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Even though tomatoes are considered an acid food and suitable for boiling-water bath canning, today's varieties are generally less acid than those of earlier years. Additional acid in the form of bottled lemon juice or citric acid is added to assure proper acidity for safe canning. Before attempting to can any food, even acidic food, make sure you are familiar with the canning process required for the food you'll be canning and the equipment you'll be using.
Wash tomatoes and drain. Remove core and blossom ends from tomatoes. Cut into quarters. Place tomatoes, including as much juice as possible, in a suitable size saucepot. Heat to simmer and continue simmering for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Press tomatoes through a sieve or food mill. Discard the seeds and peels. Return pulp to saucepan and cook over medium heat until sauce thickens as desired, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Reducing volume by 1/2 will produce a thick sauce. Add 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid to each pint. Double the lemon juice or citric acid for quarts. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims to remove any sauce. Adjust two-piece caps. For elevations under 1000 feet, process pints for 35 minutes, quarts for 40 minutes in a boiling-water canner. For each pint of sauce, approximately 3 pounds of tomatoes will be required.
Copyright © 2003, by Rich McCormack
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