Bottling tomatoes

Like Allsorts I also like preserving food in jars - jams, chutneys, pickles etc. There's something more satisfying than just freezing!

I tried freezing tomatoes before, but prefer bottling. I don't use Kilner jars, just re-use any kind of jam/sauce jars as long as lids are in good condition (not new!).
I use a pressure cooker - lids loosely on and screwed up tightly as soon as they come out.
You can also put into saucepan surrounded by boiling water.

I store jars in a shed- if they seal properly (you'll know if centre of lid is depressed) they'll keep for a year or more. No danger of food poisoning as acidic food like tomatoes, combined with the heating, doesn't allow any nasty bugs to survive.

I turn any excess tomatoes into sauce and freeze it. I also make proper ketchup but still have to buy the sugar loaded rubbish for DS.
I also pickle cucumbers, beets and onions but I don't bother with bottling. It just seems like a lot of work and storing the fruit and jars would be a problem. I suppose the only downside would be if the power went off for a prolonged period and the freezers failed.

What surplus I have goes into the freezer, we don’t bottle fruit etc we don’t have enough shelf space for that, storage is much more compact in the freezer.

Thank you Farmour I did look at a video on it but it involved only using Kilner Jars and buying new seals as the bottles had to be boiled for 15 minutes when full which I don't want to do.

Yes - I do it regularly as we grow our own in polytunnel. I had typed out method but lost before posting! If you want to know how I do it, I'll try again.