Allotments 4 All
Produce => Recipes => Topic started by: supersprout on August 27, 2006, 10:08:46
-
There have been quite a few questions about bottling and preserving toms, so if you're interested this is the way we do it at chateau sprout :)
Preparation
Wash and cut toms in halves or quarters - no smaller!
Pressure cook toms to full pressure, let pressure drop naturally
Clear watery juice will have separated from the flesh. Tip contents of pressure cooker into a seive over the preserving pan. The watery juice will go through, leaving the pulp in the seive.
Put the pulp out of the way to cool.
Start to boil off the juice. Boil until it is syrupy (reduced to about 1/8 of original volume). This juice-boiling helps reduce the volume quickly, and the clear juice will not stick to the bottom of the pan!
Squidge the cooled tomato pulp through the passata machine (we put it through four times to get all the mush we can)
Add mush to syrupy juice in pan.
Bring to boil and simmer for ten minutes to a quarter of an hour, making sure it doesn't stick. We think this short simmering of the pulp keeps a fresher taste.
The passata will be very thick so a spoon will stand up in it.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passata/IMG_0186.jpg)
Bottling
Boil the kettle, put jars in the sink, lids in a bowl, and pour boiling water over everything, including the funnel.
Take the passata off the heat until the last bubble blops.
Put two bottles at a time on the worktop - one to fill, one to transfer the funnel to whilst the lid goes on.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passata/IMG_0187.jpg)
Fill bottle from pan using funnel. If any tomato gets on the jar mouth, wipe it off immediately - the mouth of the jar must be completely clean.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passata/IMG_0188.jpg)
Immediately screw on lid tight. It's not like jam, filling all the jars then topping off - we do them one at a time to make sure the goodies inside stay sterile.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passata/IMG_0189.jpg)
There's always some left over (see bottle on right) - this either gets used during the week, or tipped into the next batch and boiled for a few minutes, then bottled again.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passata/IMG_0190.jpg)
This is posted with a little trepidation, as I know there are REAL experts out there who have been doing it for a lot longer than we have :-[ :P so please post variations and improvements :)
-
well this looks not like i do it, but probably as mamma does! :)
nice piccies.
incidentally, when you say 'unlike jam you put the lids on immediately' well i always put the lids on immediately. sterility is everything when it comes to preserving, imho
where do you get your bottles and lids from? recycled passata jars, or newly purchased?
-
Appreciate the information SS and also the bottling info. Thanks for all your effort.
-
that was so interesting to read and lovely pics to accompany info
where did you get that brilliant looking funnel please?
-
That's great SS,thanks very much.
ps Where did you find that funnel?
-
Thank you for the feedback - it consoled me somewhat finishing off passata early this morning that the recipe would be written down for posterity (aka no.1 son!) - glad you enjoyed it too :)
Svea - agree completely - I shouldn't be so careless with jam :'( ;)
These are new (ish) 1 litre bottles and lids from Bormoli, sold by Franchi - they were on special introductory offer when I got them early this year and even so not cheap, but I expect them to last as long as I do. In theory you should buy new lids each time you use them, but I've tried a few refills and the lids are still behaving perfectly (crossed fingers)
Periwinkle found cheap preserving jars at IKEA: http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/smf/index.php/topic,23578.0.html
That funnel? Would you believe Franchi sell them too!
Happy bottling ;D
-
So you don't then put the bottles in the oven or whatever it is you do when you read american sites and they say after bottling, process for blah minutes at blah pressure....?
-
Nope! :o At the start of the season I did a trial bottle to test the method, couldn't believe it was that easy. I'm sure I got this method here somewhere! Also got these bottles because of the minimal surface area exposed, unlike Kilners/Parfait, and the 'tell tale' dimple in the top.
I do make sure everything is as hot and sterile as it can be, and the lid goes on asap. Did get a giant aluminum pan from eBay to do the water bath method, and haven't needed to use it - though I will if I start with bolognese sauce in bottles (no chances with meat!) EDIT: Boiling water temp won't do for meat, so I'm gonna take no chances, and will try to find a pressure canner - probably from the US - unless someone out there has one you don't use? :P Whilst I was checking the facts about canning meat, I found that one of the reasons for tom sauce storing so well may be its high acid content which is concentrated by all that boiling down. Meat needs higher temps cos of its low acid content. Well, thar you go!
