August 11th, 2014
FOOD PRESERVATION 101
Searcy Co. Extension Service Food Preservation Newsletter
One tomato, two tomatoes, tomatoes galore!
fied pressure.
Tomatoes are actually native
to the Americas and were
cultivated as early as 700
A.D. by the Aztec and Incans. As they were introduced in Europe in the 16th
century by conquistadors,
they were called things like
“The Apple of Love” and
“The Apple of Paradise.”
Growing up in the South, we
all know there is nothing
quite as good as a homegrown tomato! Many of us
have probably been known
to eat a tomato sandwich or
two or just eat a plain tomato as a snack.
Tomatoes are a versatile
fruit (yes, they are technically a fruit but we classify
them as vegetables) for preserving. Many methods
work well, including canning, drying, and pickling.
Tomatoes have traditionally
been canned in a boiling water bath. However, recent research shows that for some
products, pressure canning
will result in a high quality
and more nutritious product.
Many current recipes will give
you the option of canning either in a pressure canner or in
a boiling water bath while
some will only give one or the
other. The recipes that specify
only pressure canning have so
many low acid ingredients
added to them that they are
only safe when canned in a
pressure canner at the speci-
Because tomatoes have pH
values that fall close to 4.6,
you must take some precautions to can them safely.
First, select only diseasefree, preferable vineripened, firm fruit for canning. Do not can tomatoes
from dead or frost-killed
vines.
To ensure the safety of
whole, crushed, or juiced
tomatoes; add acid, whether
they will be processed in a
boiling water bath or pressure canner. To acidify these
tomatoes, add 1 tablespoon
of bottled lemon juice or
1/4 teaspoon citric acid per
pint of tomatoes. For quarts,
use 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon citric acid.
The acid can be added di-
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Crushed Tomatoes
Hot pack—Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until
skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip skins off and remove cores. Trim off any
bruised or discolored portions and quarter.
Heat about 1 pound of quarters quickly in a large pot crushing them with a wooden
mallet or spoon as they are added to pot. This will draw off some juice. Continue
heating the tomatoes, stirring to prevent burning. Once the tomatoes are boiling, gradually add remaining
quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. These remaining tomatoes do not need to be crushed. They will soften
with heating and stirring. Continue until all tomatoes are added. Then boiling gently 5 minutes. Add bottled
lemon juice or citric acid to hot jars according to directions. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint jar; 1 teaspoon
to each quart jar, if desired. Fill jars immediately with hot tomatoes, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air
bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids and process
Option 1—Process in boiling water bath for 35 minutes for pint jars or 45 minutes for quart jars.
Option 2—Process in a dial gauge pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure or in a weighted gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 15 minutes for pints or quarts.
From: So Easy to Preserve 4th edition, Univ. of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service
Tomato Juice
QUANTITY: An average of 3¼ pounds of fresh tomatoes per quart
PROCEDURE: Wash, remove the stems and trim off bruised or discolored portions. To prevent the juice from
separating, quickly cut about 1 pound of fruit into quarters and put it directly into a saucepan. Heat immediately
to boiling while crushing. Continue to slowly crush freshly cut tomato quarters and add them to the boiling mixture. Make sure the mixture boils constantly and vigorously while you add the remaining tomatoes. Simmer five
minutes after you add all the pieces. If you are not concerned about juice separation, simply slice or quarter the
tomatoes into a large saucepan. Crush, heat and simmer for five minutes before juicing. Press both types of heated
juice through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars as directed. Heat the juice again to boiling. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart, if desired. Fill jars with hot tomato juice,
leaving ½ inch of head space. Adjust the lids and process.
Option 1—Process in boiling water bath for 35 minutes for pint jars or 40 minutes for quart jars.
Option 2—Process in a dial gauge pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure or in a weighted gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 15 minutes for pints or quarts.
From: North Dakota State University Extension Service
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
If you are planning to enter the food preservation department
at the fair, there are several things of which to be aware. The
purpose of the Fair is and has always been to educate the public on the most up-to-date methods. Food preservation is certainly no exception. Items are judged in this department based
on safety standards for canning. Therefore, color and condition of the product, how it is packed, headspace, seal, and processing procedure must all be assessed by judges.
Although a seal on the jar usually indicates whether it
has received some form of heat treatment, there are a number
of ways to make a jar seal that do not assure safety. A judge
will check for a seal, but will not let the presence of a seal be
the only factor in determining if the product is safe. Therefore, new labels will be required at the fairs this year which
will tell judges the canning method used on each product. Exhibitors are expected to arrive at the fair with all jars already
labeled with the label provided. Labels can be picked up from
the Extension office any time before the fair.
Another key to assuring safety that is easy for a judge
to spot is the amount of head space in the jar. Head space is
the empty space between the top of the food and the bottom of
the lid. The food expands into this space during heating, forcing out trapped air so that no air is available for use by potential spoilage organisms. If too much space is left, the food will
not expand enough to get all the air out. If too little is left,
there will not be enough room for the food to expand and it
will cook out of the jar. If you have green beans with only
half a jar of liquid, this may indicate a problem when canning.
You will not receive a blue ribbon on this entry. Recommended head space amounts are: ¼ inch for jellies, jams and other
sweet spreads; ½ inch for fruits, tomatoes and pickles; and 1¼ inch for vegetables and meats.
The way the food is packed into the jar is also an indication of the safety of the product that is easily assessed by a
judge. Food should be packed tight enough to make efficient
use of space, but not so tightly that heat circulation during
processing is difficult.
A number of other product characteristics can offer
judges a clue to the amount of cooking, and therefore the potential for safety, of the product. For example, liquid in the jar
should be clear and free of bubbles or material from the food.
The product should appear cooked without being too firm or
mushy. The color of the product should be characteristic of a
cooked product.
The type of jar and lid also make a difference in safe
processing. Canned foods presented for judging at the fair
should be in standard Mason-type canning jars that are clear
and clean. Commercial jars such as those used for mayonnaise, peanut-butter and coffee, are not recommended for canning and are not allowed for competition at the fair. They are
more likely to break while being processed. Lids should be
two-piece, clean, and free of dents and rust.
The following are the rules for the food preservation department at the fair at county, district, and state
levels.
DEPARTMENT 1 - FOOD PRESERVATION
 All entries must have been preserved within the previous 12 months and can only be entered once. Products exhibited must be in the name of the person
who canned them.
 Special entry tags and labels will be provided by the
Fair and should be used. Exhibits must be labeled
with the date of food preservation and method of
preservation. Method must state whether canned in
water bath, pressure canned or other, the process
time, and the pounds of pressure where appropriate.
Labels can be obtained at the Extension office before
the fair or at http://www.uaex.edu/health-living/foodsafety/default.aspx
 Judging will be done by comparison to recognized
standards of quality and safety. For a copy of these
standards, contact the Extension office.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
For judging and safety reasons, jars must
be clear glass with Mason-type labels on
jar or box. They must have a clean metal
lid and ring, vacuum seal, and of acceptable size per recipe instructions. Jars must
be sealed.
DRIED FOODS: Jars of any size are not required to be sealed and points will be awarded
for each product.
FLAVORED VINEGARS: clear bottle/ jar
with closure. Vinegars are not required to be
sealed.
JAMS AND JELLIES: No food coloring. All
jars must be processed and properly sealed.
No paraffin or wax seals. Further instructions
found in the jams and jellies section.
All entries must follow USDA Recommendations
for time, temperature, and processing methods. Recommendations may be obtained at
http://nchfp.uga.edu. If recipe used is
not from the website or either of the
following sources then entry should
also be accompanied by recipe from
other Extension publications updated
or published after 1995.
So Easy to Preserve, 1999 and 2004, 4th and 5th
editions. University of Georgia Cooperative

