When my mother had a chance to get almost free vine-ripened tomatoes, she bought enough for 200 quarts (as a family, we tend to jump into things in a BIG way). Processing them in her 6-qt. canner would have taken forever. Instead, they bottled them all in one afternoon, outside, under the shade of a tree. They used two fifty-gallon metal barrels as "canners." They filled them with water, built a fire under each one, then:

1. Cleaned the jars and lids in hot water.
2. Scalded the tomatoes (one minute in hot water, then one minute in cold.
3. Skinned them and firmly packed them in quart bottles.
4. Added 1 t. salt per bottle, poured water in the bottle to within 1/2" of the top, and wiped off the seeds and pulp.
5. Put a new flat canning lid on and screwed the band firmly tight.
6. Carefully lowered the jars into the barrel of water so they didn't touch each other. (Small strips of wood separated the layers of bottles and were also put under the first layer of bottles to keep them from touching the bottom.)
7. Kept the hot water boiling around and over the top of all the bottles for about 35 minutes.
8. Removed the bottles and placed them on folded cloths. (The lids popped and went slightly concave, showing they were properly sealed.)
9. Carefully removed bands and lined jars up on cool, dark basement shelves.
10. This method works well for all fruits.

Copyright 1999 by Natural Meals Publishing. The information in this section may be freely used for non-profit purposes as long as the book source and author remain intact. Express permission of the author, Rita Bingham, must be received for commercial profit.

Updated: 24 Mar 99