Best method/process for managing harvest for canning

TomNJ · August 6, 2011

Over ripe tomatoes are lower in acid and are generally not recommended for canning. If they are not yet over ripe, you may want to freeze them until the tomato mill arrives. Alternatively you could can them today and add some slightly under ripe tomatoes to the batch to help restore the acidity, or add more acid, such as vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid. You should add acid in any event as ripe tomatoes are borderline in pH for canning. I add 1/4 tsp of citric acid per pint, which does not have a noticeable effect on taste. All commercial tomato products contain citric acid.

If they are already fully ripe they will likely not make it to next weekend - they tend to begin rotting within a few days of turning fully ripe, and may ruin the finish on your buffet as well.

Another option is to skin these tomatoes using the boiling water dip method (dip in boiling water for one minute, then into very cold water). This will make the skins easy to peel by hand. It's more work than milling, but I used it for over 30 years before getting my mill, often on 100-200 tomatoes at a time.

TomNJ

August 6, 2011	#11
TomNJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Floyd VA Posts: 767	Over ripe tomatoes are lower in acid and are generally not recommended for canning. If they are not yet over ripe, you may want to freeze them until the tomato mill arrives. Alternatively you could can them today and add some slightly under ripe tomatoes to the batch to help restore the acidity, or add more acid, such as vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid. You should add acid in any event as ripe tomatoes are borderline in pH for canning. I add 1/4 tsp of citric acid per pint, which does not have a noticeable effect on taste. All commercial tomato products contain citric acid. If they are already fully ripe they will likely not make it to next weekend - they tend to begin rotting within a few days of turning fully ripe, and may ruin the finish on your buffet as well. Another option is to skin these tomatoes using the boiling water dip method (dip in boiling water for one minute, then into very cold water). This will make the skins easy to peel by hand. It's more work than milling, but I used it for over 30 years before getting my mill, often on 100-200 tomatoes at a time. TomNJ