Canning Stewed Tomatoes

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Remember how we went to the Farmer’s Market in Asheville last Sunday and purchased 11 bushels of tomatoes? This year I decided to use part of the tomatoes to make Stewed Tomatoes which I love to eat with okra and cornbread. Yum!

Melissa’s Stewed Tomatoes for Canning

2 quarts coarsely chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour hot tomatoes into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles.

Process in a pressure canner – Pints 15 minutes, Quarts 20 minutes at 10 lbs. of pressure. Elevations 1000 feet or above at 15 lbs. of pressure.

Here is the step by step:

Remove the skins. I like to make a little X on the bottom of each tomato with a knife and then I drop them, about four at a time into a pot of boiling water for 30 – 60 seconds.

As soon as you remove the tomatoes from the pot of boiling water, you want to drop them into a bowl of ice water to cool and stop the cooking process.

The skins will become loose and should easily slip off.

After you peel and core the tomatoes, you want to roughly chop them and put into a measuring cup. For this recipe, you’ll want 4 quarts (16 cups) of chopped tomatoes.

Add the tomatoes, chopped peppers and onions, and the remaining ingredients to the pot.

Bring the tomato mixture to a boil and reduce the heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle the hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe off rims, screw lids on finger tip tight, and place into pressure canner.

Process pints for 15 minutes, quarts for 20 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure or 15 lbs. of pressure if you live at an elevation of 1000 feet or more. Be sure to consult the manual that came with your pressure canner if you have not used one before.

After the pressure has dropped, allow jars to cool and seal.