There are loads of different ways to preserve tomatoes. I don’t know if there is another vegetable that is as versatile when it comes to canning as the homely tomato. While I may be largely falling out of love with gardening the more I raise my own meat, there are a few staples that I will always grow for storage and/or preserving. Onions and potatoes for storage, corn for freezing, and tomatoes for canning.
My Nana is the one who taught me how to make sauce several years ago, and to this day I still do it the way she taught me. Like pretty much everything else in my life, I have taken the foundations I was taught and expanded upon them. This has led me to new varieties of tomatoes as well as new preparations for me to preserve.
I preserve different tomato types in different ways depending on which they are best suited for. Some make better sauce, others hold their shape better for diced, whole peeled, etc. You will find what varieties you enjoy growing most and for what purpose. Like anything else worth doing, it’s as lot of work, but having shelves full of every type of tomato style you need in the dead of winter cannot be beat!
This post is not a “how to preserve” post that tells you how to can every different type. But, a post to highlight some different ways to preserve tomatoes. Hopefully this gives you some new ideas you have never tried before
Types of Preserves
- Sauce: I would say that this is the most versatile of ways to preserve tomatoes. For sauce, I reserve my family heirlooms for their tenderness, incredible sweetness and flavor, as well as paste types for added thickness. I can my sauce plain/unflavored that way I can use it for whatever I want. Spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, lasagna, goulash, ratatouille, soup, the possibilities are endless! Sometimes you want it spicy, sweet, or a little acidic. I don’t want to box myself into a flavor profile off the bat! Not to mention tomatoes are not the same year after year. Depending on the garden season’s weather, sometimes they’re naturally sweeter, other times they’re more acidic. There is no “one size fits all” recipe that will work year after year. Also, flavors develop as they sit on the shelf in the jar, and I may not like what I get. I prefer to incorporate fresh flavors after I’ve cracked that jar open and taste as I go depending on what I’m making.
- Diced: Another pantry staple for everyone, diced tomatoes come in handy for anything and everything (read versatile!). Rice dishes, slow cooked meats, soups, stews, or even a chunkier sauce can all use diced tomatoes. For these, a firmer tomato is ideal, as it will hold its shape during the dicing and canning process.
- Crushed: Now, this is where things get a little tough on distinction. Crushed versus puree, well, I don’t see the difference with store-bought . Some say crushed are chunkier, whereas puree is well, pureed! But, I have had my fair share of “crushed” tomatoes that are a distinct pureed consistency, much like my sauce. So in my world crushed = chunky. Whole peeled tomatoes, cooked down and pulverized with the potato masher into a chunky, yet soft consistency. Crushed can be used in many of the same dishes as diced, so I used the same tomatoes with a few family heirlooms thrown in the mix. The crushed aren’t as firm as the diced, and are a saucier consistency rather than the distinct diced tomato pieces. Think somewhere between a sauce and diced.
- Whole Peeled: Whole peeled definitely have their own place in certain dishes where you want the distinct whole tomato intact. I use mine in thick stews, pulled chicken, certain pasta dishes, and mexican rice. For whole, San Marzano or another type of paste tomato is ideal because they are firm, have minimal seeds and gel, and don’t break down when canning. They hold their shape and hold up well to all the handling and heat through the blanching and canning process. They are a pantry must!
- Salsa: Salsa is much more than just a delicious dip for tortilla chips. It can also be added to burrito bowls, as well as pulled chicken or turkey!
- Soup: I absolutely love tomato soup. Combined with grilled cheese in the dead of winter, it makes for one of my all time favorite comfort foods. I have a very particular taste for it though, and I don’t like it “vegetably”. For me, tomato basil soup is the only way to go. I have always made it in the middle of winter as I need it for dinner, but the problem always is I don’t have fresh basil in the middle of winter! Which means I have to go to the store for just basil (because everything else is a pantry staple!) which is just annoying. So this year I thought, why not make a big batch and can it now while basil is abundant and save the headache later? Well I did, and I am so glad I did!!
