canning canned stuff

[kroberts]

Hello,

I wonder if you all could help me with a question. If I make spaghetti sauce with canned (store bought) tomatos, can I can the spaghetti sauce?

I found a recipe in the Ball Blue Book that used canned tomatos, but it says to freeze and I just don't have the space. :-/

Our garden tomatos did ok, but not well enough to can any.

And we eat LOTS of Spaghetti (big family, low budget).

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Kathleen

[Shamrock1121]

Contact your County Extension Office for information and/or a recipe. My first rule for food safety and home canning is to ONLY use tested recipes. The second rule, never substitute or alter the amounts of the ingredients in a tested recipe. Doing so will alter the pH level and may be an invitation to bacteria growth.

I'd be concerned with the amount of acid (or lack of it) in the commercial tomatoes since they have already been processed.

-Karen

[leera]

It seems like it would take more engery than it's worth to bother with.......why not just keep the canned tomatoes on the shelf,and make your sauce as needed........it would probably taste better too.

Store bought canned foods,can be reprocessed,but you WILL lose a lot of the qualtiy and nutrition in the food.

Hubby and I use a lot of tomatoes and tomato products as well........ :D

[kroberts]

Well now I never thought about the acid content. Guess thats why the book says to freeze it. Hmm.

And thats a very good point about just making it as needed. I just like having some ready made because I frequently get sick and its nice when the kids can thow it all together themselves.

We have been known to buy ready-made sauce but I think home canned would be much better.

Guess I'll just hope for a better harvest next year. :) Or maybe even buy some at the farmers market for canning.

I LOVE fresh tomatos! Love to dice 'em up with onion and garlic and a little lime juice. Sometimes I even mix in a can of white beans. I eat that on almost everything. ;D

[leera]

One thing that hubby and I do when the home canned tomatoes run out,is buy the readymade sauce(the cheap kind) and keep a supply of our own spices in the cupboard to add to it.

I buy a kind at GFS(Gordons Food Service) called "spicy spaghetti seasoning" and use that to taste.......yummy!

I had to buy most of my tomatoes at the farmer's market this year to can too.... ::)

We use a LOT of pasta because it's cheap and easy to make a good meal with. :)

[Penny_Plinker]

You can find a good spaghetti sauce recipe here:

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/he175w.htm

You have to scroll down the page a ways. What you could do if using pre-canned tomatoes is make the one with meat sauce. That way you have to pressure can it additional time for the meat anyway, so it wouldn't matter if the tomatoes were acidic or not.

Penny

[Penny_Plinker]

Was running low, so i made some spaghetti sauce yesterday. I used 1 gal of home frozen tomatoes, 4 quarts of home canned tomatoes, and added one economy 6 lb can of hunts canned tomato sauce. (That big can cost less than 3.00) Put it all in my extra canner because i don't have a large enough pot and simmered it with the spices, etc for several hours. Then i canned it in my other canner; got 6 quarts. Since spaghetti sauce tastes better if you simmer it slowly, you do save time by making a larger batch instead of making it each time you need it.

Penny

[kroberts]

We also made a big batch over the weekend. COuldn't convince my DH about the need for tomato paste so it came out a little runny. But we divided it into 4 freezer bags and popped it in the freezer. Don't really have to rrom but we managed.

We have 8 people to feed. 2 are staying until they can get back on there feet. They eat more than the 6 of us--basically ate our rent money. >:(

So I'm trying to get really creative with cheap food to feed a crew. So, lots of pasta. ;D

[leera]

Pasta and rice are about as cheap as you can get! :)

Here'e one I use a lot:

Pasta of choice(usually noodles)

Ground beef,and a pack of onion soup mix(or two,depending on how many you're feeding),green peppers diced fine(I use frozen peppers).......mix all together and form into "meat balls"

Brown in a skillet.....set aside when done.......

Cook pasta,set aside........

Make a gravy either from mix or,or the juices from the skillet.....

Put pasta on plate,put on some meat balls,and pour some gravy over the top........cheap and easy.........feeds a crowd too.....

[Penny_Plinker]

Sounds good, cheap, and easy, Leera.

Here's one we used to make when camping:

Bologna Bunwiches

Cook 1/2 cup fresh or frozen chopped green pepper in a little cooking oil till tender. Stir in one 8 oz can of kidney beans, drained, one 8 oz can tomato sauce, 6 oz bologna cut into strips, 1 TBS instant minced onion and 1 tsp chili powder. Heat through. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded natural cheddar cheese and heat till it melts. Serve in 6 hot dog buns.

Note: i never could find kidney beans in 8 oz cans so i used the regular 15 oz cans of beans and tomato sauce and it went further that way. I'd use plenty of bologna, too. It's usually cheap enough. Would fill 8 buns at least which is how many she is feeding.
Bologna, buns, beans.... all cheap and go a long way.

Penny

[kroberts]

Sounds kinda like a chili dog! :D Sounds wonderful!

I love both ideas. Thanks for the help.

Kathleen

[docjered]

Well, curious about this, so asked a friend who is a "doc" also at Washington University... she develops a lot of the USDA guidelines. She says no, no never try to recan canned tomatoes using water bath, as the acid content of canned tomatoes is lower than the canning varieties that we use from the garden. They, in manufacture, perform the equivalent to pressure canning. I agree with an earlier poster. Savealot has spaghetti sauce for a dollar a jar... keep a lot of this in storage and turn it into something edible on demand. Also can a lot of my own tomatoes... seems that all of the orchards around here also sell tomatoes earlier than apples (must be a common early season crop for orchard owners). Cheaper and easier than trying to grow enough to can all I want. Also, www.waltonfeeds.com also sells powdered tomato. This is a wonderful product!!! You can make tomato juice, tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, barbeque sauce, taco sauce, tomato soup, and a couple of dozen other items with this one ingredient as the main ingredient. It is pricey, but just consider how many tomatoes have to die to make one #10 can of this miracle powder?? Also, when the spaghetti sauce comes out a bit runny, or overcooks and just doesnt taste saucy enough, you can add this powder to make it perfect every time.

[creekside-angie]

I can never grow enough tomatoes for my family to get us thru the winter,(mostly because chickens like them as much as we do!)Around here they(big farmers) grow fields of canners and they never mind if you pick up after they go thru.Got 10 bu. last time,was worried about chems but decided whats the difference if I pay in the store or get 'em and can them my self,besides no bugs! Met one of the farmers in vet office one day and he said I could have all the green beans I wanted.Ask around in your area,never know what you can come up with!! :D