Tomato Sauce - Equipment Essentials

If you are new to canning and curious about what kind of equipment you may need - here's an overview of what I use.  Typically, I can 100-150lbs of tomatoes in the fall and end up with 30-50 quarts of marinara.  I do not put in any spices, garlic or salt -- I halve the tomatoes (usually a roma variety like San Marzano, or Early Girl), squeeze the seeds and juice gently into a stainless steel mesh colander that is sitting in a bowl, and then process the tomatoes through the manual food mill.   I save the juice from the seeds to freeze and add to soups later (it also reduces the cooking time a bit - you'd be surprised how much water is in the center with the seeds). 

• Food mill - I have a Vittorio Food Mill which jams up but it's a good option
• Cooking/Stockpots: At least two large pots for sauce:
  
• Cuisinart 4-Piece Cookware Set, 12 Quarts, Chef's Classic Stainless Steel Pasta/Steamer, 77-412P1 (purchased for $75 in 2010, now $120 on Amazon)
• Prime Pacific 18/10 Stainless Steel 20 Quart Stock Pot With Glass Lid (paid $50 in 2010, now $68 on Amazon)
• I really like the 20 Qt pot and use it more thanI thought; this particular one has a very nice heavy bottom that helps minimize scorching/sticking. I also use cast iron heat diffusers on my stove burners.
• Bowls & Colanders: Very large colanders and stainless steel bowls - I got my massive colanders from family/garage sales
• Canning Equipment:
• Hot water bath canner (can be had cheap/free if you ask on Buy Nothing groups or check thrift stores)
• Pressure canner: In 2011, I upgraded my hot water bath canner to a Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker which cost me $85 on Amazon (it's now a whopping $185).  Totally worth it and a real upgrade from hot water bath canning for quarts of tomato sauce as well as low acid canning in bulk.
• Jars, lids and bands! Ask on your local "Buy Nothing" group and look for these in thrift stores - a dozen jars costs around $12-15, so a used mason jar shouldn't cost more than 25-50 cents in a thrift store (they are smoking crack if they charge more for these mass produced items). 
• Always check your jars for cracks and feel the top edge of the jar for nicks or "flea bites" that convert them to dry storage or hobby use but no longer safe for canning.
• Lid rack is optional and nice to have
• Jar funnels - I have three of these. They are incredibly helpful for reducing spills when pouring into your jars.  Look for aluminum versions at thrift stores and online - much better than buying the plastic versions.
• Pyrex Measuring cups:
• I got an 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup as part of a set of 3 from Amazon for $17 in 2015 (now $26) and it is one of my favorite kitchen items:  I can dip the clean Pyrex container into the sauce, use a silicone spatula to wipe the bottom and pour cleanly into the sterilized jars next to the stove.  The L-shaped handles hook onto the edge of the pot while I am cleaning jars and preparing the next batch.
• Wooden spoons, silicone spatulas, knives, and lots of towels for cleaning and wiping your area (I just throw wet towels right into the washer and run a load after).

TIME: this is the most important part.  You can do this in one day but pay close attention to your stove and the flame height.  You don't want to reduce your sauce too quickly -- it will bubble and spatter and you risk scorching on the bottom of the pot.  If you do start to scorch - don't panic - pull it off the heat, pour the sauce into big stainless steel bowls you have on hand and THEN scrape and clean the pot. This way you don't have as much burned flavor in your sauce.  If you have time to leave it on super low overnight - this will result in much thicker sauce, fewer jars, and less canning time. 

If this is a lot for you - there may be options - some states have canneries that are available to the public.  My friend goes to Castlewood Cannery (https://www.russellcountyva.us/237/Canneries) which has a gorgeous operation for canning whatever you bring.  These places don't all have websites - you have to call and have a conversation to find out what they offer.  The Pick Your Own website suggests contacting your local ag extension office and they have a list of canneries and community kitchens here: https://pickyourown.org/canneries.htm

Backcountry Vegan - Tools & Gear

You do not need to have a commercial kitchen - but it does help to at the least have a good knife and a good dehydrator.

Prep tools:

• Kansui Dojo Chef's knife - I swear by this knife! It's quite affordable and it holds an excellent edge for a long time - it's a great all purpose vegetable/fruit knife.  Go get one!
• Breville 800BLXL Blender - this blender has been one of my favorite acquisitions.  I see all kinds of love lavished on the Vitamix - but so far, this blender has met all my needs.
• Cuisinart 9 cup Food Processor - bought used on E-bay, it has character but may need to be replaced in a few years.
• Williams-Sonoma Professional Multi-chopper - my friend Matt first introduced me to this gadget - then he got me one for my birthday last year.  It has been very helpful at cutting up large quantities of fruit or veg in uniform pieces - great for tagines and for dehydrating.
• Excalibur 9 Tray Food Dehydrator - after building a monster of a solar dehydrator - I finally threw in the towel and got the Excalibur.  I haven't looked back - it works like a dream and doesn't consume much power.  The solar dehydrator is good for storing persimmons to ripen and for drying off chanterelles after I clean them.

I cannot overstress indispensability of a good dehydrator!  This will make all the difference in your prep for trail food - you'll find yourself buying entire flats of strawberries and graciously accepting over-the-fence donations of leggy zucchini from your neighbors.  It costs much less to dehydrate your own veggies than to purchase packets of dried or "freeze dried" anything.

Cookset for the Trail

• REI Campware Mess Kit - two pans (one can be a lid), cup and bowl
• spice wheel filled with salt, black pepper, chili flakes, herbs aux provence, dill, curry, etc.
• To-Go Ware utensil set
• Nalgene widemouth bottle
• stainless steel bottle
• Camelbak
• Katadyn water filtration sport bottle
• half of a sponge with green scrubby on one side
• Drip Coffee filter holder - collapsible silicone gadget from REI & filters
• Dr Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap (4 oz refillable bottle for cleaning dishes & myself)
• MSR Pocket Rocket stove

Although I didn't have a problem carrying the Pocket Rocket on most flights, one TSA employee decided to make a case of it - emptying my ENTIRE backpack and threatening to confiscate the stove which is clearly permitted based on TSA's own guidelines (he sounded really disappointed when his manager told him on the phone that it was permitted).

I'm curious to experiment with alcohol burning stoves made with pepsi cans - they weigh a lot less than carrying MSR fuel and it's pretty easy to make one in case it gets confiscated in travel, and it burns a lot hotter/cheaper fuel.

Of all the gear I brought on the trail - the most dearly missed was a larger wooden spoon or spatula, even some bamboo tongs would have been nice.  I didn't use the knife very much - possibly could have skipped that acquisition.

Waffles!

I got my vintage Rival waffle/pizzelle iron on Friday -- so today, we put it to use. It took several attempts and two batches of batter to figure out how to get it right, but I think I may have it figured out. It's been over 20 years since I have made waffles or pizzelles. I plan to make up a batch of pizzelles for a fundraiser at work... or maybe vegan cannoli since this came with cannoli forms.