Canning stewed tomatoes in September is as traditional at my house as Christmas. In fact… I went so far as to plan my family around canning tomatoes. No September babies for me! The month of September is Tomato month… and I wanted no interference.
Guess what…. what you resist… persists. Katie was born September 19th. Her three year old birthday photo… blowing out her cake candles… has jars of tomatoes sitting near by.
Now, I have the best of two worlds in September… Katie and tomatoes. 
I just love stewed tomatoes because they are already cooked down a bit for so many dishes that I prepare during the winter months. So… here we go.
Stewed Tomatoes
1. Prepare your tomatoes, using the basic instructions for canning tomatoes. I prepare a bushel of tomatoes at a time and place them in a large 20 quart canning pot. If you don’t have a large canning pot… use several large cooking pots.
2. Using my clean hands, I squish up the tomatoes until they are quite broken down.
3. Add 1 TB of salt to the batch.
4. I now add 1/2 C. of white vinegar to the batch. Years ago, tomatoes had more acid content. They grow tomatoes now with less acid content. That’s why I add the vinegar.
5. Cook the tomatoes until they boil. A foam will rise to the top. You can skim this off if you desire. I usually don’t because the foam goes away the longer you cook the batch.
6. Turn down heat and simmer tomatoes for 45 min. to an hour. I stir them frequently so the tomatoes that rest on the bottom of the pot don’t burn.
7. You can tell by the color when they are ready. The color deepens into a rich darker red. Beautiful color.
8. Fill your clean quart canning jars 1/2” into the neck of the jar and place on new canning lids and good rings. (I use a two cup measuring cup and scoop up the tomatoes from the pots into the canning bottles.) Don’t tighten the canning ring to tightly. (The reason I fill up the neck area a bit is because air has been trap in the tomatoes with all the stirring and pouring into the jars. When they finally settle… the jars will be filled perfectly.)
9. Follow the water bath or steam canner instructions for processing. I process them for only about 20 min because they have already been cooked previously. I’m just sealing the jars at this point. Never had a problem in 30 years.
10. Yield: About 14 to 16 Quarts. Try is recipe… you’ll love them.
Happy Canning and Preserving
Til Later, Kathy Griffiths – Insightful Nana
P.S. Stewed tomatoes are good in the winter time heated in a colorful mug. Add a little butter, salt and pepper to taste. Grill a toasted cheese sandwich and you’re good to go. Mmmm good!
I did a search and saw that a bushel of tomatos weighs 53 lbs. Do you actually weigh your tomatos? This recipe sounds wonderful and I do NOT want to mess it up. I’m also looking for a recipe for corn and black bean salsa that I can can using a water bath.
Thank you for your time – it is really appreciated.
Please understand how important your recipe and instructions are to me. My mother was a big canner and preserver of fruits and vegetables. She died when I was 19 years old and was sick for 6 years prior to passing. I am now 56 years old and love to garden and can…..however I don’t have anyone to ask what to do. So I search the internet….it’s free.
Again thank you for your time,
Ann Brandt
Kathy,
Please excuse my ignorance, but approximately how many is a bushel of tomatoes? I have been given two soda flats from my neighbor’s abundant garden. I’m just trying to figure out how to adjust your recipe. Maybe need to cut it in half…?
Thanks very much for that! My mother recently harvested her garden full of tomatoes , and I found myself the proud owner of two or five buckets worth! Of course I couldnt eat them all, but I did find a website full of loads more tomato recipes here. A website dedicated the topic!! Crazy what you can find on the internetz these days!!
Hey, I was reading your post and I just wanted to thank you for putting out such great content. There’s so much junk on the internet these days its difficult to find anything worthwhile. I actually have cooked this recipe before, I got this book last month on recommendation from a friend http://ninjahq.com/go/cookingrecipes and it turned out really nice! I’m extremely eager to try your variation of it though, it looks excellent. I think you might enjoy those recipes, they’re very good. Thanks for the article and tips.
Well I have to say that tomatoes are probably the favorite thing that my mom bottles. Spaghetti is one of my favorites and she can make the best sauce starting with the tomatoes. I love it because we can have great food all year long.
I love them.
In the winter I love opening a jar of stewed tomatoes. They sure do beat canned tomatoes from the store.
I like white trash stewed tomatoes. Cook bacon pieces drain most of the fat, add a couple of spoonfuls of flour and make a rue. Add tomatoes and stew for about 10 min.
My husband was just commenting on how much we enjoy produce from our garden. The summer season is way too short. By canning I can extend the pleasures of the season.