Searching on 'passata' in A4a was a revelation. My favourite method is vaca's posting about an Italian family who filled the bottles with passata and put the lids on, put them into an old oildrum with water, tossed in a few potatoes, and brings them to the boil. When the potatoes were done, they lifted out the bottles ;D
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=72&/topic,12927.0.html
-
This is all so inspirational and useful, many many thanks ;D ;D ;D
Have never ever before grown enough toms to do other than eat them in salads. Different this year, and cannot believe the difference in making your own fresh tomato sauce to the manufactured stuff!
Am off to Italy in 2 weeks time, have been considering buying some bottles out there but think the challenge of getting them home unscathed is just TOO much. But think I may be faced on my return with a mountain of tomatoes to process - I hope...................
-
Oo lucky you, maybe you could bear to get a few of different sizes to try out for portion size etc - the jars that Franchi sell aren't cheap, but the cost per use should reduce over the years. I like Robert B's idea of freezing the surplus when you open a large bottle, not sure that will ever happen here, that leftover half bottle in the pic had 'disappeared' when I got back from a day out! ;)
cannot believe the difference in making your own fresh tomato sauce to the manufactured stuff!
I do sometimes wonder whether the energy cost is disproportionate - washing the tomatoes, pressure cooking, squidging, reducing, buying/washing bottles and tops, storage space - but all I have to do is taste the results (swoon) ;D
Hope you return to a tomato mountain when you get back too p'winkle :)
-
Supersprout
Thanks for this post, you inspired me to make a batch of sauce. I modified the approach a bit to suit the equipment I have - big pan, fine mesh sieve and blender. I threw in a clove of garlic and now have about a pint of intensely flavoured sauce, to be put in the freezer - or I may just put in the fridge and use tomorrow.
-
funny you should mention the lids - i had one bottle of passata (recycled a few times from dolmio) which had start to ferment, the tell tale dimple at the top wasnt inverted, but an 'outie'
luckily i spotted it at the back of the cupboard as i was adding more bottles, otherwise it might have exploded one day and that would have been an awful mess (and stink)
the other bottles i did on the same day as the gone off one were fine. but i will now check them all everytime i add to my larder cupboard, just to be safe.
-
oooo Svea, that could have been nasty! I always keep an eye on mine and any that don't pop in properly before storeage go straight into the fridge for quick use.
-
Good idea Svea, periodic checks for 'outies'. Would hate to have an explosion in the preserves cupboard (which is in son's bedroom lol) :P
-
EJ, the lid was closed and vacuum-sealed properly before i put them into storage.
i have never had fermentation in the bottle like this before. :)
-
Totally misunderstood by me it seems, brought the passata maker and have just followed the directions as posted by S-sprout. Now I was expecting that when a recipe called for a tin of tomatoes I would use one of these jars instead. Today I have created 2 1/2 jars of passata from the equivalent of 60 tins of tomatoes, so I guess I won't be using them as tinned tomato replacements, what do I use them for, tomato paste? S-sprout you didn't tell me how messy I was going to get and I'm not sure how but even one of the walls in the kitchen seems to be tomato coloured.
-
Ooer Mike, I'll see if I can answer some of it, hoping others will chime in too :)
Passata is concentrated - roughly half the volume of canned tomatoes, and with no pips or lumps of tomato. It takes up less storage room and jars, is sweeter with a more concentrated flavour and more acid-ey than plain tinned toms, but not over-sweet like concentrate can be. It's a happy medium between the two. We get just over a litre of passata from one of those blue plastic veg boxes filled level with fresh toms.
We get through one or two litres per week:
As a base for any pasta sauce - bolognese, puttanesca, creamy, cheesy, garlic, mushroom, chilli etc.
On its own with salt, a dash of sugar and pepper as a plain pasta sauce, with loads of Parmesan
Spread on top of pizza as the base for veggies/cheese
In the sauce for beans (e.g. Greek giant butter beans with onion and dill)
In soups, or as tomato soup on its own with onion and a couple of spuds
In dishes like lasagne, chilli con carne, anything alla cacciatore
A couple of tbs in quite a few Indian dishes - chicken tikka masala, for instance!
