Posted: 8/20/2010 4:47:43 PM EDT
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This is my first year and I'm learning it all solo. No granny or mom to help me out. Just you guys. I ventured into this with tomatoes tonight. What I cooked yielded only 2 quart jars of product to be processed. I simply couldn't cook any more at one time. Would it hurt the jars I've already filled to be sitting in the canner waiting to be processed while I continue to make up batches until I get a seven quarts' worth (that's how many jars my canner can hold)? |
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An hour or two should be ok. Overnight I'd put in the fridge. Are you using a pressure canner and adding acid as recommended?
TOMATO CANNING |
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You need BIG stock pots.
As you've noticed, 20lbs of tomato's doesn't do much and depends on how much you want to cook it down. (I like my salsa and spaghetti sauce THICK) BIG stock pots with a heavy bottom and you just let it simming, stirring every few minutes. (so it doesn't scorch) |
This is what Chicken Lady and I use to cook our sauce down, no muss no fuss, no constant stirring. Pour your squeezins in the pan, set it on low and cook it down as far as you want. We usually reduce 18 quarts to 9-10 quarts......reeeeely thick. Makes the house smell like you want to eat the walls LOLLOL
MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PORCELAIN PAN!!!!!! 
http://www.nesco.com/category_774b5b98e066/subcategory_112ffaeb1f83/product_55944a6c27d6/session_b262946f8e87/ 
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I agree with Reeldoc and Bozeman.
For small batch cooking that slow cooker works really nice. You can cook down in it for pretty much as long as you want or need. Bigger batches need big pots. We cook in two of these 10 gallon pots at this point. They are not cheap but you only need by them once. You can use big enamelware pots as a cheaper alternative but in the long run it probably isn't any cheaper as those pots down hold up well for cooking IMO. 
Another thing to put on your list of "must have" tools is a food strainer. If you plan on processing any amount of tomatoes it's a blessing. 
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Quoted: An hour or two should be ok. Overnight I'd put in the fridge. Are you using a pressure canner and adding acid as recommended? TOMATO CANNING That's what I was looking for, thanks. I can prepare––peel, quarter, and cook––them in a relatively short amount of time, but not a lot of tomatoes at one time. So I was concerned about the first batch sitting there in the jars while I finish up with the rest of them. One pot's worth gets me about 2 quart jars so I would only need to repeat it twice for a canner-load. Good to know there's some wiggle room. Thanks. Roger that on the pressure cooking and acid.  |
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Quoted: I agree with Reeldoc and Bozeman. For small batch cooking that slow cooker works really nice. You can cook down in it for pretty much as long as you want or need. Bigger batches need big pots. We cook in two of these 10 gallon pots at this point. They are not cheap but you only need by them once. You can use big enamelware pots as a cheaper alternative but in the long run it probably isn't any cheaper as those pots down hold up well for cooking IMO. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/FredFeral/sauce4.jpg Another thing to put on your list of "must have" tools is a food strainer. If you plan on processing any amount of tomatoes it's a blessing. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/FredFeral/3xxx2.jpg What brand is that strainer? Might as well go with what the pros use. |
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Quoted:
+1 on the strainer, you can run a ton of tomatoes thru it so much easier than blanching and peeling this is what I have, well worth the money strainer ETA Looks like Feral uses this one other one Yep, you nailed it. That's the one we use.
No issues with it and we still use it with the salsa screen though we now use an electric model for most of our saucing. Here's a link to a strainer that looks to be "heirloom quality": Squeezo strainer I haven't actually handled one of the Squeezo's but they look to be a notch above the standard ones in quality. The basic ones work fine though. If you're buying one, make sure to buy a salsa and berry screens. Probably should also buy a grape spiral up front too. |
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Another vote for the strainer!
We use the Fruit and Vegetable Strainer attachment for our Kitchenaid mixer: FVSP Fruit and Vegetable Strainer Seems like it knocks out about 70% of the work of canning tomato sauce 
Note that you need the meat grinder attachment as well, but that's quite handy in its own right. |
| we run them in the blender then strainer. pour all of the sauce into a big got cooler with a couple frozen gallon jugs of ice. When it is full we put that in a fridge overnight and then drain off all the separated water after at least 8 hours. Reduces the cooking time to a fraction of the time. |