Tomatoes

We harvest the ripe tomatoes. There are still plenty ripening and green tomatoes left, so there will be more fresh tomato salads before the season finally comes to a close.

I spend several hours skinning and coring the fruit. Then I cook them up according to the USDA canning recipe book. I ladle the result into jars, along with a little citric acid, and stack them in my Presto canner (extra).

The canner is made of aluminium, so won’t heat on the induction hob. Luckily Nick, who came round for dinner, has a camping gas cooker in his car. We watch the steam vent for the prescribed ten minutes and then fit the 15lb pressure release valve. It takes 15 minutes or so to get to pressure and then another 10 minutes to finish sterilising.

Half an hour after turning the heat off, Nick has gone and the pressure has dropped. I open the canner and extract fourteen jars of still bubbling tomatoes (extra). Tomorrow I’ll check the seals.