In Need of a GREAT Pickle Recipe

[Dumbo]

Yeah I had a small freezer then sold it. I used to buy half a cow, but not anymore. If I spot something small I may pick one up. Till then...

Yup canning it will have to be.

I already did tomato sauces with the 3x 36-lb I already picked, and canned it. I scraped out the seeds and the goo, but a book I had said to keep the goo and boil it with the tomatoes, so out came the cheese clothe since I don't have a Victorio strainer, nor have I ever seen one. Did this recipe for the sauce: http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_pa ... hp?pid=184


So yeah canning it will be. I don't mind the boiling to peal them. The cutting of the core/core end and taking the goo out is no fun though. That's a couple of hours sitting on that table.

But for canning whole tomatoes, the book says just to stuff them in a jar. Shouldn't a side be cut open and the seeds/goo scraped out? I read seeds make a sauce bitter. Don't know if there is any truth to this though. That's why I've been removing the seeds. BBQ seems to have zero issue though.

For this batch I figured on following either this (whole or halved):
http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_pa ... hp?pid=189

Or this (diced/quartered):
http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_pa ... hp?pid=187

I'm leaning on the quartered ones. But they say nothing about the seeds.

If you have something better (sauce or canned tomato), feel free to post it.

EDIT:

I want to see your garden pictures Marc, not just your hoard of produce, although that mountain of tomatoes is certainly an awesome sight. I would love to find a source of well-rotted manure or triple mix. It's kind of risky because you never know if the stuff is full of weed seeds, and it's so expensive to get delivered these days.

Ah. Will post one tomorrow then. They are likely all on the betters half's computer. It's very cramped, and tightly packed. Also, the Tom's have reached 8-feet now. I never expected this. I expect 4 feet. So they are very very cramped. Glad I only bought resistant veggies, otherwise I'd likely just be growing disease and mould.

And yeah, it's expensive to truck in. I think just to have a truck come I paid about 110 (+/- 20$). That doesn't include the earth (costs more if they have to travel more). So since I'm bringing more in next spring, the freeloading neighbours want earth too. The triple mix is cheap. Comes to 17$ cubic yard (765 litres), unmeasured, like free-pour.

Or, if you only know quantity and price based on the bags of earth you buy at box stores, comes to 55-cents per 25-L bag. I fear the box store bags. No clue what you are getting there, or what it's cut with etc.

And yup, you have to know what you're getting. The guy who sold me gave me all sorts of speeches how it's the best on the planet. But I had it analyzed anyhow and it was pretty good. So I'll buy the same thing from the same person.

[DonnaZn2SK]

If you've ever bought a can of whole tomatoes, you will see that those tomatoes are whole. Depending on how large your tomatoes are, it wouldn't hurt to just halve them. I think it's just personal preference, really...the end product will most likely be broken down in a recipe anyway.

Are you going to use the canned, i.e.. Heinz tomato juice, or did you interpret the tomato juice in the recipe to mean the juice from processing the tomatoes? I've used the store bought stuff to can my tomatoes.

[Dumbo]

I didn't get into it yet, just saw that it does require tomato juice, for the whole/halved one.

So Guess I'll get some canned tomato juice.

But I don't see why I should, the other recipe says to crush some and make your own..

Not sure what I will do.

edited.

[DonnaZn2SK]

Marc,

If you have tomatoes coming out of your ying yang, try batches using both store-bought and your own. That's the only way to tell if one is better. The store-bought stuff will be a thicker consistency anyway.

[Dumbo]

You mean do some w/ store bought tomato juice and my own tomato juice? The check the diff?

That's a thought... Didn't think of that.

[AdamB]

Toms_to_do.jpg

These are the ones I washed last night. Still have more sitting around the sink waiting to be washed.

Then I'll have to pick more later today that are ready.

WOW! Seeing and eating the fruits of your labor is so rewarding, Isn’t it? Spending time outside with family and watching your veggies grow melts the worries away. Great work Dumbo!