Canning Tomatoes

Learning how to can tomatoes is one of the easiest canning recipes to start out with, and is pretty simple to do. While canning tomatoes may seem complicated at first, once you have the basics of home canning down it will be pretty easy from there on!

First, you will need tomatoes. We love vine ripened fresh tomatoes from our garden, though if you do not have your own garden you can always get them from a local farmers market. The higher quality your tomatoes, the better your preserves will be.

There are a number of tomato based products you are able to can, such as salsa, ketchup, sauce, and paste – but we’ll start off with the easy and simple thing of just canning plain tomatoes first.

The USDA recommends two things when canning tomatoes: hot pack them, meaning cook them first and pack them hot before processing and to process in a pressure canner. While they are on the borderline of being processed in a boiling canner water bath, we find they are better quality when steam processed. Tomatoes are acidic in nature, so as long as the ph balance is right you may be able to safely water bathe them. However, pressure canning is much faster for tomatoes, so that is our method of choice.

Ingredients You Will Need:

About 21 pounds of tomatoes (plan about 7 tomatoes for each quart size jar)
Large cooking pot for boiling tomatoes
Large bowl of cold water (this is to help skin the tomatoes)
Pressure Canner
Quart Sized Jars & Corresponding lids & rings
2 tablespoons of lemon juice per quart
Water

Directions

Step 1: Cook The Tomatoes:: After all of your materials are ready and the tomatoes are washed thoroughly, in a large pot, bring water to a boil and dip tomatoes in it for about 30-60 seconds, just long enough so the skins start to split, then dip in cold water and slip the skins off. You can either choose to leave them or whole or halve them. Then place tomatoes in the pot and fill with just enough water to cover them. Boil gently for about 5 minutes in the pot. (Note: For crushed tomatoes, crush them in the pot with no added water and cook until they begin to gently boil for about 5 minutes and stir carefully to prevent burning!)

Step 2: Pack the jars: In each jar, add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. If you would like, you can add 1 teaspoon of salt per jar as well. Carefully scoop out tomatoes from the pot and place into the jars, leaving a 1/2 inch of head space in each jar. If packing whole or halved tomatoes, fill the jar with the water from cooking after the jar is packed.

Step 3: Process Be sure you follow all the directions on your pressure canner or boiling water canner for set up. The length of time it will take to process depends on a few factors, here are the USDA’s guidelines below:

Water Boiling Times

If you have any questions or are uncertain about the times and pressure used for your altitude and type of pressure canner, remember to check the manual included with your pressure canner to be sure.

Now that you know how to can tomatoes you are ready to get started in canning tomatoes right in your kitchen!