Comments on: Canning Roasted Tomatoes

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 15:05:34 +0000

I am also new to this and think I am more confused now then when I started- I want to can roasted tomatoes for a Christmas present. If I am cooking for myself I like using the grape tomatoes faced up and slow roast them in an oven with a little S&P, I also love slow roasting whole garlic in olive oil for a long time in the oven. I really want to combine these flavors by roasting both then chopping the garlic and stir it into the tomatoes. The last thing I want to do is make anyone sick.

Please advise.

Thank you

By: dorisandjilly

dorisandjilly — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:44:43 +0000

KP: You would need to add some acid to this recipe for make it safe for water-bath canning. I’d recommend something like 1 c. of acid–lime juice, red wine vinegar, cider vinegar, or white vinegar–per 6 pounds of tomatoes. This assumes that the recipe is primarily tomatoes. I’d recommend that you get yourself a copy of the Ball Blue Book and spend some time looking through the various salsa recipes. See which one most closely approximates the proportions used in your recipe, and add a similar amount of vinegar.
Good luck!

By: KP

KP — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:27:20 +0000

I am new at canning! My confusion comes from this: I make my own fire roasted salsa… I fire roast the fresh tomatoes, chili’s and garlic cloves. I blacken all of these then blend together all I add is salt for seasoning. I want to can this mixture but am not sure if I have to add an acid??? I really don’t want to change the flavor. What do I do? Should I use a water caner or pressure caner? And for how long do I process this? If anyone can offer advice I would appreciate it.

By: dorisandjilly

dorisandjilly — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:43:53 +0000

Sharon: It would *definitely* be OK to use pint jars instead of quart jars. In general, you can always go down a size, but not up. Bigger jars generally require a longer time because it takes longer for the contents to heat up.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:54:30 +0000

Been canning for 20+ yrs + have just started to roast tomatoes to freeze since I found no canning recipes for roasted tomatoes. I’m wondering if I can water bath process the roasted tomatoes in PINT jars instead of QUART jars for the too-long 85minutes. I prefer pint jars mostly for lack of freezer/canning storage space. So, I was wondering if I could substitute the quarts for the pints for 85minutes. Comments?

By: Wayne Shoudt

Wayne Shoudt — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:16:50 +0000

Looks like I have alot to learn. I fire roast(blacken)and smoke my tomatoes. I also roast vegetables that go in my salsa. The tomatoes go inside(the house) and are crushed a little then simmered on the stove along with the vegetables. I then jar the stuff and waterbath it for about 30mins. I haven’t had any jar failures or made anyone sick. I will invest in PH test strips. any suggestions would be appreciated!

By: Timothy Fitzgerald Young

Timothy Fitzgerald Young — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:42:19 +0000

I’m a longtime home canner and own a small commercial cannery. Regarding Jar’s comment, acidity is critical, however, I doubt that’s why USDA has the process time at 85 minutes. I think it’s more of worse case scenario assumption that some folks will stuff large raw tomatoes into jars. If in fact roasting does lower acidity (raise pH), then we should all be cautious. If your end result is at pH 4.6 or above, it won’t matter much how long you process in a hot water bath as botulism toxin will survive that process. For serious home canners like many of you posting here obviously are, I’d strongly recommend investment in pH test strips or a hand held electronic pH meter. My recommendation would be if it’s over pH 4.2 add acid to get it to 4.2, otherwise pressure can it.
I’m harvesting, roasting and canning this weekend so I’ll test my pH before and after the roasting and let you know my results.

By: Christine Anderson

Christine Anderson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:01:32 +0000

I wanted to thank you for your post.

I roasted some tomatoes, took off the skins and then pureed them and boiled them down into a sauce. I added 1 tbsp of lemon juice into pint jars and processed for 45 minutes in a boiling water canner. It was a hot pack because it was pureed by the time I got done with it.

I am fully comfortable with the processing time, and I thank you for your evaluation of this.

By: dorisandjilly

dorisandjilly — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:00:47 +0000

Melanie: Ideally you’ll have neither bubbles nor lowered water levels, but so long as you have a seal, you’re fine. The bubbles mean that you have some extra air in the jar. Next time be sure to run a spatula around the edges to remove them before putting on the lid. This won’t hurt anything, but it can make it more difficult to achieve a seal. If you lost some water, either a) you didn’t leave enough head space or b) the rings weren’t on tight enough. Again, some loss is normal, and so long as you have a seal, you’re fine.

So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!

–Doris

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:40:56 +0000

by the way, I roasted some of the 200 tomatoes I have in my kitchen today using your instructions as a guideline only i added some balsamic vinegar to the oil, spices and garlic.

OH MY GOD!!!! i could eat those everyday. I put them in a pasta with homemade pesto sauce.

Thanks for the fabulous ideas.