Putting Food By - Janet Greene [62]
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
B–W Bath, in R-enamel or white enamel cans. Fill to the rim with boiling-hot tomatoes and juice. Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid (or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice) to No. 303 cans, ½ teaspoon citric acid (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice) to No. 401 cans. Fill to the top with boiling juice. (Optional: add ½ teaspoon salt to No. 303 cans, 1 teaspoon salt to No. 401 cans.) If the tomatoes have cooled unavoidably, exhaust to 170 F/77 C (approx. 10 minutes); seal. Process in a B–W Bath (212 F/ 100 C)—35 minutes for No. 303 cans, 45 minutes for No. 401 cans. Remove cans. Cool quickly.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Plain Tomato Sauce (Purée)
This is a handy way indeed to can tomatoes, and it makes a better base for pasta sauces than does Tomato Paste (which many people tend to use too much of in such sauces anyway). The texture should fall about halfway between juice and paste.
Do not add onions or celery, etc., now or you must Pressure-process the sauce.
HANDLING
Use a Boiling–Water Bath. Use Hot pack only. Use ½-pint or pint jars only.
Prepare and sieve the fruits as for Tomato Juice (below). In a large enameled or stainless steel kettle bring the juice to boiling, and boil gently until thickened but not so stiff as Tomato Paste—about 1 hour or a little longer. Stir often so it doesn’t stick.
Hot pack only, in ½-pint or pint jars. Pour into clean scalded jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom in ½-pints, ½ inch in pints. Add ⅛ teaspoon citric acid (or 1½ teaspoons bottled lemon juice) to ½-pints. (Optional: add ½ teaspoon salt to ½-pints.) Add ¼ teaspoon citric acid (or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice) to pints. (Optional: add ½ teaspoon salt to pints.) Adjust lids. Process in a B–W Bath (212 F/100 C)—30 minutes for either ½ pints or pints. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Tomato Paste
If you’re canning many tomatoes, you’ll surely want a few little jars of paste put by too. Work with small batches, because it scorches easily during the last half of cooking. And forgo onions, garlic, celery, etc., because such flavors may not be wanted in delicate sauces you merely want to color with the paste.
HANDLING
Use a Boiling–Water Bath. Use Hot pack only. Use ½-pint jars only.
Carefully wash, peel, trim, and chop the tomatoes, saving all the juice possible (4 to 4½ pounds of tomatoes will make about four ½-pint jars of paste). In an enameled or stainless steel kettle bring the chopped tomatoes to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring to prevent sticking. Remove from heat and put the cooked pulp and juice through a fine sieve or food mill. Measure, return to the kettle, and for every 2 cups of sieved tomatoes add ¼ teaspoon citric acid (or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice). (Optional: add ½ teaspoon salt.) Reheat, and continue cooking very slowly, stirring frequently, until the paste holds its shape on the spoon—about 2 hours more.
Hot pack only, in ½-pint jars. Ladle hot paste into clean hot jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Adjust lids, and process in a B–W Bath (212 F/100 C) for 35 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Tomato Juice
Time out for an interesting point: preparing juice from uncooked tomatoes—in a blender at high speed, or in a food processor—gives a thin product that separates (enzyme action is the reason).
Canned tomato juice is noted for encouraging growth of the highly heat-resistant bacillus that causes flat-sour spoilage, a sneaky and nasty-tasting condition indeed. However, even though the organism is very hard to destroy, it can be avoided quite easily: just follow carefully all the requirements for handling food in a sanitary way.
This care extends from every piece of sterilized equipment to the tomatoes themselves. Choose only firm-ripe, red, perfect tomatoes—no injured ones, none with soft spots or broken skins. Wash them thoroughly. With