You'll find you use less than you might be used to with tins of toms, and the boiling down seems to enrich the flavour more than it does from tins. Does that make any sense Mike, and have I forgotten anything?
SSx
-
have I forgotten anything?
SSx
How to get it off the walls. ;D ;D
roughly half the volume of canned tomatoes,
I boiled the juice down to 1/8th as suggested and the tomato pulp is concentrated by the use of the passata maker. My volume seems to be 1 jar = 20 tins, have I over done it?
-
Go on SS, own up -- you didn't really manage all that cooking and bottling and not even end up with a splash on the counter?! ;D
*is totally awed anyway* -- when's your next TV series starting?
-
erm, maybe I didn't explain fully that it's the pale liquid that exudes from the toms before you pulp them that gets reduced to about 1/8 the volume. Like you I'm not over-fond of red-hot splats, and I found that by boiling down the watery liquid fiercely first, and adding the pulped mush for 10-15 minutes gentle simmering at the end, once the watery stuff is syrupy from reduction, I can ensure freedom from splats (all right, mostly) ::)
LOL@triffid, the bottling process is splat free, honest the photos are Unretouched and Genuine 8)
But I'll own up - I always keep a damp cloth handy for the odd splop from the cooking pan (thank you Fanny Cradock) ;D
-
Hee :)
I must chip in here, and say that if you grow paste tomatoes like San Marzano, when you pop them through the passata machine (and in my case, I put them through raw before the boil!) then the resulting puree is pretty much solid and you don't have to boil like crazy to evaporate the moisture you've been watering your tomatoes with all summer...
I follow the recommendations of the Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0112428649/026-6138154-7567612
and always sterilise by water bath for 20 mins or so. For peace of mind if nothing else!
moonbells
ps yes, those passata bottles look good. Might have to have a trip out to Harrow this lunchtime and buy a case...
-
Go on SS, own up -- you didn't really manage all that cooking and bottling and not even end up with a splash on the counter?! ;D
this is my living room today triffid - will get vac out later! ;D
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0209.jpg)
-
ps yes, those passata bottles look good. Might have to have a trip out to Harrow this lunchtime and buy a case...
Where in Harrow sells them?!
-
Lucky moonbells! ;D
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
I'd love to know what their shop is like ::)
-
Ah, well, there you go! Learn something new every day... I live in Harrow, hadn't a clue this shop was here!
-
Lucky moonbells! ;D
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
I'd love to know what their shop is like ::)
It's a warehouse - stacked boxes, racks of seeds, all behind a dodgy steel door which sticks :) people lovely!
Seeds they sell at 4 packs for £5 if you buy there (as against £1.50 each normally) which makes them even better value (though of course petrol costs make them dear again!)
moonbells
-
thank you mb - I'd be like a kid in a sweetshop :-[ did you manage to restrain yourself? ;)
-
haven't got to lunch break yet!!!! And I have to hope nobody's hemmed my car in...
moonbells
-
Thanks for the recipe Supersprout. Tried to make some on Friday and then disaster struck.
I first submerged the San Marzano tomatoes in hot water and then peeled their skins off (your recipe did not mention whether the skin was on or off - so I did not fancy having bits of skin in the passata). Then I cooked them with a little water until they were soft and emptied all the pulpy tomatoes flesh into a sieve to let it drain into a bowl. Then............... and this is when disaster struck - I started boiling the remaining water to reduce it and fell asleep. :-[
Well -- needless to say the smell of burning tomatoes woke me up with a start! :o
Well to end a sad story - I was so disguested with myself I just plonked all the left over remains in a plastic container and froze it after all. My pot was burnt pitch black (still sitting out on the back step) - I don't have the stomach to clean it yet. :-[ So all I got was the pulpy flesh and a little clear liquid that had drained out. I had barely closed the freezer door when the doorbell rang and guess who - but some elders from my church just popped in to say hello. I can tell you I was so embarrassed by the smell.