Freezing Tomatoes
Select firm, ripe tomatoes with
deep red color.
Extension Service.
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009
revision. United States Department of Agriculture and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The following foods are NOT recommended for
canning and have been eliminated from the Food
Preservation Division per USDA standards for
canning/food preservation: Summer squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini; fig, peach, or pear preserves
with Splenda© substituted for sugar, pumpkin butter,
mashed, or pureed pumpkin; citrus or fruit curds
(other than lemon or lime which are approved);
canned breads; herbs or vegetables in oil or oil infusions, canned chocolate sauces/fudge sauces; canned
gifts made in decorated, untested jars; noodles, pasta,
rice, flour, cream, milk or other thickening agents to
home canned soups; peas or beans that have not been
rehydrated, dry pack sweet potatoes, mashed or pureed sweet potatoes; paraffin or wax seals on
any canned product.
Hope this gives you some needed information
on food safety in canning and how to make
winning entries for the county fair! You too can
have great results from your entries in the fairs by
following the above tips and checking the fair
Freezing Tomato Juice
Wash, sort and trim firm, vineripened tomatoes. Cut in quarters
or eighths. Simmer 5 to 10
Wash and dip in boiling water for
minutes. Press through a sieve. If
30 seconds to loosen skins. Core
desired, season with 1 teaspoon
and peel. Freeze whole or in piec- salt to each quart of juice. Pour
es. Pack into containers, leaving 1- into containers. If using containers
inch headspace. Seal and freeze.
with wide top openings, leave ½Use only for cooking or seasoning, inch headspace for pints and 1as tomatoes will not be solid
inch for quarts. If using containers
with narrow top openings, leave
when thawed.
1½-inch headspace. Seal and
freeze.
Freezing Stewed Tomatoes
Remove stem ends, peel and quarter ripe tomatoes. Cover and cook
until tender (10 to 20 minutes).
Place pan containing tomatoes in
cold water to cool. Pack into containers, leaving headspace. Leave
½-inch headspace for pint containers with wide top opening and 1inch for quarts. If containers have
a narrow top opening, leave ¾-
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
I recently received a canning question from a client about a problem she encountered.
We worked through a few scenarios that could have caused the problem, and then consulted a Food Preservation Specialist in the state. I wanted to share the problem and
suggestions just in case someone else has ever encountered the problem.
Problem: The client was making a batch of chicken stock in the pressure
canner. After processing and allowing the canner to sit untouched overnight to cool, she opened the canner and found the rings and lids had
popped off during processing.
Possible Causes:

Not enough headspace...this product is pressured, so it needs a full 1” headspace to allow for boiling.

Pressure was not held steady or gauge is not accurate...if pressure is allowed to fluctuate
too much or gets too high, it allows the product to boil over.

Was the canner allowed to cool down naturally? Trying to cool off too quickly or allowing steam to escape by tipping the vent cover, can cause liquid in jars to seep out. With
the lids and rings coming completely off, there was some serious boiling going on.

Was the canner vented for a full 10 minutes?

Did she screw them on fingertip tight? Were new lids used and were they a reputable
brand? Were the jars cracked or broken before or after processing?
What does “fingertip tight” mean?
Screw the lids down just until you start to feel resistance when you tighten, aka "fingertip tight." Inevitably, some air bubbles get trapped inside the jars
while you're filling them. If the lids are screwed down
too tightly, those air bubbles don't have a way to escape during the hot water bath and
can cause your lids to buckle. Leaving
the rings and lids a little loose lets
that oxygen escape without incident;
the lids will form their seal as the jars
cool.
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
U of A Cooperative Extension Service
Searcy County
511 Zack Rd
Marshall, AR 72650
[email protected]
The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender
identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any
other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.