Canning cherry tomatoes - any problems?

Marjory Wildcraft

by best guess is that its not a problem per say... as we know most soil is devoid of many minerals and nutrients unless someone (like you lol) knows how to get those minerals back into the soil.  As the connection to tomatoes..most of the mass produced tomatoes i have understood to have less acids in them now due to the poor soil, making canning many tomatoes a problem because acid needs to be added. im not a canning expert but i can see the problem,  especially if its going to be 100% relied upon for feeding your family or for a prepping situation.  .

For those that know and grow their soil..not an issue.

Unless of course she was talking about peeling all those little buggers lol

-Heather

Ruth Ann Reyes

Okay, first of all...Marjory - this is genius and I WILL be trying this. But, just to clarify... the skins didn't get chewy in your jars?

I am pretty sure my homegrown tomatoes are indeed acidic enough to just be water bathed on their own...However, I still add lemon juice for peace of mind!

Marjory Wildcraft

Hi Ruth,  yes, I suspect Barbara was concerned about the pH not being acidic enough as cherry tomatoes aren't as high in acid as regular canning tomatoes.

Heather, yes I did think this was brilliant!  LOL. No, I wasn't about to peel those tiny guys either - the blender did the trick into making them nice and 'saucy'.

I might reach out to Kendra Johnston who is a canning expert and see what she says.  But you know those dang cherry tomato plants are super prolific and I think having a couple of big plants going up (and not taking up much square footage of my garden) is the way to go.

I'll let you know if I get a hold of Kendra...

JOBallinger

I always add lemon juice to my tomatoes when I can them anyway, no matter the variety. I had rather be safe than sorry.

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

What about freezing the cherry tomatoes first? Would the skins pop right off like other tomatoes? Then can they be canned whole? That sounds much easier if it works.

macycandice

Personally for my cherry tomato canning, I usually make them into sauce as well. I save whole and diced canning for the larger varieties as they are easier to peel. Freezing would indeed pop the skin, but you wouldn't get that easy peel as the skin would still be very much in contact with the flesh, just broken open. You could do a blanching situation, but that could take awhile depending on how many lbs of cherry toms you have. It's your choice on how much time and effort you put into it. As for the acidity question, I'm of the better safe than sorry opinion as well.

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

@macycandice Thank you!!

Marjory Wildcraft

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/447573#Comment_447573

well, put them in a blender to make the skins not such an issue?

blevinandwomba

I'm just glad that the tomatoes are so happy.

Sorry, can't resist a good typo.

Edit by Admin: In the title, "cheery" has now been corrected to read to "cherry"

Ruth Ann Reyes

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/843814#Comment_843814

Good to know!

Karyn Pennington

Dehydrate those sweet little guys -- they're like candy!

I have put them in sauce, but I typically dehydrate them because of how sweet they are.

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

@Karyn Pennington they are great that way. Year before last I cut them in half (they were big cherry tomatoes) and dehydrated them. I preseasoned one batch with Italian seasoning herbs and another with basil and Parmesan cheese. They turned out very tasty.