What I wanted to ask anyway ---- because in one of your later posts you say that this thick clear liquid that drains from the tomatoess is the juice that you should drain and reduce - (I had such a little bit) and even if I had boiled it and added the pulpy tomatoe flesh, I would never have got it as red as yours. Do you add some puree or anything??
Sorry to sound so dumb but I have never made this before and was as mad as a rattle snake about ruining my saved San Marzano's. They grew very badly this year and a lot of them got bottom end rot even though they were all in the same greenhouse and my other toms were fine.
Oh well, I'll remember to set my timer just in case I nod off!! At least I managed to a bottle of 'sun' dried tomatoes as they are almost fool proof to dry in the oven and they thankfully did not suffer any harm from my tardiness ;D
Jitterbug
-
ohhhh what a sad story jitterbug :'(
it's happened to everyone I bet (even church elders ;)) they will have been impressed by your industry :D
posted a reply last night but it went awol in the upgrade grr :(
will do my best again now!
CLEAR LIQUID STORY
When experimenting with different methods of making passata I was trying to
a) reduce time it took to boil down
b) find a way for it not to catch on the bottom or sides of the pan when reducing
c) save fossil fuel!
One day I had a LOT of toms and used every available pan, including the pressure cooker, to cook them in. When cooked under pressure, the toms exuded a LOT of yellowish water separate from the pulp (about two thirds of the volume is liquid, one third pulp). The toms boiled normally don't do this, the excitation of boiling and stirring mixes the juice and the pulp.
So now I always pre-cook in the pressure cooker in batches, to get maximum clear juice. The boiled contents of the pressure cooker go into a seive, and the clear liquid is set to boil down fiercely. Because the juice is clear, it doesn't stick or need much watching (as it gets thicker it can 'boil up' like jam) and boils down to a syrupy consistency. When this liquid is reduced to about an eighth of the original volume, then add it to the pulp. When this separated clear liquid is boiled down it's a translucent reddy browny marmalade colour. When you add it to the pulp, the whole lot goes a lovely red colour!
No need to peel your toms before boiling, just cut off all the BER, sluggy or mouldy bits and chop in half (quarters for big uns). Pips and skin get removed when the boiled pulp goes thru the passata machine.
Don't laugh jitterbug, I have just acquired 'Canning and Preserving for Dummies' and wish I'd bought it ages ago - the step by step instructions and tips are a revelation, can recommend it if you want to do more!
Good luck cleaning that pot :-\ hope your next batch is all you could wish :)
-
I'd just pop the pulp in a jelly bag if there's a lot of clear juice - that way you get the water out while leaving the pulp and red bits, with no use of fossil fuel.
Jitterbug - I'm sorry for you. The first time I did marrow and ginger jam I incinerated the marrow by not watching like a hawk...
But get some bio washing powder (the cheap stuff from Tesco works well!) and put some in your pan, and add boiling water. After a few hours of soaking it will be dead easy to clean.
moonbells
-
Absolute total novice, but here's my thoughts on this!
On the box that my new beautiful red passata maker came in the recipe says:
Cut the tomatoes and scald them without adding any water for 5/10 minutes. Put the tomatoes into the mill and pulp them quickly. Fill the tomato pulp into the bottles adding a few leaves of basil. Wrap the bottles in cloths and heat them in a double saucepan for about 15 mins.
Nothing about reducing the pulp further
Not having a pressure cooker I've been doing a sort of mixture of methods! I find when I boil them up there is some watery liquid - the first time very little, last time a big panful there was quite a lot. I just used a sieve and the watery stuff just drains out. Was reducing it like you said SS - then adding pulp and reducing a bit more then doing the bottles bit - loads of fossil fuel. :(
I suppose perhaps the italians don't get much water as they're using paste tomatoes. Mine is a motley collection of all sorts - was just trying to grow any sort of tomatoes at all after last years blight disasters!! Next year it is just possible htat I might be more "focussed." :-\
Have got more to process. Think I shall just discard the watery stuff but do the bottles in the water bath.
