Do you like to can? What is your favorite jar to pop open in the depth of winter? For me, it’s the elegant but straightforward quart jar of tomato juice. In part, I love cracking that lid as it transports me back to the summer morning, I spent in my cousin Joan’s kitchen processing bushels of tomatoes into juice. The canners were steaming away, and we both feel like we are doing something wonderful for our families. We started early by cleaning everything. One key to successful canning is cleanliness. Make sure that all pots, pans, jars, rings, lids, utensils, and countertops are spotless.
We washed all the tomatoes and other produce we were “working up” as well. We were processing, the term used for the canning process, tomato juice.
After everything is washed, I sat down to cut out the cords and bad spots and quarter the tomatoes. I mention that I sat down as one of the best worker bees I know, told me years ago to follow this rule: if you can do it sitting, sit down. When you are tackling a major project, pacing yourself as you work is as important as speed. You need to have something left in the tank at the end of the project to finish strong.
Yes, it was messy, but we laughed and had a blast! If you wanted to, you could stop with this step and pour all the quartered tomatoes into zip-locks and toss them into the freezer. Or cook the tomatoes down, that is the next step in the process, put them through a food mill or blender and store the juice into clean containers until winter. This winter when it doesn’t matter how hot you get the kitchen is a great time to finish canning the juice with a pressure canner or for an extended time with a water bath canner.
There are several items needed for successful canning. A top priority is the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving. I found a copy at Buchheit, and it contains a wealth of information and has the photo inserts with step-by-step instructions. I followed those steps with success when I was re-learning how to can by myself. I advocate buying used but sometimes especially with reference books, I recommend buying new. Get a new copy of this book then pass it on as an heirloom to your children complete with all your notes. Enjoy the journey!
Anne May
