Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

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ponyexpress
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Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#1

Post: # 29040Unread post ponyexpress
Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:39 am

I've been canning tomatoes for a few years with my pressure canner.

What I do is wash my tomatoes, chop them up into large chunks and feed them into my Kitchen Aid Mixer Food Mill attachment.

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Then I cook down the puree to the consistency that I like, put it into QT mason jars with some lemon juice (forget the quantity, I think 2 TSP). Fill to 1/2" from top and then can them according to the manual.

Some questions I have:

1. Do people use any tomatoes, not just paste style? I threw in some beefsteaks like Brandywine, Boxcar Willie since they were on hand and going bad.

2. In some videos, I see people blanch tomatoes for 1-2 minutes before putting them in a food mill. Should I have done this?

3. It seems that I get a lot of waste coming out of my food mill. Not sure if that's typical.

4. For canning whole tomatoes, any techniques to recommend? In the past, I blanch tomatoes, peel the skin, and remove the core/seeds inside so I'm just left with the outer layer. This is easy to do with paste varieties. I packed the tomatoes into the jar and then top with water. It seems that the tomatoes get reduced a lot in cooking such that there's a lot of water in the jar. I think I'll use sauce/puree instead of water.

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karstopography
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#2

Post: # 29041Unread post karstopography
Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:45 am

I don’t know about the canning, but I froze 15 pounds or so of tomatoes whole earlier this year and I regret I didn’t freeze 5 times that amount. They peel so very easily once partially thawed and are wonderful for making sauces, bursting with fresh tomato flavor.
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brownrexx
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#3

Post: # 29049Unread post brownrexx
Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:28 am

I also freeze a couple of bags of whole tomatoes and they are wonderful to use in cooking. I also skin, chop and freeze a number of pints of tomatoes that are the same size as a can of tomatoes.

I no longer do any canning.

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ponyexpress
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#4

Post: # 29052Unread post ponyexpress
Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:35 am

karstopography wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:45 am but I froze 15 pounds or so of tomatoes whole earlier this year and I regret I didn’t freeze 5 times that amount. They peel so very easily once partially thawed and are wonderful for making sauces, bursting with fresh tomato flavor.
My friend does this technique. I guess I will have to try this in conjunction with canning. I wonder how the taste compares.

[mention]karstopography[/mention] & [mention]brownrexx[/mention] , do you do this for all your variety of tomatoes or just certain ones?

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#5

Post: # 29059Unread post brownrexx
Tue Aug 25, 2020 10:57 am

[mention]ponyexpress[/mention] I usually save the Big Beef perfectly round ones with no blemishes but I have also successfully frozen the large Brandywine's whole.

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#6

Post: # 29062Unread post karstopography
Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:44 am

I froze Carmello, roma, san Marzano, top gun, a pretty wide variety. The juicier ones are still juicier when thawed, the drier types, drier. I just plop them whole into a freezer bag, freeze and take them out as needed to thaw. 9 times out of ten, the skin didn’t even crack. Most of the ones I froze were small to medium sizes, maybe up to 9 ounces or so. I didn’t freeze any particularily large ones. I started freezing them a little later in our season when the tomatoes trend a little smaller. Good and very ripe ones really come out with the biggest fresh tomato flavor once thawed. They mostly fall apart so they work well for sauces. I pull off the tops and cores when they have thawed a little and take off the skin, which takes just seconds after they thaw a bit.

I like fresh type tomato sauces with herbs and or meat for pasta and these frozen tomatoes work for that. I reduce them on the stove if I want a thicker sauce.

It’s just so easy, it’s worth it testing out a few pounds of ripe tomatoes in the freezer. If the end product isn’t up to your expectations, then no great loss.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#7

Post: # 29090Unread post JRinPA
Tue Aug 25, 2020 5:40 pm

1. Do people use any tomatoes, not just paste style? I threw in some beefsteaks like Brandywine, Boxcar Willie since they were on hand and going bad.

2. In some videos, I see people blanch tomatoes for 1-2 minutes before putting them in a food mill. Should I have done this?

