Help Request for Canning Tomato Sauce

[Shel_B]

About once every 12 - 15 months or so, I make a big batch of tomato sauce.  It has it's roots in a recipe from Serious Eats:  

 

https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-slow-cooked-italian-american-tomato-sauce-red-sauce-recipe

 

Usually, the recipe is slightly more than doubled leaving me with a need to store a fair amount of sauce which thus far has gone into 1-quart Mason jars and has been stored in the fridge (for shorter term storage) or frozen for longer term storage.

 

The tomatoes arrived today and sauce is on the horizon.  The seller accidentally sent me twice the number of cans I ordered, and there's now a lot of sauce on that horizon. So, with this batch I'd like to consider canning the sauce so it needn't be stored in the freezer.  I'd like to use the Mason jars, but I'm open to other suggestions.  However, I've never canned anything by myself, I've only helped Sweetie with her fruit preserves, and the last time I did that was four years ago.

 

Will canning the sauce change its flavor or texture in any way?  Are there any changes in the recipe that I should consider when canning?

 

Are there any good instructions on eGullet that will help me in this endeavor (I couldn't find anything)?  Does anyone have any suggestions for this particular situation, i.e., is there any technique or instructions specific to canning tomato sauce?  What problems are typically encountered?

 

What equipment will I need in order to do this?  If canned properly, how long can the sauce last?

Edited May 18 by Shel_B (log)

[weinoo]

https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=homemade-tomato-sauce

[weinoo]

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/how-do-i-can-tomatoes/standard-tomato-sauce/#gsc.tab=0

[weinoo]

5 hours ago, Shel_B said:

What problems are typically encountered?

 

Dying from botulism would probably be the most important thing to avoid.

 

 

[liuzhou]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems you want to take canned tomatoes, sauce them, then can them?

 

Why not do what you usually do with half the cans then store the ones you didn't order until next time? Canned tomatoes have a long shelf life.

Edited May 18 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Why not do what you usually do with half the cans

I'm also rather baffled by your intention to can already canned tomatoes. Canning is such a PITA and unless you've been doing things like this, the danger of botulism is high with tomato products. If freezer space is a problem, freeze them in Ziploc bags. I make a big batch of sauce and put it in quart size freezer bags. Freeze them flat on a tray and then just stack them in the freezer. It takes up a lot less room than jars do.

[Shel_B]

26 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I'm also rather baffled by your intention to can already canned tomatoes. Canning is such a PITA and unless you've been doing things like this, the danger of botulism is high with tomato products. If freezer space is a problem, freeze them in Ziploc bags. I make a big batch of sauce and put it in quart size freezer bags. Freeze them flat on a tray and then just stack them in the freezer. It takes up a lot less room than jars do.

Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that, especially since I use the technique for freezing other things. Maybe it was the late hour, or just feeling overwhelmed by looking at all those  cans of tomatoes (with more on the way). 👍

[Shel_B]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems you want to take canned tomatoes, sauce them, then can them?

 

Why not do what you usually do with half the cans then store the ones you didn't order until next time? Canned tomatoes have a long shelf life.

Because it's a very long process to make the sauce and making it in one big batch would be a great time saver.  I'm going to use @Tropicalsenior's suggestion.