-
I'm sure you're right about the concentrated goodness of italian plum toms periwinkle, my toms are probably extra watery because they're allsorts - including watered ones from the greenhouse (note, NOT for next year)
passata is definitely 'horses for courses' - mine is concentrated to start with because son of sprout hates raw toms but loves the cooked and concentrated taste of passata ??? If I don't make it quite jammy, he will boil it down when he cooks with it and there will be splops everywhere ;)
thanks for the pan-cleaning tip MB, noted! :D
-
haven't got to lunch break yet!!!! And I have to hope nobody's hemmed my car in...
moonbells
Hi Moonbells, are you in Harrow? I thought from your blog you were in the Chilterns... bit of a far away place to go to in your lunch break!
-
I work in Northwood. (Can't afford to live there!)
Harrow's not far once I'm at work :)
moonbells
-
Very close then Moonbells! How on earth do you manage to keep up with your lottie though? Mine's a mess and I live a minute away! ;D
-
ah this is the post I replied to and got chucked off the server...
I spend hours there in winter and spring prepping the ground, and try and get it weed free by the start of June (which is coincidentally when our lottie inspections are!) and then it sort of looks ok till autumn again. And I've got raised beds made in the past two winters, so hopefully that will save me work for a couple of years.
see diary for gory details!
moonbells
-
Thanks for the tips Supersprout and Moonbells. I feel a lot better now and am going to try the curried plum chutney and a spiced damson chutney that I found on Delia Smith's website.
Will remember to set the timer this time ;D
Will report back on success later.
Jitterbug
-
:-[ Don't worry jitterbug. I left my juice boiling and went to the greenhouse for 2 mins (like you do) and have come back 4 pots of cuttings later to a burnt pan too. Doh!!!! :-\
-
:-[ Don't worry jitterbug. I left my juice boiling and went to the greenhouse for 2 mins (like you do) and have come back 4 pots of cuttings later to a burnt pan too. Doh!!!! :-\
:-(
One of the best things is one of the wind-up eggtimers with a loud bell... pocket sized!
moonbells
-
Two of my passata batches have extra-savoury black bits in ;)
Oh jitterbug look what you went and did, after reading your post this morning I got damsons in the country (whilst getting Autumn onion sets) and they are cooked and cooling so I can de-pip them for that very chutney now. It looks scrumptious! And I swore I'd never make chutney (no.1 son has developed a serious taste for it after sampling jennym's! ;D)
On the way, saw fountains of unharvested ripe crab apples on trees and strewed in piles on pavements :'(
-
Supersprout, for 'extra-savoury back bits' read - caramelised!!
valmarg
-
good one valmarg ;)
btw have made four jars of your German whole green tomato recipe - even the ones that wouldn't fit in tasted great, they go fruity don't they? looking forward to three months' time! :P
-
Once again I haven't really got enough green cherry toms to make more than a small jar ... I always mean to pick loads early for it, and forget.
Such a good book, shame it's out of print - would give it as a pressy to a couple of peeps I know.
-
ah this is the post I replied to and got chucked off the server...
I spend hours there in winter and spring prepping the ground, and try and get it weed free by the start of June (which is coincidentally when our lottie inspections are!) and then it sort of looks ok till autumn again. And I've got raised beds made in the past two winters, so hopefully that will save me work for a couple of years.
see diary for gory details!
moonbells
Impressive Moonbells! Raised beds sounds like a much more organised system, I'd do it if I could just find the timber... but what do you do about harvesting and growing veg until autumn?! ;)
-
Impressive Moonbells! Raised beds sounds like a much more organised system, I'd do it if I could just find the timber...
you don't need timber to run an unedged bed system CC, just a lot of string to mark them out lol
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,91/topic,24270.0
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/smilies/flower.gif)
Back on thread ... this arrived from the US yesterday thanks to eBay, dead chuffed :D
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0217.jpg)
-
That is one SERIOUS pot!! :o :o ;D ;D
-
Crickey, SS, you off to the moon then? ;D
(http://www.websmileys.com/sm/aliens/spacecraft.gif)
-
Makes great espresso, doesn't it? 8) 8) I mean, of course the Briehl not the American beast ;D ;D. (Mine was my Christmas pressie to myself last year ;).
