Usually whole or crushed.

Crushed mostly as they can be used for anything. But we also do lots of Stewed Tomatoes, tomato juices like V-8, and a fair amount of salsa.

Dave

Salsa, sauces and crushed. I have made the spiced tomato's from the Ball Big Book. They come in handy, too.

I think I'm going to try to make Annie's Salsa!! lol

I agree with Mike on Annie's Salsa! Fantastic recipe!!! Actually I've never canned tomatoes any other way before but since I still have over 2 dozen pints of Annie's Salsa left from last year I probably don't need to make more than a couple batches this year. I am thinking about either canning some crushed tomatoes for chili or making some sauce this year (or both) .

I better pick up some citric acid since I don't currently have a pressure canner.

Well, obviously I can my salsa. (grin) Also some peach/tomato salsa (just replacing half of the tomatoes with diced peaches), pizza sauce, enchilada sauce, stewed tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato basil soup, spaghetti sauce and tomato marmalade!

I seem to use the crushed tomatoes the most, they go into chili, goulash, vegetable soup, tomato dumplings, all kinds of things.

Annie

May I can and make salsa from frozen tomatoes? I do not have a ton of plants this year, I just can't do that any more, but as they ripen I either eat them or freeze them.

Also thank you for the good tip I got previously, was it from you Dave? I am picking the tomatoes at first blush and they are ripening indoors. So far, I do not have the problem of squirrels eating the tomatoes.

Yes you can, many do. But using frozen will make it a bit soupier so you might want to drain them some first after thawing.

Glad the blush picking is working for you.

Dave

I used to always can my tomatoes whole, peeled, a very common thing to do. The last few years I've gone to something different that really does what I need for the most part. I place quartered tomatoes into my crock pot on the Low setting. I do not stir, because nearly clear water from the tomatoes will separate out, which I can spoon out and put into jars to use in soups or other things I'm doing soon. Once the tomatoes have cooked enough to easily come free of their skins, etc., I run the reduced water tomatoes through a sieve to remove seeds and skins, then can with a little salt and lemon juice like called for. I think I really get more use out of this. I love to pull out a jar, pour some in a bowl, add some milk, salt, pepper, other herbs (fresh or dried), and heat it up for a bowl of tomato soup to have with a grilled cheese sandwich!!

Salsa, marinara, Mexican tomatoes (my imitation of Del Monte's), pizza sauce, and diced are my usual choices. Where can I find Annie's salsa recipe? Sounds like I need to try it.

Now if my tomato plants will just start setting fruit, I'll be set.

Do a search for Annie's Salsa right here in this forum - it is good.

We ended up with a bunch of green tomatoes last fall, so I made a couple of batches of Green Tomato Relish. It was really good! We had some on hamburgers last night. If you use the Ball recipe, just remember to add extra liquid. Here's my thread on that saga:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4218363/relish-help-please?n=9

When you can crushed tomatoes do you leave the seeds in?

For me it depends on the tomato type. Big beefsteaks are easy to scoop out some or most the seed pockets and I do but also don't worry if some seeds remain. Paste and plum types I don't bother removing the seeds. It really is just a personal choice. I think they can cause some bitterness if you leave a lot of them but others claim they don't notice it.

Dave

Like Dave, I think it depends on the tomato. My "canning tomatoes" are Rutgers and they usually don't get the seeds removed. My heirlooms vary. Some, like Great White, have few seeds. Others have more and I just squeeze out some/most of the seeds and goo then toss them into the pot.

Annie

I use my thumb to scoop most of the seeds out into a strainer. I dump the liquid back into the pot.

We can quarts and quarts of salsa, this year's garden is pretty much for salsa as we are totally out. I do also make a roasted tomato sauce that I blend and freeze.