While in Georgia in late June/early July, my Oma taught me how to can tomatoes and peaches. I don’t have any pictures of the peaches and all of them are being stored at my parents’ house since I didn’t’ want to risk TSA taking them away from me on my flight home. In a couple of hours, we canned 5 quarts of peaches and 3 of tomatoes.
Here are my Oma’s instructions for tomatoes:
Prior to starting, run your bottles and any other kitchen equipment you’re using through through the dishwasher to sterilize. Buy fresh lids. You can reuse your rings.
Bring water to a boil and put the whole tomatoes in the water for a few minutes until their skins crack. Take them out and put them in cold water to cool them down and do this for all of your tomatoes.
After cool to the touch, peel the tomatoes and cut into eighths.
Put the peeled and cut-up tomatoes into a pot and bring to a boil in their own juices. At this point you can add whatever else you want to can with the tomatoes. My grandfather likes onion and zucchini; you can also add onion and garlic or peppers and other salsa seasoning. Cook the mixture until it is at your desired thickness.
Bring a small pot of water to boil and drop your lids in. Let those boil a few minutes and then turn the heat off and leave the lids in the water.
Fill the jars; be careful keep the jar edge clean so jars will seal. Use a canning funnel if you have one. Fill them to the bottom of the jar neck.
Just to be on the safe side, wipe the edge of the filled jars with a cloth. Put the lids on and screw the rings on.
In a large, deep pot, put a thin cloth on the bottom and put the filled jars in the pot. Add water to the pot until the jars are halfway submerged.
Slowly bring the water to a boil. When it starts boiling, set your timer for 15 or 20 minutes. After the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let it cool with the jars in the bath.
When cool, take the jars out of the bath. Let them sit on the counter as they cool down further. By this point, the jars should have sealed. If any haven’t sealed in the time it takes for the jars to completely cool down (or within an hour or so), those jars won’t seal. Put them in the fridge and use within the next day or so.
The process for peaches is similar:
Prep the jars, lids, equipment, et al. the same way.
Peel the peaches and cut into quarters. Depending on how many you’re canning, you may need to put them into a mild acid bath (lemon juice and water) to prevent discoloration.
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar to the bottom of your jars (reduce sugar if using pint jars instead of quarts). Fill the jars with peach quarters to the bottom of the neck. Add water and put sterilized lids on; wipe the edge and then screw the jackets on.
In a large, deep pot, put a thin cloth on the bottom and put the filled jars in the pot. Add water to the pot until the jars are halfway submerged.
Slowly bring the water to a boil. When it starts boiling, set your timer for 30 minutes. After the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let it cool with the jars in the bath.
When cool, take the jars out of the bath. Let them sit on the counter as they cool down further. By this point, the jars should have sealed. If any haven’t sealed in the time it takes for the jars to completely cool down (or within an hour or so), those jars won’t seal. Put them in the fridge and use within the next day or so.
