Food - Drink
Why You Need To Peel Tomatoes Before Canning Them
By HALDAN KIRSCH
The abundance of fresh tomatoes that ripen in the late summer is one of the many advantages for gardeners. While fresh tomatoes are ideal for salads, sauces, and raw consumption, sometimes you have too much of a good thing, and the best solution is to can excess tomatoes so that you can consume them later.
Besides finding, sanitizing, and storing all the jars, canned tomatoes have another extra step that scares off many — skinning. The multi-step procedure of scoring, blanching, and finally peeling tomatoes requires more effort than simply running a peeler across their surface, but it's worth it to enjoy tasty tomatoes in the winter.
Tomato’s bitter flavors are in their skin, so removing the skin before canning guarantees a better flavor in the final product. Also, the USDA recommends removing the skin of tomatoes and root vegetables because of their higher contact with bacteria, and while canning should kill off most of the bacteria present, it’s better to be safe than sorry.