This is far from an all inclusive list of all the ways to preserve tomatoes. I didn’t even touch on dehydrating ( I don’t do it) but I know people are a huge proponent of it. Hopefully, I highlighted a different preserves you never thought to try before that you can experiment with this canning season!
Happy Preserving,
I am a carnivore through and through, which I believe is evident by how we raise our own pigs, chickens, and lamb for our consumption. I dare say a meal for me is not truly complete without some kind of animal protein. However, as they say there is an exception to every rule, and my exception is corn on the cob.
From the Fourth of July until the weather really changes in September, I eat corn on the cob every chance I can. I even happily will break my “must have meat” rule and sacrifice animal protein for this seasonal delicacy. Its season is a flash in the pan, and while the eating is good I take full advantage.
All good things must come to an end and sadly that doesn’t exclude my unapologetic binge eating of corn. But thankfully, you can preserve the summers bounty and get that fresh summer taste in the depths of winter by properly freezing it. While it may not be corn on the “cob”, it tastes like it was freshly cut from the cob just picked, which is about as good as you can possibly get.
You can use this method to freeze as little or as much corn as you want. I try to freeze two bushels a year, and usually do it a bushel at a time. It’s one of those things that you have to get set up and you are going to make a mess anyway, so why not do a bunch?
What You Need:
- Fresh corn (make sure it’s fresh picked and not overly mature)
- Large stockpot with lid
- Clean food grade bucket
- Propane burner/propane (this makes a big mess so I always do it outside!)
- Sharp knife
- Bundt pan
- Large colander
- Large tongs
- Freezer Bags
- Cookie sheet/dish to put cut corn in
- Table to “work” on with a hose closeby
Directions:
- Get your work station set up. Fill your stock pot with water, and get it boiling on the propane burner. Fill the food grade bucket with very cold water (I use the garden hose). Clean off your table and have your bundt pan, colander, and knife ready with the cookie sheet or dish close by.
- While the water is boiling, get to shuckin’. This is admittedly the crappiest part that happens right off the bat, but sadly necessary.
- Once your water is at a full rolling boil and your corn is all shucked, add 8-12 ears of corn to the pot. Put the lid on, and wait until it reaches a full rolling boil again. This will take a couple minutes. Once it does, check your watch and time it for 2-3 minutes (2 minutes for smaller ears, 3 minutes for large ears) **The amount you add depends on the size of your pot and the corn. You aren’t looking to fill it, it cooks quickly. For a 22 quart pot, I add 10-12 ears at a time.
- After the time is up, quickly grab the corn with the tongs and put into your bucket of very cold water (try to minimize the amount of boiling water that goes in). You are blanching the corn, so you need the water to be very cold so it can stop the cooking process. Be prepared to dump and refill the water before each new batch of corn. It has to be cold!
- Once the corn is cool to the touch after a few minutes, put the ears in your large colander so the water can drain off.
- Then, grab an ear and place it vertically pointed side down into the hole in the bundt pan. Using your sharp knife, cut the kernels off the cob being careful to get as close to the cob as you can without actually cutting chunks of the cob off. Using the hole in the bundt pan prevents the cob from sliding around and slipping, while the kernels are captured below to reduce mess.**There is a tool that is specifically for cutting corn off the cob, which I used to use. However, it didn’t cleanly cut the kernels off and make it more of a “cream style” texture. I prefer whole kernels which you can only get from cutting with a knife.
- Continue cutting the kernels off the cob and dump into your larger container as your bundt pan fills up. Once you have prepared all of your corn, freeze it in bags (either ziploc or vacuum sealed) being careful to get all of the air out.
- Enjoy the fresh cut from the cob taste all winter long!
Once you get into a groove, you can do a lot of corn in a short amount of time. When you hit your stride, you will have corn boiling while some is cooling in the bucket and simultaneously cutting kernels off the cob at the same time. You don’t need to take it from Step 1-6 before starting back over again, multitasking is the name of the game!
