Forgot to add that I have also put up some canned tomatoes already, 7 qts. and 8 pints. AND....it's just my DH and I.

This post was edited by twolips on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 11:17

How long is either one good for, frozen and canned.

With frozen foods its storage life can vary from 6 months to 2 years depending on the ingredients and how it is frozen - container vs. freezer bag vs. vacuum sealed, etc.

Canned goods have a much longer shelf life generally. Technically -- indefinite although the quality will decline gradually.

But freezing it gives you more leeway in the recipes used while canning has limited approved recipes for safety reasons. If this is your own personal recipe then freezing it is the way to go. But if you want to also can some then you'll need to use one of tested and approved recipes. And pressure canning is required for spaghetti sauce.

Hope this answers your question.

Dave

S. Sauce without Meat: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html

S. Sauce with Meat: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce_meat.html

My freezing method was in bags, making sure all air was out. I do have a vacuum machine, I could use on them, but they appear to be ok.

I don't have a pressure canner, just HWB.
Ingredients:
tomatoes
onion
garlic
grn pepper
veg. oil
oregano
basil
parsley
sugar
salt and pepper

Outside picking more toms before the birds get them. I am also at 6000'
Thank you so much for your advice and promptness. I knew I could count on you guys.

Ok, I see the other ingredients reduce the acidity, therefore not making it safe. I'll go ahead and freeze it, and hope it lasts closer to 2 years. If not, lesson learned.

My reason for all of this, I don't have much room and have tomatoes EVERYWHERE, so really no way to rotate my crop. If I can do without tomatoes next year, except for a few, I can do some other crops, then the tomatoes again the following year.
Most of the veggies are on the right, a couple toms in the half circles on the left. The area on the right is about 8' across, not sure of the length, 50'-70' maybe. This picture was taken first week of July.

The sauce will be fine in the freezer for two years. I have kept raw, frozen, chunked tomatoes that long, and they were harder to get all the air out :).

If you aren't going to grow tomatoes next year, maybe make several different sauce recipes, so you don't get tired of one?

You also might want to check out the recently-bumped thread on making sundried tomatoes. If you have never had them, they are OMG delicious :).

You place is adorable!

Nice looking place and plants.

But unfortunately without pressure canning, freezing is your only option when dealing with mixed vegetable recipes.

If you can vacuum seal in heavy duty freezer bags it will extend the storage life by quite a bit.

Dave

Your place is so, so cute! Just a thought, if you are nearing the amount of sauce you may use for the foreseeable future, why not check out a few different uses. Last year I had a bumper harvest, so I dried some in my oven and then froze them. They were delicious to mix into soups, dressings and chili in the dead of winter. Plus, they took up less room. Also, why not think about checking out some homemade ketchup recipes. I've seen some that call for roasted tomatoes, a little red pepper, etc. I know ketchup is super cheap to buy. But last summer, I had some homemade ketchup that a friend gave me. It was to die for, like nothing that I've ever tasted before...took plain old meatloaf to a different level! Just a thought, if you've got them coming out your ears anyway!

Thank you everyone for your kind words and the advice. Dave, I will vacuum this batch.

We live off the grid on 80 acres at 6000' and the critters seem to like my garden as well as I do! So we put the cedar fence around, and made one side the little town. It DOES keep the deer and rabbits out, but not much you can do about other 4 and 2 legged critters, as they live here too!

I'll post a recent picture while things are cooking!

Double post, sorry. Wish they would fix that!

This post was edited by twolips on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 14:04

Off the grid? Boy do I envy you!

But off the grid with freezer full of food would make me very nervous. I think I'd definitely invest in a pressure canner for foods and then not have to worry about any equipment failures.

Great for canning venison too. :-)

Dave

You made that little town just to look at? Not for tourists or something? Wow.

And I agree that a pressure canner would be worth the $$, compared to losing freezer full of food!

But, you know, you can do plain tomatoes or an approved sauce recipe in just a boiling water bath. Is VERY easy. And the plain tomatoes, you can make them into sauce on the day you use them :).

Excellent point Nina !! Just BWB can plain tomatoes. Then you can use them to make all sorts of things later. It is only when you start adding all sorts of other things to them that the PC comes into play.

Plain canned tomatoes can be turned into spaghetti sauce, plain sauce, pizza sauce, casseroles, chili, stewed tomatoes, etc.etc The list of uses is almost unlimited. Saves freezer space and no worries about lost food with lost power.

Dave

I don't mean to hijack the thread here, but am relatively new to canning. Dave, would you mind posting a recipe for BWB canning plain tomatoes?

Kristin

I lived off-grid for 8 years, until we could afford to have electric brought in. I really appreciate the electric now. We couldn't afford to have the propane freezer to have a freezer off-grid.
Off-grid is not for the faint of heart, it's hard hard work and not cheap, especially to start with. Only over time will it pay off. Not saying that I couldn't go back, I just don't want to. I'm not in an area that electric company would charge an arm and leg, only about $10-14 to run the line, that we didn't have.

I'm not Dave, but google is my friend:

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can3_tomato.html

Thank you, NilaJones! :)

Ended up getting busy yesterday, and couldnâÂÂt respond.
Christen, I love the idea of making our own ketchup, may have to look into that. I donâÂÂt use it much, but DH does.
Dave, we have quite an extensive solar system, we run our business here and also have 2 warehouses on the property, have only run out of power a couple times, and when that happens, we have a generator for back up. We usually have to run the generator on occasion just to keep it working, not because we need it. No hunters in the family, and I donâÂÂt think DH would even eat venison. He is a cow man, which we have plenty of those around, however I donâÂÂt think the ranchers would appreciate it! DH prefers to shop in the âÂÂfreezerâ section of the grocery store, as opposed to our freezer.
Nila, the town was fun to build and we still need to add windows and doors to the different sections, but mainly it was to keep the deer and rabbits out. No, do not want tourists! Besides, itâÂÂs not THAT special! Doing plain tomatoes and then doing whatever to them later is kind of what I was thinking.
MyFamilysFarm, to bring electric in is out of the question, as we would have to pay for them to run it 6 miles. Solar was cheaper (although quite expensive still) and then we would also have had a monthly bill. The freezer is electric, stove, dryer and hot water on demand are on the propane. It takes us almost a half hour to drive that 6 miles! We have lived here for 12 years, and NO it is NOT for everyone.
The town has 2 actual buildings down at the end, the Black Smith shop, which is more or less used for storage, and The Shady Lady is 2 parts, the front has some shelves for my seedlings when we start them, a small growing area, and the grill, the back half is seating with a little bar and a pellet stove for when we move the plants out there in the early spring.
Here is a pic I took this morning, not really sure you can see the growth in one month. In a section you canâÂÂt see, I have pulled my onions (size of softball) and put in some kale, beans and cukes, hoping I have time and the critters leave them alone! They got all my beans I planted in the spring and actually have gotten into some that I have out there now. I may have to put jugs over them.