Canning, Continued

 I tried my hand at pressure-canning stewed (crushed) tomatoes yesterday. 

Here are my totals at this point, including the recipe and method used:
strawberry jam, 6 pints, pectin box recipe(?), WB
pickled cauliflower, 5 pints, BBB, WB
pizza sauce, 4 pints, Allrecipes, PC
applesauce, 4 pints, Presto PC instruction book, PC
crushed tomatoes, 4 pints, uga.edu, PC

BBB= Ball Blue Book
WB= water bath canning
PC= pressure canning

A few observations and tips for myself for next time:

• My 2-cup glass measuring cup works better than my ladle for filling the jars.
• I love my jar funnel;  it keeps the messes down a little.  (Still, my kitchen looked like a crime scene for tomatoes when I was done.  How did I get tomatoes on the wall?  And no kids to blame -- they were at the park with Brian!)
  
• I heated the jars and lids in a roasting pan;  this worked well and kept things off the stove (thanks, Amanda, for the tip!)
• I had lots of mushy tomatoes as I was coring and dicing.  They were really hard to work with and I composted more than I wanted to.  I think there were a couple of reasons for this:  some tomatoes had been frozen, and some I overcooked when blanching to remove the skins (believe the instructions when they say 30-60 seconds;  that's really all you need!).   The end product looks more like a juice or thin sauce than stewed tomatoes. 
• A wire basket might be a nice addition to my supplies:  that way I can blanch lots of tomatoes at once and not have to use a slotted spoon with them individually.
  
• Many of my romas this year are too small for canning and not worth the effort.  By the time I take the stem out;  there's not much left (especially with the mushy ones).  Don't bother with the tiny ones!

I'm always open to more tips for canning!  Feel free to post yours here!  I'd much rather learn from your mistakes!  :)