Back in another century a lot of folks thought tomatoes, referred to as love apples, were pure deadly poison. Fortunately, not everyone believed this including President Thomas Jefferson. To prove that tomatoes were safe to eat he stood on a courthouse steps down south and, before a crowd of people, proceeded to eat a big red juicy tomato. I expect folks milled around for a spell, waiting to see if Jefferson would drop dead or go in to fits right before their eyes. Well, that didn't happen and the whole incident was a boost for the tomato industry.
So, here we are today, up to our ears in tomatoes that, somehow, have to be processed and preserved for fine winter eating. You have probably been canning tomatoes off and on every since they started getting ripe. But if you haven't, here's how you do it. You don't need a pressure cooker to process tomatoes since there acid content is high. You can use the pressure cooker if you want too. It is quicker than the water bath method, but it's likely you'll have the pressure cooker going at the same time, putting up something like green beans that has to be done that way.
Of course you want to only use the best and the ripest tomatoes for canning, whether you put them up whole or halved. That is up to you. Give them a good rinse out at the pump them bring them inside. You'll need to peel them so put a pot of water on the stove you've been heating up. When the water boils carefully drop the tomatoes into the water. Don't use your fingers because sure a shootin' you are going to scald more than just the tomatoes. I like to get out my big ladle, place a tomato in it, one at a time, and lower the tomatoes into the boiling water that way.
When you've got several in the water leave them there for just a minute. If you leave them in too long you are going to cook them. It won't hurt anything but it's a lot harder to remove the skin of a warm squishy tomato than one that's still somewhat firm.
So now, have a big bowl or the dishpan ready and about half-full of cool water. Take a good-sized slotted spoon and dip the tomatoes out into a container. Now put the hot tomatoes into the cool water and the skins will crack and start to slip off. Leave them now for a bit and put another batch into the bowling water.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
