How do you can your tomatoes?

[Earl]

Has anyone canned Picardy? It's been my stand-by for a few years now. In '05 I found one called Andes Horn that rivals Picardy, but it's a paste type, prolific, huge plant, and fruit is about 2 by 5 and pointed. Taste is good enough to use sliced. So now, my offical canners are Picardy and Andes Horn.

[clay199]

I am growing Picardy for the first time this year. I hope it to be as good as the testimonials. Just in case I am also growing out 18 other canner types. 5 Heinz types, 5 Campbell types, John Baer, Oregon Spring, Millionaire, Sophie's Choice, Morden Yellow, Pink Shipper, Simpson's Summer Palace, St. Pierre plus 4 Canadian canner types whose names I do not have handy this second. Minimum of 5 of each for 14 of them, and 12 each for the other 9.

I have almost an acre so I am putting half of it into tomatoes.

At the end of the year I think I will know which canner does best for me production wise, and taste wise. My in-laws think I am crazy, my wife thinks it is a good thing to get me talking about something else other than me whining about my GPA.

I am going to have fun this summer.

[Suze]

Another Picardy first timer here. Just set two plants this weekend.

However, I look at just about any variety as a potential canner, and don't really grow 'canner types'. I just cut the fruits in half stem to stern and scoop out much of the seed to keep the finished product from being too watery.

Andes Horn sounds interesting though, especially after seeing the wheelbarrow full you picked last fall (at GW) and reading your comments as to taste. 8)

[clay199]

Earl,
How many did you get off Andes Horn before you took those 180 off with the light frost. It looks kinda late for maturing?

thanks, Clay

[Earl]

Clay,
I don't remember. But I canned a few. I planted them in early June, so they would be considered a late type I reckon.

[Andrey_BY]

Similar to Anden Horn we have Pertsevidny and Pertsevindy Striped (Pertsevidny Polosatij). Both are very productive and excellent for canning.

Here is the list of other Russian/Belarusian/Ukrainian/Moldovan varieties which I usually use for canning:

Anna Herman (somebody somehow named it Russian Lime in 2006 SSE Yearbook)
De Barao (all 4 varieties: red, pink, golden, black)
World's wonder or Lemon-Lean or Miracle of the World
Vezha
Raketa (Rocket)
Onix
Auriga
Lady's Fingers
Khutorskoy Zasolochny
Giraffe
Novogodny (Happy New Year)
- last three are loong keepers
and sometimes Orange-1 even if its skin is not so thick.

Most of these varieties has plum or pepper shape and a very good productivity.

[clay199]

Andrey,
How many kilograms is good productivity?

[Andrey_BY]

For determinate type - more than 1,5 kg from 1 plant; from indeterminate type - more than 3 kg from 1 plant.
But it is only my classification when I transplant them with normal recommended distances :wink:

[jackrabbit183]

Well plum or Roman types of tomatoes we cut in half ,toss in evoo,salt-and-pepperfresh thyme ,lay on sheet pans and oven roast at 300 degrees for about an hour,then into jars and water process.
Great for antipasti and mezze.

[baileyj]

Wow...I never thought of roasting the tomatoes first ! I will definitely try this, this season !

[jackrabbit183]

Hey Bailey slow roasting concentrates the flavor more than the dice and can approach,try it.
Alice

[Hotwired]

I made up a couple of photo-instructionals on canning.

Hotwater Bath Canning for Dummies http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/C...or_Dummies.pdf

Pressure Canning for Dummies http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/C...or_Dummies.pdf

Hotwired

[gnol]

I mill them and reduce the sauce by 50%. Then I use an AA cooker to pressurize them.
I don't have enough jars at the moment so store the rest in the freezer in plastic bags. I would prefer to put all in the freezer but don't have enough room.

[Durgan]

This is how all my produce is handled for long term storage. Over 400 pounds of tomatoes were stored. Total capacity of all garden produce was about 450 litres.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?RJSIZ 17 September 2012 . Tomato Juice.Sixty pounds processed
Sixty pound of tomatoes was processed into 22 litre jars of pure tomato juice in two batches.Each litre of juice contains about three pound of tomatoes. The jars were pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature.Annotated pictures depict the process.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?XZHCV 16 September 2012 . 214 pounds of tomatoes picked 2,5,9,16 September
A total of 513 pounds of tomatoes was picked from about 32 plants over the season.Average 16 pounds per plant. There are probably another 100 or so pounds remaining if the weather holds with no frost.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OCIMO 4 August 2012 Tomato Juice
Seventeen pounds of tomatoes were processed into nine litres of juice. Celery was added, since one plant was available and four beets added to enhance colour. Seven litres wee pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage. Two litres were set aside and stored in the refrigerator for current use.
Note.You must have absolute confidence in your canning method. I read much on the subject, then arrived at my own method using the recommendations as a guide.I use 15 PSI for 15 minutes. This means nothing unless one does it correctly. I bring the whole pot up to 212F by operating without the bubbler in place for about 30 to 40 minutes. Then the bubbler is applied and when 15 PSI is reached I start the 15 minutes timing. The objective is for the contents of the jars to reach 250F for 15 minutes, which kills all bacteria.I do not even contemplate the water method of 212F. It has the potential of being too problematic in my opinion. Pressure canning is dead simple and almost effortless.

More here. http://durgan.org/2011/ My Garden Journal.

[baileyj]

Gnol,
What is an AA cooker? I use a water bath for most, but also have a pressurized canner....but AA ??
JB