Canning Tomato Sauce

[Sweetfudge]

So i have an overabundance of tomatoes in my garden, and made some killer sauce last week. I thought about recreating the recipe and canning or freezing it. Canning would be preferable since I don't have much freezer space. Thought I'd get the general idea of the thing here. I know there's a canning section in my BHG cookbook, I just haven't read through it. Wondering whether I should just can the tomatoes, or actually make the sauce, and can that? I put tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, and fresh herbs in my sauce. I also added some cooked hamburger at the end. Can that combo be canned well? Is it best to peel the tomatoes before canning? I didn't mind the skin in the sauce.

[cruelshoes]

So i have an overabundance of tomatoes in my garden, and made some killer sauce last week. I thought about recreating the recipe and canning or freezing it. Canning would be preferable since I don't have much freezer space. Thought I'd get the general idea of the thing here. I know there's a canning section in my BHG cookbook, I just haven't read through it. Wondering whether I should just can the tomatoes, or actually make the sauce, and can that? I put tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, and fresh herbs in my sauce. I also added some cooked hamburger at the end. Can that combo be canned well? Is it best to peel the tomatoes before canning? I didn't mind the skin in the sauce.

You can preserve the sauce with meat in it in canning jars, but only if you have a pressure canner. Otherwise, it will not get hot enough to kill all the organisms, and you are at risk of breeding botulism and all sorts of other nasties. If you don't have a pressure canner, you can always put it in the freezer.

To safely water bath tomatoes/tomato sauce (without meat) , you have to make sure that the acid level is high enough to prevent mold growth. Modern tomatoes are lower in acid than the heirloom varieties. All the add-ins (zuchini, herbs, onions) lower the PH even more. In order to be safe, you would most likely need to add lemon juice or citric acid to raise the PH. It is safer to use a recipe that is written specifically for canning. Open Original Shared Linkto the tomato recipes on the Ball Website.

Another great resource is the Open Original Shared Link. It has the most up-to-date canning techniques and great recipes. It is a really good, inexpensive guide to canning.

Good luck with your canning adventures!