3. It seems that I get a lot of waste coming out of my food mill. Not sure if that's typical.
1. I use anything but paste tomatoes, honestly. I find that paste tomatoes like Roma compare poorly to slicers when it comes to taste. Some people say they taste better after cooking. By that logic, if cooked paste tomatoes taste better, it explains why cooked down slicers taste wonderful. I still don't see the point of paste tomatoes for my garden. I'd love to find a good one. I've only tried a few, San Marzano, Roma - they didn't taste great. Costoluto Genovese would rot on the vine/unproductive.
2. That will depend on the mill and your kitchen space. Best bet is to get advice from someone with the same mill setup. With my Victorio with little 50 watt drive motor, I much prefer cold press for tomatoes, then into pots to simmer. I have tried the blanch first. I think it is in the victorio instruction manual, even, to blanch and mill. Well, maybe with hand crank, but not with the steady drive. Hot tomatoes back up and clog up and are a lot more work. Plus, won't they sop up some hot water...that you have to boil off later? With tomatoes through a Victorio the key is too never have the chute back up and form a vacuum. Pears get simmered and done hot and soft for pear sauce, but tomatoes go through cold. Roasted sauce with peppers and everything that has been hours in the oven goes through warm/hot just fine, but that is far past blanched.
3. Waste? It is mostly seed and skins, or it should be. I take the waste bowl and run that through a champion juicer, just one pass, to get an frothy/foamy bowl that tastes pretty good. That goes in the sauce. Further passes are not worth it to me.

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#8

Post: # 29091Unread post EdieJ
Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:12 pm

I do wash & core my tomatoes for freezing but don't do anything else. I love how easily the skins come off while thawing. We don't grow any specifically for freezing, we just take whatever is on the counter when they start piling up. Makes for some interesting soups! I even freeze cherry tomatoes.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#9

Post: # 29092Unread post worth1
Tue Aug 25, 2020 6:39 pm

The tomato waste makes great chicken and duck feed with or without clabbered milk.
Light years beyond commercial eggs and poultry meat.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#10

Post: # 29093Unread post JRinPA
Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:41 pm

Or...vegetarian sausage?

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#11

Post: # 29329Unread post JRinPA
Fri Aug 28, 2020 10:13 pm

[mention]ponyexpress[/mention]
I remembered your query so I took a few pics today. Milling tomatoes for soup - 1 cold press through the victorio.
The pot as pictured has 7"/9"x12qt=9.3qts. Somewhere around 1-1.5 qt of waste there. I should have checked by filling a pyrex quart. It's probably about 1 quart. That is about usual ratio for 1 cold press. A second press cold through the victorio is not very beneficial as it will quickly clog up. The champion juicer works great for that and for any more fibrous vegetables. The waste shown pressed through the juicer would yield about 1 deep bowl of frothy juice, approx 12 oz.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#12

Post: # 29337Unread post Shule
Sat Aug 29, 2020 5:07 am

[mention]JRinPA[/mention]
Some people like to grow oxhearts as paste tomatoes, on account of their excellent taste, and meatiness.

One reason to grow pastes (other than thick walls and little juice) is for the increased production (especially in a northern climate where later varieties don't get as much of a chance to produce well).

If you have a bunch of pastes and one very flavorful slicer, you might try mixing them together. Tomatoes seem to flavor each other nicely, even if they don't taste as gourmet as a sauce all of a single gourmet variety.

Some slicers really aren't meant to be cooked, though. I mean, like Green Giant. It's way better raw. A good slicer to cook is Peaceful Valley's Beefsteak; it tastes almost the same cooked as it does fresh.

Carbon might be a good one cooked. I know the dehydrated Carbon tomatoes I made were really good (even though I dehydrated them on high heat).
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#13

Post: # 29367Unread post JRinPA
Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:11 pm

What is an example on an oxheart that is used as a paste tomato?

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#14

Post: # 29369Unread post worth1
Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:20 pm

JRinPA wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:11 pm What is an example on an oxheart that is used as a paste tomato?
Just about any that have less seeds and more meat which most fall into this category.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#15

Post: # 29387Unread post friedgreen51
Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:17 pm

I fixed some tomatoes tonight to freeze. I had 3 large Dotsons' Lebanese Hearts, some Park's Whoppers, and Eva Purple Balls. The DLH had very, very few seed and were very large and meaty. This made a nice batch of tomatoes for canning or freezing.

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#16

Post: # 29394Unread post TressJ
Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:20 pm

I use the same Kitchenaid attachment and here are my thoughts,

1. I use any and all ripe they are great all mixed. However if you are canning don't use them if they are going bad and cut off any bruised parts before sending through your Kitchenaid attachment.

2. No need to blanch and peel the tomato prior to using the Kitchenaid attachment when you cook the tomatoes then process whatever you are canning it will kill the nastys. With the exception of an approved and tested recipe that calls for the tomatoes to be cut into a certain size then you want to follow that recommendation. One helpful thought if you do need to blanch and peel buy a bag of ice and put it in a cooler. Also, I always follow the county extension guidelines for safety.

