Canning Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce serves as a side dish for many recipes. You can dip into it, you can mix it with other recipes, and there are multiple other ways to use tomato sauce for your everyday food. Having said that, you must be making tomato sauce at your home, right?
Making tomato sauce is not always possible, so storing them is a good idea. How can you store tomato sauce for later use? You can store tomato sauce by canning it. Canning is an effective method to preserve the food for later use.
You can preserve the sauce for about 12 months in this way. That is quite a long time, isn’t it? Canning them means having a year-round supply of tomato sauce at home, so why not make extra and preserve them? Keep reading this article till the end, and I will not disappoint you!
How To Can Tomato Sauce?
Canning tomato sauce is a long process because you need to follow every step with precaution. If you do not follow each step correctly, the food might spoil due to the action of bacteria or air contamination. Check out the following to can your tomato sauce at home.
Prepare Your Jars
The very first step towards canning the tomato sauce is to prepare the jars. The jars need to be properly sterilized because you will be going to store food in them for a long time. Check out the steps below:
- Choose good quality mason jars for your tomato sauce. Also, make sure they have affixed lids that close tightly.
- Boil water and place the jars in them upside them. Put the lids as well, and let them boil for about 20-25 minutes. This will be enough for sterilizing.
- Remove the jars and lids from the hot water with a tong, and place them on a dry towel to dry. Let them air dry. Keep the jars untouched.
- Remove any extra moisture with a paper towel. Once the jars are cool and have dried properly, they are ready to be used for canning.
Filling The Jars
The next step to canning is to fill the jars. While this could be the easiest thing to do, among all the other steps, you still need to look for some necessary key points. Check them out in the following:
- Use a medium size spatula and fill the mason jars with tomato sauce. Make sure your sauce is cool enough to be filled to the jars. You cannot can warm food.
- Leave a little headspace of about 1 inch in each jar. This will boost the process of canning and preserve the food for longer. Also, remove air bubbles by gently running a straw in it.
- Add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar, give it a gentle mix, and close the jar lids. Ensure that you seal the lids tightly.
- Use a wet towel to wipe off the extra sauce that might have been there on the edges of the jars. Once all of these are complete, the tomato sauce is ready for canning.
Canning The Tomato Sauce Jars
Canning the tomato sauce jars is a crucial step as you need to be careful with the timings here. If you overcook the jars, there is a high chance that the food will spoil soon. I have mentioned a step-wise process to can your tomato sauce at home.
Check out the process in the following:
- Start with filling the water bath canner with water and put it to boil. Keep the flame medium-low until it starts boiling.
- Next, place the closed jars carefully in the boiling water with tongs. While doing this ensure that each jar is completely submerged in the hot water.
- Let the tomato sauce process for 30-35 minutes on medium-low flame. Do not increase the canning process beyond 35 minutes, be careful in this step.
- After the jars are processed, wait for some time to let them cool before you remove the jars. Keep the canned jars aside for complete cooling.
- Once the jars have cooled down completely, you can store them in a cool and dry place. Your tomato sauce is ready to be canned.
Can You Leave The Skin On Tomatoes When Making Sauce?
No, while preparing the tomato sauce, it is advised that you remove the skin and seeds of the tomatoes. They will be removed when you sieve the tomato sauce, so you need not worry. You should remove them because they are not storage-friendly.
Is Canning Tomato Sauce Safe?
Yes, canning tomato sauce is entirely safe. Canning is the best technique to preserve the tomato sauce for later. However, tomato sauce has a low acid level, therefore, to boost the canning process, do not forget to add a few drops of lemon or vinegar.
Additionally, to keep the process safe, you need to use adequately sterilized jars before canning the sauce. Otherwise, you will have the risk of botulism and a few other poisons, that will spoil the food. So, be careful while canning, and it will bring you better results.
