One thing you need to do is get a canning book that tells you which foods need only a hot water canning or whether you need a pressure canning pot. All in all I will show you a couple of different vegetables that we preserve for ourselves and this on will not require a pressure canner.
Preparing and canning Tomato sauce:
Wash your garden tomatoes in cold water,I filter my water to remove flouride and chlorine.Add a couple of capfuls of hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water and simply wash the tomatoes.
Core the tomatoes and cut them into quarters, fill a saucepot with whatever you have. Bring tomatoes to a boil then cut heat back. Use a potatoe masher or somthing similar to crush the mix ocasionally for about an hour. this allows water to be cooked out.Let Mixture cool a bit while preparing jars for canning.
Using Ball brand Jars or any brand you have available, you will need pot of water deep enough to cover the jars completly,you will want to have at least one inch of water over the tops of the jars. Bring water to boil and take out only the jars you are going to fill when ready.
While those jars are sterilizing get an empty pot or bowel. Find a metal mesh pasta strainer itm works best for me. Set strainer over the pot and compress tomatoes down and the juice will strain through the strainer. Continue pressing until all juice has been expelled.
In the clean jars that you are ready to use,add one teaspoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of organic canning salt to each one.Fill jars with tomatoe sauce leaving one inch of head space.
Make sure rim of jar is clean,wipe it with paper towel befor you install lids. Remove lid from hot water and set in evenly on top of jar. Install ring and tighten it securely.
Don’t overtighten as you will need to remove ring after cooling.
After you submerge the jar it should have at least one inch of water above lid. Leave jar in water for 40 minutes before removing. Lay a small towel out on the counter to set your completed jars. Now you are an expert canner.
You will hear the jars begin to pop as they cool. This is a good sign because they have sealed. Leave the product to cool overnight before you decide to remove the rings.After you remove them, wash around the top to prevent mold and store the jars in the cabinet. They last for years. I have eaten food canned from 8 years prior.
