Tomato skins do harbor bacteria, but realistically the canning process should take care of that, especially if the tomatoes are carefully washed prior to cooking.

I'm not clear on whether you're talking about canning tomatoes or sauce. Or both. With sauce the skins don't matter because you're straining, puréeing anyway before bottling. For canned tomatoes I personally don't like the shreds of skin and if you're talking about cherry tomatoes, there'd be lots of skin in proportion to pulp and juice. But some people aren't bothered and if you want to include skins, it's up to you.

Another option is to freeze tomatoes until you have time to deal with them. Skins come off thawed frozen tomatoes quite easily.

Carol

Sure, you may leave the skins on. However I always peel mine because I like them peeled and I don't mind the labor. In fact, I enjoy it. I make a lot of tomato juice cocktail and it is a good way to use the cherry tomatoes. Also, if you leave the skins on, it's important to wash the tomatoes thoroughly as the skin may harbor bacteria.

Is there a problem with the skins? Potential problems, yes. Any chem sprays used on them? Any plant disease problems in the garden? Any signs on the fruit of damage, cracking, coudy spot, etc.? If yes to any of the above then IMO they need to be removed. The easy way is to freeze them first as already mentioned.

Add fiber to the sauce - lol - good one! I guess lots of chewy red twigs could be called fiber.

Below is a link to the same question from last week with more answers to consider. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Can I leave the skins on?

Lawrence,

The skins will come off in the processing, break into pieces, and roll themselves into, as Dave says, little "red twigs." Teeny little things, like the size of an apple stem, say. I find they are not chewy or tough, but can get caught in one's teeth.

I have canned tomatoes this way and eaten the results and it was fine, but I've decided I much prefer the results without the skins.

The easy solution, as suggested above, is to can SAUCE rather than whole tomatoes; just throw 'em in the pot whole (cut out any bad bits, but you can leave the cores in), and when they're cooked down, run them through a food mill or sieve. The skins, cores, and some seeds will be kept behind and you'll have a lovely sauce.

I do this when I'm in a hurry, when I have a zillion pounds of tomatoes harvested that day, or when a lot of the toms are small and a pain to peel!

THen I can a smaller amount of whole tomatoes or crushed tomatoes, which I peel first, when I have a smaller quantity of larger toms.

That way I've got some of each to use for whatever I need later --- MOST of my canned-tomato needs are for sauce, but I like having some with actual tomatoes on hand.

Hope this helps!

Happy canning. Let us know how it goes.

Zabby

This same exact question was just asked in another thread a couple of days ago. Leaving the skins on is your personal preference if you like skins in your sauces. I don't, so I let the machine remove them all, along with all the seeds.

We almost always leave the skins on. If a particular tomato seems like it wants to shed its skin, we peel that one. When I see a few little curled up skin bits in our sauce I pull them out, but mostly they stay attached to the tomatoes. We keep the tomatoes chunky, a large dice basically. We do squeeze the juice/seeds into a bowl before cutting up the tomato, and of course we wash any produce beforehand.

It saves a lot of time and juggling hot tomatoes to leave the skins on. The idea of freezing the tomatoes first sounds simple, but if you are like me and have 50 tomato plants and full freezers that still isn't practical. Basically you can take off the skins or leave them on, it is a matter of how much it matters to you. Yes, the sauce is a little nicer without them, but honestly it doesn't bother us when we eat it.

Marcia

My romas are really small this year (2013 and 2014) and last year. Last year we just ate a lot of them and dried some. This year I was thinking of making salsa and leaving the skins on because of how small they are. My cousin washes the whole tomatoes thoroughly then cuts up the tomatoes and other veggies then puts them in salt water to soak overnight. Next morning she rinses the salt water off and cooks them down 45 mins or so then boiling bath cans them (she adds vinegar to make it acidic enough). Do you think the salt water overnight would help kill bacteria in addition to the processing? I've canned for years but have always removed the skins. Thank you for any advice!

Sierra - this is a very old thread so easily over-looked when it comes to replies. So next time it would be better for you to start a new one. That way the replies can be emailed to you rather than the original poster of the thread.

You can can yours with the peel left on, some do, if the peels don't bother you quality-wise. While it isn't recommended due to the effect on texture and the increased bacterial count a good washing and the processing will take care of most of it.

The salt soak wouldn't have any more antibacterial effect than regular washing does but it does add a great deal of sodium to the recipe - something most prefer to not do - even with rinsing as the salt is drawn into the fruit tissues.

Assuming you use a tested and approved salsa recipe then the acidity will compensate. If you use a personal recipe there is no guarantee of safety.

Dave

Salt only helps to extract juice. And since there is a lot of juice in tomato, it won't serve any purpose. If is normally done with eggplants to draw juice and bitterness.

When you cook the sauce, add additional acd (lemon juice/vinegar), then BWB , that is enough for all intent and purposes.

I would rather soak whole tomatoes in water, with added vinegar to it, if I was going to use them fresh.