I am new here, so was not sure if this was the spot for canning veggies. I just canned some pints of Roma tomatoes that I chopped up. I used a pressure canner, only because the time was less than water bath canning, and I have a glass top stove which you are not supposed to can on. When I removed them from the canner, 1/2 of the jar was liquid. I canned whole Romas last week and only about 1-1 1/2 inch in the quart jars were liquid. I did not pressure can them, but did them outside on my camp stove. I have canned tomatoes in the past, but not Romas. Since they are supposed to be meatier, I assumed they would not have this much liquid in the jars. Can anyone tell me why? It looks like there would be a lot of cooking down to make sauce. Thanks. Jeanne
I have never canned tomatoes but the information I have on canning Roma's says to wash, cut off the stem end, cut in half lengthwise, discard the core and seeds. Then process either in a water bath or pressure canner. Did you remove the cores and seeds first? That may be where the excess juice came from. You may have to cook them down to make a puree or sauce.
I did core them, but did not remove the seeds and gooey stuff. I do not remember doing that with regular tomatoes, though. That was over 20 years ago, so maybe my memory is not as good as it used to be! Thanks.
The instructions I found were specifically for Roma tomatoes so they may be treated differently than regular tomatoes. I am glad you brought this topic up, I have been toying with the idea of using Roma's for sauce to freeze. Guess now I will be sure to take out the core and seeds to make it a thicker sauce.
I wish I had found that info before I canned as much as I have. The seeds seem to be quite large, and some have a large core area. I will probably sieve these before I used them in chili and things like that. The next batch I do, I am specifically making sauce. You might be interested in dehydrating them. I have been doing that, also. The only way I have used them is to put them in olive oil, or sunflower seed oil with garlic and spices. They are wonderful to saute with meats, and they add an interesting texture The instructions I have found say to just halve, quarter or slice them 1/4" thick and dry. I have tried adding liquid smoke and basil during the process.
Canning roma's When I can my roma's I peel and leave whole, pack super tight at salt and cold pack and mine turn out lovely and taste wonderful. I to also dry and pack in jars with inexpensive olive oil and roasted garlic. The oil has a lovely flavor to use in recipes, and the tomatoes are also excellent to add to your favorite recipes.
I make sauce to freeze from romas almost every year - I just wash them and cut them in half or quarters and run them through a food-mill. I have a Victorio that clamps onto the table and is a breeze to use, I make applesauce with it too. Turn the crank and it takes out the skin/seeds and the rest is sauce for the freezer. It is a touch watery when defrosted later on, but not badly so. The packing with olive oil and garlic sounds lovely, sherenity - welcome to the Stew!
