If you are going to make sauce, then you can just wash the tomatoes, quarter, and freeze them until you have enough for the recipe. I do this all the time, actually, I pull out a lot of the seeds when I quarter them. For making sauce, the tomatoes are heated to a boil, smashed, then run through a sieve to remove the skins and seeds, and then seasoned and cooked down to get the consistency you want. Freezing will help to release the skins and juice better.
You need a recipe though for canning, to make sure you use enough Citric Acid or lemon juice so it doesn't spoil. my recipe for canned tomatoes says skin the tomatoes (dip in boiling water for 30 seconds, then ice bath and the skins peal right off). Place 1/4 tsp ctric acid powder or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the hot jar before adding tomatoes to 1/2 inch headspace. 1/2 teaspoon salt on top, if you want. Process in Boiling Water Bath for 35 minutes for pints.
For salsa, there are seasoning packs available in the store that are pretty good. Mrs. Wages is the brand I am used to seeing, and it is pretty good. There are some pretty good salsa recipes out on the web also.
This is the first year I am going to have enough tomatoes to actually can something. I am going to can some Diced Tomatoes and some Tomato Sauce . I may be able to can some Tomato juice also, and I have a recipe for "Meatloaf Topper" that I want to try. If all goes well, I will try canning a Sloppy Joe Sauce also. I have 15 tomato plants that are loaded with green tomatoes right now. I have 12 lbs of tomatoes in the freezer waiting to become sauce. My BALL BOOK OF CANNING recipe calls for 20 lbs of tomatoes to make 7 Quarts of sauce.
My question is: do I can it in quarts or pints? There are only 2 of us in the house, so quarts may be over kill. However, I have a million quart jars downstairs to use and am starting to run low on pint jars.
You will find your balance.