3. The waste re-run the seeds and peels back through the Kitchenaid attachment one time and this will get the rest of the good stuff and only takes a second and looks like beautiful artwork to me :lol: :ugeek:

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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#17

Post: # 29402Unread post Shule
Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:49 pm

worth1 wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:20 pm
JRinPA wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:11 pm What is an example on an oxheart that is used as a paste tomato?
Just about any that have less seeds and more meat which most fall into this category.
I was going to say all of them, but worth's answer is probably better. Flavor-wise, it probably depends, but I don't know which are the best fits for it. I haven't tried pure oxheart sauce/paste; I just remember it coming up on Tomatoville once in a while back when I was there. I have a vague memory of maybe [mention]Labradors[/mention], Carolyn, and [mention]Ginger2778[/mention] being in at least one of the discussions, but I could be mistaken.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#18

Post: # 30282Unread post JRinPA
Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:36 pm

Anyone still doing tomatoes? Seemed like a short season this year. I picked 4 big picks and this latest was smaller. I think I only made 10 qts of soup total with it. There are still some left but for the most part the milling is done for this season. Pears were a bust this year so I only made two batches of pear syrup, no sauce or butter. We still have a lot of each from 2018 which was a huge year for the tree. We only had 2 pints of 2016 syrup left. This year a late freeze killed 95% of the blossoms. Perhaps 100%. There was a second flowering later, pretty sparse, and maybe that is where the 60-80 or so pears we got, came from. 2018, that was a big year, there had to be over a thousand. It is generally a two year tree.

So I'm putting away the mill, maybe for a while, and wanted to comment about my previous thoughts. A cold press can be run through a second time without disassembling a victorio, as long as it was a smallish batch. Sometimes I will mill 40 qts of juice without stopping. Then, it might well bog up before putting all of the scrap back through as a second press. But if I only mill 20 qts, it will eat that scrap and give me a second press before needing to be cleaned. What I do not do, from experience, is to do a cold press for a few qts, then run a second press on that scrap, then start running a first cold press again. That, I think is asking for trouble, because the second presses do tend to pack in and back up the worm.

Second comment, I have been super impressed with this 50 watt chinese motor. Been using it since 2015 I think. I knocked the woodruff key out a few weeks back, and had to press it back in with a C clamp...that is the extent of problems it has given me. I gave it a good cleaning a few minutes ago, and it turns out there is good reason I have been impressed. Not only is it 20% more powerful than I thought...it is actually made in the US. I always stand on the other side so I don't see that sticker. It was part of package deal, the mill, the extra screens, and the motor. The shipping box it came in states VKP250, country of origin, Taiwan. So I guess I assumed the motor was made there too. And yes, I know there is a difference between ROC and PRC. This is from 5/15, so I don't know where they are made nowadays.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#19

Post: # 30285Unread post bower
Thu Sep 10, 2020 6:29 am

I don't have a mill so can't comment on that, but I gave up on stovetop sauces after trying a roasted sauce recipe. The taste was so much better, and also the time - no standing over a pot waiting for it to reduce.
Basic roast sauce recipe: chop tomatoes of any kind into a bowl: toss them with a little evoo, garlic, herbs, salt/pepper optional. Spread in a baking dish, roast at 400F for 30 minutes. Then switch off the oven and leave them in there overnight. Excess moisture evaporates and you are left with a delicious chunky sauce which is extra nice if you have a mix of tomato colors and flavors.
Alternative process is to puree the resulting sauce in a blender. I freeze small containers of this for pizza sauce. Blending takes care of skins if they were not removed before chopping.
IDK why but roasting brings out flavor in tomatoes like nothing else... I have not succeeded in getting anything close on a stovetop.
I freeze all my tomatoes whole in ziplock bags. I find they keep better long term if they are frozen whole. But large frozen tomatoes are more difficult to chop up without waiting for more thawing, which is drippy. So I have gravitated to growing smaller size tomatoes which are easier to work with. Chunks of frozen tomato add amazing flavor and color to curry, paella, soups, stews etc. and if they are small enough to finely slice while frozen they make great pizza toppings as well, no different tasting from fresh. The frozen can be sliced a bit thinner than fresh, and that's the way to do it because they also have a tendency to be 'wet' ie the liquid runs out instead of remaining in the fruit piece.
I admire the effort to make huge batches of sauce during peak harvest, but wow, it's never a good time for me to be standing over a stove. ;)
Still the big benefit of canning is that you don't have to use freezer space to keep long term.
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Re: Tomato Processing/Canning Advice Needed

#20

Post: # 30287Unread post brownrexx
Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:37 am

[mention]Bower[/mention] that roasted sauce sounds good. I peel, and chop my tomatoes and then let them drain for at least 30 minutes before cooking into sauce. I don't like the idea of cooking for long times to drive off water. I feel like it cooks everything else to death and takes a lot of extra time and electricity.

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