I’ve preserved 50 pounds of tomatoes so far this year and have learned something about myself – I can take on 10 lbs of produce on a weekday without freaking out. Much more than that and I get a little panicky, but 10 lbs = one large batch of crushed tomatoes or a flat of oven roasted + small batch of ketchup. This has been totally manageable for me and I’ve been able to put up more tomatoes without having to clear entire weekends for preserving. Still tiring to be on your feet for the beginning-to-end process, but nowhere near as exhausting as last year’s marathon.
So far I’ve made:
– 8 pints of raw-packed tomatoes
– 8 pints of crushed tomatoes
– 11 ½ pints of oven roasted tomatoes (packed for freezer)
– 4 pints of basic tomato sauce
– 6 pints of ketchup (portioned into ¼ pints)
Most of the tomato recipes that I used came from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. They’re staples and the versatility their recipes offer makes them perfect for our year-round use. The basic tomato sauce came from Food In Jars.
I’m making another batch of crushed tomatoes tonight with the 10 lb stash that is currently sitting on my counter. Not sure how much more I’ll take on after that ’cause there are peaches to tend to.
aneelee 