Tricia
-
chortle@all!
do love gadgets :-[ :P ;)
great smiley magggie! ;D ;D
-
Impressive Moonbells! Raised beds sounds like a much more organised system, I'd do it if I could just find the timber... but what do you do about harvesting and growing veg until autumn?! ;)
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Sprout, is that a pressure canner? Looks amazing.
moonbells
-
yes it is mb, I tried and tried to find one in this country for ages. If I ordered one new from the states the tax would be horrific ... so ebay it was, even tho the postage was more than the goods! It's a simple design and dead simple to use, the tall Bormoli bottles fit into it - bottled a load of green tomato slurry (for making 'mango' chutney later) with that *extra* reassurance you mentioned in previous posts :)
If anyone does know an agent or seller for pressure canners in the UK, I'll be looking for spares at some point so contact details would be very useful :D
-
yes it is mb, I tried and tried to find one in this country for ages. If I ordered one new from the states the tax would be horrific ... so ebay it was, even tho the postage was more than the goods! It's a simple design and dead simple to use, the tall Bormoli bottles fit into it - bottled a load of green tomato slurry (for making 'mango' chutney later) with that *extra* reassurance you mentioned in previous posts :)
I know this is possibly a really basic question, but does the pressure canner just use the pressure to raise the temperature around the bottles, so that the inside gets hotter, or do you actually have to leave the lids off so the pressure equalises?
I just have visions of cans imploding! :o
moonbells
edit: google is my friend. So it literally is a pressure cooker but larger!
I wonder if I could pressurecook jars using my old prestige...?
http://extension.usu.edu/files/foodpubs/canfs01.htm
-
Remember I'm learning fast moonbells, but the story so far ... ::)
You're right, there has to be some way for air to escape from the jars during the heating to equalise the pressure. Then the jars are sealed at the H pressure, so the vacuum is created.
With screw top lids (one or two piece) I'm doing them up hand tight, then un-screwing very slightly. Then screwing them up properly when they come out of the hot water. The secret seems to be allowing enough headspace at the top to allow the liquid to expand into it and push the air out, and when they are screwed up tight after removing from the heat it can't get back in again. Fabulous vacuum this morning when the green tomato slurry was opened!
With rubber kilners, the theory is that the rubber seal allows the air to escape outwards from the headspace, but not return inwards. Not tried them yet, but I've every confidence in The Booke:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canning-Preserving-Dummies-Dummies-/dp/0764524712/ref=sr_11_1/202-1970606-0279044?ie=UTF8
I was happy oven bottling fruit and hot-bottling passata, but thought I'd better get genned up for low-acid fruits/veg and anything more adventurous - can highly recommend this book to all would be bottlers :)
The pressure canner makes a mean hot water bath too - tall Kilners wouldn't fit into my pressure cooker!
I have bottled in the pressure cooker before, but could only do it one (short) jar at a time, and was feeling wasteful of fossil fuel.
-
I just found this website which is excellent!
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/components/DJ0516section1.html
(Jar lids do need to be screwed on tightly, it appears!)
I now have a serious question now I understand the situation more - I bottled ratatouille with a conventional hot water bath last year, with added citric acid. Probably ok for the tomatoes but there were obviously lower acid veg in there as well. Is is likely to be ok? Def a 64-million dollar one, and so I'll probably junk the last one (already eaten several!)
Small jars too, so I *could* have done the beggars in the pressure cooker if I'd known! Still, got this year's supply of ratat now, so can practice on it...
hey ho!
moonbells
(I could do with one of those canners!)
-
Tis a moot point :o
imo chances are slim that there'd be anything wrong with it - but it wouldn't do to take chances would it? That's why I forked out for the canner, to be sure :-\
Great reference website, bookmarked, thank you MB :)
-
For anyone thinking about canning passata in a normal bath, here's an excerpt on tomato acidity from
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/components/DJ0516section3.html
Bold text mine! I did add citric acid to my San Ms so I'm glad I did...
"Quality: Select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit for canning. Caution: Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations. Unfortunately, a few varieties may have insufficient acidity. These include Ace, Ace55VF, Beefmaster Hybrid, Big Early Hybrid, Big Girl, Big Set, Burpee VF Hybrid, Cal Ace, Delicious, Fireball, Garden State, Royal Chico, and San Marzano. Individuals using varieties which they have not canned previously or which have unknown acidity or who wish to be certain of proper acidity may choose the following method.
