This is approximately twenty pounds of tomatoes (one from the CSA, one from the Farmer’s Market):
The following survived the initial wash and cutting off of bad spots:
The following did not:
After much mashing and boiling:
I managed to cover my counter with enough bowls and other equipment to run the results through a food mill.
In which the following did not survive:
And the rest made it here:
Where there was reducing, and then canning. So, I have six quarts of tomato sauce – a four and a half hour odyssey.
Things that I can control that I will do differently if I do this again:
I need a bigger cooking pot. It actually took three pots (two and a second round of one) for the initial step. And having two pots going while I reduced the sauce was a pain – especially since they conducted heat differently, and I was consistently having to adjust burners to keep them at about the same level of boil.
Things I cannot control:
I really wish I had more than one big burner on my stove. And more prep space. But, I do live in an apartment, and really, for an apartment, I have it pretty good. I’m just going to remind myself of that next time I do this…
I will say, I have a new-found respect for women like my grandmother that did this kind of thing on a regular basis, in bulk, because they did it to keep their families fed. I was pretty much exhausted after just six quarts. I can’t imagine doing this all day for several days until it’s all put up.