canning tomatoes
Here's a link to get you started
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ1097.html
I'm assuming you're going to use a boiling water bath to can (not a pressure cooker designed for canning) so there are a couple of points...
You need a large pot with a tight fitting lid and a rack that fits in the bottom; allowing for the rack, the pot must be tall enough so that the water will cover your canning jars by *at least* one inch. You'll need tongs specifically made for canning to securely grip the jars to remove them from the water when the processing time is finished. Alternatively, if you have one of those "spaghetti" pots that have a large removeable basket that fits in the pot you can use it since it makes it easy to remove the jars.
You'll notice that the addition of some kind of acid is always recommended. I prefer citric acid. It is quite inexpensive and, since it is just an inert chemical, lasts over several years. Home-canned tomatoes have a slightly more acidic taste than the equivalent type of commerical canned tomato.
For boiling water processing, do *not* add meat or other vegetables to your sauce. You *cannot* safely preserve these kinds of sauces just with boiling water.
Over the years, I've found it simplest to put up whole (skinned) tomatoes packed either in water or tomato juice. I prefer the tomatoes skinned, but again, this is optional.
To skin tomatoes, put them in a *large* amount of rapidly boiling water until you see a crack develop in the skin (about 60 seconds max). Remove immediately and dump them in a large ice-water bath. You should be able to peel the skins off easily with your hands. Don't add too many tomatoes at a time, since you want to keep your water at a boil.
I often add one or two dried bay leaves or a tsp of whole coriander seeds to each quart jar. I usually add a small amount of salt. Seasonings or salt are entirely optional. Personally, I wouldn't add any fresh herbs (such as basil leaves) b/c I'm concerned these might not be appropriate for canning with boiling water.
You may want to can crushed tomatoes which is a little more efficient than canning whole tomatoes (since you'll drain out a lot of the tomato liquid and thus need fewer jars) but this takes more work. It's your choice whether you skin the tomatoes or not. Just put the whole tomatoes (skinned or not skinned) in a large pot with a *small* amount of water in the bottom. Put on medium heat and, as the tomatoes start to soften, use a large, sharp knife to cut through them.
When they're soft you can [1] dump them in food mill with the medium disk and grind them - in this case the disk will keep the skins and most of the seeds from passing through into the puree or [2] process them in a food processor. Put the resulting puree in a large colander or sieve over a large bowl and let the excess juice drain out. You can use the tomato juice as the liquid for canning whole tomatoes or you can simply can the juice seperately.
If you can tomato juice, you'll notice that, unlike commercially bottled or canned tomato juice, over time the juice tends to separate. Commerical tomato juice is processed at a very high heat that a home canner can't achieve. This separation is entirely natural and does *not* mean the juice is bad in any way.
Whether canning whole tomatoes, tomato juice or crushed tomatoes, always use the recommended amount of acid and processing time for the product and jar size (pints or quarts).
