My easiest home canned tomato sauce method makes it one of the easiest things to can. A large part is hands off which is a nice way to can.
I love canning with tomatoes. Usually I grow an abundant amount of tomatoes. So many that I give a lot away.
Not so this year. My tomatoes have been pathetic. It is the great disappointment in the garden. Not sure what the culprit is but the heat probably had a lot to do with it. However, my friend Bryn (who has an amazing green thumb) has generously shared pounds and pounds of tomatoes with us.
After making 63 pints of salsa I thought I should make home canned tomato sauce out of the last load of tomatoes my dad so generously delivered.
Tomato sauce is really easy to make. Only two ingredients: tomatoes and citric acid or lemon juice. Easy peezy.
Well I’m here to make home canned tomato sauce even easier for you. In case you haven’t figured it out, I like to make as many of the things I do easier.
To make tomato sauce you simply take your clean tomatoes and cut them into quarters and core them. Toss them in a large stock pot over medium heat. The juice from the tomatoes will accumulate in the bottom of the pan so no extra liquid is necessary.
Cook the tomatoes until they are all soft and reduced in size. The traditional method at this point would be to use a food mill and strain out all the good pulp, leaving the seeds and skin behind. Well, I have a food mill and I have done it that way many times…..shoulder aching from all the turning and turning of the food mill. “NO MORE!”I said to myself.
Enter the trusty Vita Mix. I looked at that wonderful appliance last summer and said, “Vita Mix, you can liquefy anything. Why not tomatoes?” So into the Vita Mix went my cooked tomatoes. Skin. Seed. Everything. It took a few batches before the large stock pot was pureed. The time it took was less than five minutes. My shoulder was grateful.
I puree it on high speed until I don’t see any more seeds floating around. Dump it into a clean pot and keep going until it is all done.
That was easy step number ONE. Here is the SECOND easy step courtesy of my friend Kirsten.
The clean pot that I dump the tomato puree into must be oven proof. ‘Why?” you ask me. Because rather than stir that pot on the stove for way too long (shoulders hurting again…FYI: weakest part of my body) you put it in the oven and let the oven do the work. Most of the time I do this before bed and dream the night away (thanks to my house smelling of cooking tomatoes). You can also begin this in the morning and finish it before bed.
Set the oven to 200 degrees. Don’t put a lid on your pot. Depending on how much liquid is in your tomatoes and how thick you like your sauce, will depend on how long you cook it. This last time I used a nine quart and a five quart enameled cast iron dutch ovens. I had them in the oven by noon and didn’t take them out until the next morning. (that could be because I have an old horrid oven.)
You can see in the photo that it reduced by about two inches (5 quart pot)
(nine quart pot)
Don’t be tempted to increase the temperature. You might get it done more quickly but you will have to scrape a blackened layer off the top (I’m sure you can guess how I know this).
If you are doing it all day long and can stir it occasionally, you can play with the temperature more.
When I used to use the dreaded food mill I would cook it down by half. One of the benefits of pureeing all the skin and seeds is that it makes it a little thicker to begin with. (higher yield is a good thing)
Once it is cooked to your desired consistency you can put it into your clean, hot jars. Make sure you put either 1/4 teaspoon citric acid OR 1 tablespoon lemon juice into each PINT size jar (1/2 teaspoon citric acid OR 2 tablespoons lemon juice per QUART jar). Leave 1/2 inch head space. Put your lids on the cleaned rims of your jars and a screw band to finger-tight.
You can process the tomato sauce in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes if using pints or 40 minutes if using quarts. Or you can do what I did since I had 14 pints and pressure can it at 10 lbs pressure for 15 minutes. For the pressure canner make sure you leave 1 inch of head space. Please, only use the pressure canner if you are experienced at using it.
Here are some links from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and Oregon State University Extension Office in case you are new to canning. If new to canning, please start with boiling water bath canning.