In the words of the great Lidia Bastianich “waste not, want not”. Like Lidia, I really hate wasting food. It genuinely makes me feel guilty, which is why I always try and utilize as much of the animal/vegetable as possible. Whatever scraps I do have I handle accordingly (aka feed to my dogs or pigs!)
Sometimes you just need a couple tablespoons of something like tomato paste or chipotle peppers in adobo. Even though you can buy those tiny jars, it’s still too much! You use what you need, put the rest in the fridge, and then by the time you need it again you grab it and it’s covered in mold. Very wasteful and not to mention inconvenient! I don’t know about you, but i’m not looking to leave the house to buy one small jar of a missing ingredient.
So one night after I had whipped up a tasty batch of charred jalapeno, avocado, and cilantro dressing for fish tacos, I stared at the leftovers trying to figure out what to do. It was so good I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, chickens wouldn’t eat it, it would burn my dogs and pig’s insides, and if I put it in the fridge it would get pushed into the back and forgotten about like so many things do. So, freezing was my option. I didn’t want to just throw it all in a freezer bag because then it may be too much later on, and I’d be in the same boat again. I wanted small portions, enough to spread on a sandwich, toss in a salad, put a dollop on grilled chicken breast, whatever!
Insert lightbulb moment. Ice cube trays! Small, easy to make portions, and can be frozen and popped out so I can just toss them in a bag and grab them individually to thaw. Such a simple concept, but I felt like I had discovered fire! No more hairy chipotle peppers or tomato paste, no need to crack a whole jar of beef stock if I just want a small amount for a burst of flavor, and if I want to spread some pesto on a sandwich I have the perfect amount. Literally any sauce or dressing you make, and ingredients you buy like chipotle peppers, tomato paste, sundried tomatoes, etc will freeze.
It’s so ridiculously easy to do. Give the cavities a quick light coating with oil so everything pops out easier, and pour in your contents. I would just recommend pureeing the really chunky stuff before freezing, so you can immediately use it once its thawed. Throw it in the freezer (no need to cover) and a couple hours later once everything is solid, pop them out into a freezer bag and label! DONE!
Use your ice cube trays for more than just water, and you will be more organized in the kitchen with ingredients on hand that are already prepared. You’ll also save yourself some time and money!
My dad used to make grape juice when I was a kid and I loved it. I grew up in Northwest PA, where grapes grow quite well thanks to the climate the Great Lakes create. So, when I moved into my house in Massachusetts I was quite excited to see that there were multiple Concord grape vines loaded! Now there are different ways to make grape juice whether you use an actual juicer, boil them in water, etc. But, I prefer the old fashioned way which is just whole grapes with some sugar hot pressed in jars. Albiet there is a waiting period with this method, but for me it only builds the anticipation!
Ingredients
- Whole Concord grapes
- Raw sugar
- Boiling water
- Half gallon mason jars
- Rings and lids
- Two canning funnels (one for wet one for dry)
Directions
- Wash half gallon jars to sterilize and set aside. Place rings and lids in a saucepan with simmering water. Get a large stockpot of water boiling on the stove while you pick grapes from cluster, discarding bad ones and wash well in warm water.
- Line jars up in an assembly line, while using a funnel add 2 ups of grapes to each jar until all grapes are using. *If using quart sized jars use 1 cup of grapes
- Using another funnel (or dry your first one) add 1/2 – 1 cup of sugar to each jar (half for quarts). The natural sweetness/tartness of the grapes varies from year to year so I tend to go on the low side of the sugar so I don’t end up with overly sweet juice. I like it tart!
- Working one jar at a time, add boiling water to jar leaving an inch of headspace and stir to dissolve sugar. Wipe the brim and quickly cover with lid and screw rings on to tighten.
- Once all jars are filled, prepare water bath and boil half gallon jars for 25 minutes and quart jars 15 minutes. Remove jars from bath, place in an area and leave undisturbed until fully cooled and check for any that didn’t seal.
- Once jars are sealed and cooled, move to a cool dark space and let sit for at least two months at minimum before opening. Grapes will sink to the bottom and fall apart while liquid will be deep purple. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher, pressing to expel any juice.