

Return to the main Franklin County page
		University of Missouri Extension Franklin County Site maintained by: Billie Jo Brenner, brennerbj@missouri.edu Last revised: 07/02/08