Post-carbon food preservation II

The solar canning was a success! I held the temperature of the solar oven at > 250F/120c for over an hour and took them out and the jars sealed. No liquid was added to this jar, it's preserved in its own juice. I pushed quartered roma tomatoes into each jar filling them up to the neck, but I should have crammed them in there. There's a lot of headspace in each jar.

The only things I added were 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid and 1 teaspoon of sea salt to each jar.

The 100% passive process took about 4 hours but it could have taken less time. I was expecting the liquid to bubble out and so it probably sat out there over 250F/120c for 2+ hours. I want to make sure and kill everything that moves and I don't mind the little sun-scorch on the top of the tomatoes.

This is a significant advance in my home. If you're wondering what the big deal is about solar canning I'll try to explain the multiple benefits of it. We live in Sacramento where it's crazy to not grow tomatoes. It's also crazy not to use the sun because it is very intense in the summertime. Air conditioning is expensive, and canning indoors fills the house with hot steam. You sweat like a dog, and it's easy to burn yourself with the hot water. Using a "water bath" canner is inconvenient and too much work. Plus it uses a lot of natural gas. There's lifting and bulky equipment. You can't just can one or two jars here or there, to make it worth your while you really need to get a whole batch together for such a big job.

We are growing 5 varieties of tomatoes this year* and as a group of each variety vine-ripen, they can be picked, washed, cut and canned on-the-spot in the sun to be used all year. It takes only five minutes to prepare two jars and then you peek at it now and then while watching the ball game, that's all.

Microwave 500ml of water to boiling, pour it over jar lids to scald them, rinse and quarter tomatoes and force into washed jars, close tightly, process in solar oven, remove to cool, eat tasty meals in February.

*Early Girl Hybrid, Costoluto Genovese, Boxcar Willie, Black Krim, and Golden Jubilee