Tomato Jam
Tomato Jam!! Keeping with my “Things in Jars” theme this week. Canning has been my life the past month. I know I will miss it when there is no more produce to can. I know I am already SO thankful for the food we will have in the winter! Right now, in the thick of it, I’m tired! 🤣 so far we’ve brought in around 1000 tomatoes out of our little garden. I am so proud of our little canned tomato stock pile! I decided to switch it up and make Tomato jam with some! This will be Christmas gifts, burger topping, meat loaf topping, dipping sauce, and even Saturday morning biscuit spread! This is originally a recipe from the Ball® Blue book! So, you KNOW it’s good!
Red Tomato Jam
Originally from Ball® Blue book
Yield: about 5 half-pint jars
6 pounds red tomatoes
(about 18 medium)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
(about ½ medium)
6 tablespoons
Ball Classic Pectin
3½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (about ½ medium)
Wash red tomatoes and lemon under cold running water; drain. Remove stem and blossom ends from tomatoes. Cut tomatoes into quarters. Cook tomatoes until soft. Puree mixture using an electric food strainer or food mill to remove peels and seeds. Grate lemon peel; measure 1 teaspoon grated peel. Juice lemon; measure 2 teaspoons lemon juice.
Gently boil tomato pulp in a large saucepan over medium-high heat to reduce by half, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add pectin, lemon peel, salt, and lemon juice, stirring to blend in pectin. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.
Ladle hot jam into a hot jar, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip-tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water (180°F) in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled. PROCESS Lower the rack into simmering water. Water must cover jars by 1 inch. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner and bring water to a rolling boil. Process half-pint jars 10 minutes. Turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars cool 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12 hours. Check seals. Label and store jars.