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_sauce.html
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/malheur/sites/default/files/canning_tomatoes_and_tomato_products_english.pdf
(Just to make sure it was safe, last summer I checked with the OSU Extension Office about leaving the seeds and skin in the sauce and the food preservation specialist said it was fine. Call me overly cautious but I’ve watched the first episode of the old TV show “Emergency” in which they had a case of Botulism. Better safe than sorry.)
Happy canning,
Karen
PS: I feel it necessary to warn you. If you choose to start on the road of food preservation, in as little as three years, you could be living on a farm in the middle of no where, planting a huge garden, and have chickens and goats. Your daily attire will always include Wranglers and cowboy boots (not the cute kind). Think long and hard on this warning.
Dear Karen- YAY!!! 63 pints of salsa. You a working woman.( Not like you weren’t before.) Our tomatoes have been pathetic too this year. But I’ve not had truckloads donated. Lucky you. You are the perfect recipient because you’ll do something with them. And, you share. 🙂 I love your oven tip. that tis so awesome. I will remember that the next time I am making sauce. Have a great day! xo
The last time I made salsa was in 2013. A HUGE bumper crop. I was left with two jars by the time summer was here this year and I gave a bunch away. Last year I focused on tomato sauce and canned tomatoes.
Yes, the oven tip was a life saver. You don’t have to worry about the bottom burning (which I have to worry about since I’m always doing at least five things at a time)
Enjoy your day….here’s to a bumper crop of tomatoes for everyone next summer.
Karen
No tomatoes. Plums, peppers, cukes all doing very good and then a bunch of big green tomatoes. My sis did her plums in the Vita Mix also and said it was a huge help. I’ll be watching for one! Supposed to be a big cool down here in Idaho so hope those tomatoes start doing something.
I have heard the same thing from so many people. My friend (Bryn) had a bumper crop this year. However, she has an enormous growing rack to get her starts going early. By the time she puts her tomato starts in the ground they are about two feet tall.
Michael is going to build us a larger rack this winter. I’ll use larger pots (less transferring). But even then, I bought 9 big plum tomato plants out of desparation and all I have at this point is a lot of green tomatoes just like you. Everything else in the garden is growing nicely. Just posted today’s harvest on Facebook.
I’m just hoping next year will be better for all of us.
Take care,
Karen
Sorry ’bout your tomato garden! The four I put in this year (cuz I still have plenty preserved from all those tomatoes from several years past) are doing well; well enough that I will again make some tomatoe/marinara sauce. The vita mix is a great idea, though I will probably still run mine through the foley. However, the method I accidentally discovered to reduce the liquid is easier than using the oven (at least I think so). I just pour the sauce into a cheesecloth-lilned sieve and let it sit over an appropriately sized bowl until I like the consistency. Discovered this method years ago when I left a bowl full of sauce over night in the sink (thankfully!)……the next morning it was sauce! I investigated and discovered a hairline crack in the bowl, and voila! a new method was born!
The last year we gardened with you gave me enough salsa to last two years! I’m just hoping it was only this year. I really need tomatoes every year.
Hope all is well with everything,
Hugs,
Karen
Dear Canning Queen,
Question… what if I roasted the tomatoes in chunks (without olive oil) in a hot oven to reduce them then blended and canned them as per your post? Do you think that would work?
XOXO,
A BIG Fan… :o)
Well, according to the “Food in Jars” lady a small amount of Olive Oil is ok in a canned product. Just not a bunch. Also, I would wipe my rims with a paper towel that has vinegar on it.
Dropped off your boxes and some cucumbers when I was in town today.
Those new goats of yours are gorgeous! I can see why you couldn’t resist.
Hugs,
Karen
Karen, you are amazing!! Always look forward to what is new on the farm. Hope you celebrated your birthdays in style!!
Love Pinky
Well, not really. Just trying to figure out ways to get it all done 🙂
I hope you are all doing well. Michael and Joshua said the service was lovely.
Take care,
Karen