Today's Pick: Big Beef, Purple Haze, BTD, Earl's Faux - Now Marinara Sauce!!

[rnewste]

Used an eclectic grouping of toms today to make my first marinara sauce of the season.

Big Beef is just pumping them out. This pick today was only 25% of the red toms on my 2 plants:


Used some BTD, Purple Haze, SOTW, and Earl's Faux - - 16 quarts through the Food Processor, skins, seeds and all:


Each Earl's Faux weighed in at just about 14 to 16 ounces:


..and after 5 hours on medium heat, the 16 raw quarts yielded 6 quarts of "Yum-Jars":


Ray

[salix]

Ooh, what a treat that will be mid-winter! Just love the sight of full jars - and the sound of the "pings" as they seal. I am very jealous, but looking forward to doing the same in about two months time (with luck and no early freezes). Actually, the temperature dipped to just one degree above freezing three days ago... No damage to anything though.

[ContainerTed]

A question comes to mind here. When you can the toms, do you mix the different type and colors, or is it reds with reds, yellows with yellows, variety with variety, etc. ????

[Zana]

Last year I did the reds/pinks together, the yellow/oranges together, the blacks/purples together in the different jars of sauce I put up. Made for some interesting colours! And great flavours too. Made some tomato coulis and sorbet from the base sauces. The black/purple made really intense flavoured coulis and sorbet. The yellow/orange was really different and verrrrry light in comparison.

[Gardening Grammy]

OK Ray..........cause I'm new to this........quick question!

You didn't peel the tomatoes or seed them??? Just put the whole thing through a food processor.....WOW! That sounds easy enough. No salt, pepper, lemon juice or anything???

Here's my tomatoes for the day. I know they're a little green, but I'm fighting off birds or bugs or some other critter trying to eat 'em.

[rnewste]

Grammy,

I did add sea salt, Italian seasoning, a whole pepper and onion. I did want to capture the nutritional benefits of the skin and seeds, hence running them through the food processor to keep into the mix. Tastes pretty good.

Ray

[Zana]

That's basically what I do too, Ray. Easy-peasy.

[kdawg39]

Tomatoes are very borderline in terms of PH, so almost all modern canning recipes insist on some form of acidification:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_03/...#acidification

[Dukerdawg]

Kdawg, that is true and important. That is why I always freeze my sauce. That way I can put whatever I want in and not have to worry about adding flavor enhancers such as lemon juice or vinegar...which isn't that bad for salsa, but not conducive IMHO for pasta sauce.

Duane

[Earl]

Tomato Acidity info from

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...on/DJ1097.html

Tomatoes are generally considered a high acid food item with a pH below 4.6. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation has been printed in the popular press about "low acid" tomatoes referring to those with a sweet, non-tart taste. These tomatoes are often white, yellow, or pink in color but are not low in acid content. The higher sugar masks the acidic flavor.
Researchers at USDA and at the University of Minnesota have found that most underripe to ripe, cooked tomatoes have a pH below 4.6. Unfortunately, a few varieties may have a pH above or close to 4.6. These include Ace, Ace 55VF, Beefmaster Hybrid, Big Early Hybrid, Big Girl, Big Set, Burpee VF Hybrid, Cal Ace, Delicious, Fireball, Garden State, Royal Chico, and San Marzano. Some of these are grown for commercial purposes and are not found in home gardens. However, safely canning these varieties requires additional acid for water bath processing or a pressure canning process similar to low acid vegetables.

[Gardening Grammy]

So a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar per quart would do it?

[jwr6404]

Ray
Keep posting pictures as I'm waiting to see your SRH/Rostova since it appears I won't have any this year.

[Ruth_10]

So a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar per quart would do it?

You must add lemon juice or vinegar or citric acid (citric acid may least affect the taste and thus be the best choice) if you are canning any of the "low acid" types Earl lists and you want to water-bath can them. If you are growing "normal" acidic tomatoes, you may add acid or not as you wish. I don't grow any considered low acid so I don't add additional acid and I water-bath process them.

If you add any seasonings (other than salt) and in particular anything like onions or peppers, you must pressure can them according to directions.

Having home canned tomatoes to use over the winter is wonderful. Well worth the effort, IMO!

[rnewste]

Thanks for the clarification Ruth. I want to avoid buying a pressure cooker, so I will now add the green pepper and onion to simmer in when I go to use the marinara sauce in my pasta.

Ray

[kdawg39]

It's interesting -- this one extension seems to suggest it's okay to pack tomatoes without additional acid. However, this advice isn't supported by the USDA's canning guide:

http://www.foodsaving.com/canning_guide/

Or the National Center for Home Food Preservation:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_03/tomato_intro.html

I'm not trying to scare anybody: tomatoes processed properly without acid adjustments are probably safe most of the time. Adding citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar has a negative effect on flavor. However some varieties do have a ph at or above 4.6. There are thousands of varieties, so it's impossible to test all of them and have a definitive list. Growing conditions can also effect ph. The spoilage rates are probably quite low, but botulism is highly toxic. Hence the recommendation to adjust all recipes.

Originally Posted by Earl

Tomato Acidity info from

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...on/DJ1097.html

Tomatoes are generally considered a high acid food item with a pH below 4.6. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation has been printed in the popular press about "low acid" tomatoes referring to those with a sweet, non-tart taste. These tomatoes are often white, yellow, or pink in color but are not low in acid content. The higher sugar masks the acidic flavor.
Researchers at USDA and at the University of Minnesota have found that most underripe to ripe, cooked tomatoes have a pH below 4.6. Unfortunately, a few varieties may have a pH above or close to 4.6. These include Ace, Ace 55VF, Beefmaster Hybrid, Big Early Hybrid, Big Girl, Big Set, Burpee VF Hybrid, Cal Ace, Delicious, Fireball, Garden State, Royal Chico, and San Marzano. Some of these are grown for commercial purposes and are not found in home gardens. However, safely canning these varieties requires additional acid for water bath processing or a pressure canning process similar to low acid vegetables.