Acidification: To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes, add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use one tablespoon bottled lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon citric acid. Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with product. Add sugar to offset acid taste, if desired. Four tablespoons of vinegar with 5 percent acidity per quart maybe used instead of lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes. Recommendation: According to USDA, the use of a pressure canner will result in higher quality and more nutritious canned tomato products."
moonbells
-
The teaching I've been plugging all through!!
I never realised that only some toms lack acidity. But easier to treat them all the same?
Standard pressure cooker? We've always bottled that way. Only 3 jars at a time , of course. But remember that (according to HMSO) you need one that will operate at 5lb/psi.
In passing - SHE said the spoon needs to stand up in it................!!
-
Sorry to have taken so long to reply but that is the fate of grandmothers who have intelligent and lively 4 year old living with them..... ;)
The passata experience is WOW!!! I finally got it all together today and produced some - not much- following Sarah's recommendations. But the little I produced is fabulous.
The disappointment is not the passata but the toms. 2 weeks ago they were all green but I was advised to "lift" them all, green though they were, but unfortunately I didn't have the time. The ones I brought home have ripened beautifully, the others all have developed blight sometime between then and now. :-[ :-[
I'm trying to use the parts that are unaffected but they are mostly green so my choices are more limited.
However the passata process was fabulous. Pressure cooked and strained. Liquid boiled. Pulp through the Franchi machine 4 times, then about 25 minutes boiling with the pulp added? The end product is a joy to behold. No 1 son spent quite alot of time sniffing the air and saying "mmmm.."
I'll listen better and be more careful next year.
Thank you Sarah for the excellent advice and giving me the shove I needed to get started. :-* :)
-
So pleased you got a good result anne :D
Thank goodness there's always next year ;) :)
-
We just whck them through the machine a couple of times add chopped onions, garlic, roast red peppers and chilli. Quick whizz with teh magic and and we've got gazpacho.
-
Not all passata is created equal!
San Marzano are coming late (planted late) and what a difference in colour from the real McCoy :o
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/passatachanges.jpg)
-
I have just ordered some San marzano, now I'm really excited. They obvoiusly lived up to the blurb then SS.
-
proof of the pudding eh maggie? just had to take the photo when I saw the diff!
I've ordered the F1 bush San Marzano from Franchi - not grown bush toms before, but hoping they'll be easier than cordons next year. Can't wait for the next squishing season either! ;D
-
Just had a hunt through my freezer and my squishing days will have to start soon ;D ;D
-
Looks rally good, I like some other bits in the catalogue too, do they have paper catalogues, as I prefer to look through proper catalogues?
I cant find anywhere on their website where you can request a catalogue.
-
No, its me!! Sorry!
I was following the Passata machine thread in Bargains by Tricia, and followed the link in the thread, and ended up posting to the old thread and not the new one!
-
I'm really confused ??? ??? ??? ??? ::) What happened to Tim's post?
-
As fate would have it, I potted up 4 San Marzano plants today (obtained from Parce the Parcel 3). Am so glad this thread was bumped as I've never read it before, and also received some of SS's Gigantes Beans in the post yesterday in a swap from a postee on another forum for some of Sarah's Pineapple Toms.
There's a whole new world out there that I'm just discovering, all of it touched by Supersprout.
Am going back to the beginning of this thread to read it again.
;D
-
Anne - given the possibly sensitive nature of the thread, I thought it was a bit sharpish & withdrew it.
-
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/index.php (http://www.seedsofitaly.com/index.php) Seed the red bit for catalogue info. Thanks Tim. I'm confused enough on my own11 ::)
-
While this post is here, I have three of Supersprouts beans thanks to a super poster and I wanted more, I have now found a source as I liked the look of them very much. I don't know where Sarah got them from originally because I searched all over, the seeds were shipped four days ago so I am hoping they will be here soon. If anyone does know the original source I would be greatful just in case the ones I have bought are smaller.
XX Jeannine