How to Can Tomatoes Using a
Water Bath Canner
This recipe is enough for 7 quarts of tomatoes
Note: we recommend the use of a gas stove when canning to better
control heat settings.
Ingredients:
 20 lbs. tomatoes (7 large tomatoes will fill one quart jar).
 Lemon juice—2 Tablespoons for every quart
 Kosher salt — 1 teaspoon for every quart
Equipment:
 Water bath canner
 7 quart canning jars — wide-mouth are best
 7 lids (for quarts), can be used only once and then must be discarded
 7 rings (for quarts), can be reused as long as not super rusty
 Jar lifter
 Lid lifter (optional)
 1 large pot to scald the tomatoes
 1 small pot to sanitize the lids
 1 bowl of ice or very cold water to cool tomatoes before skinning
 Bucket for compost
 Sharp paring knife
 Tablespoon
 Teaspoon
 Large slotted spoon
Globe tomatoes
Roma/Plum tomatoes
Select the tomatoes.
Use globe tomatoes for whole or diced tomatoes. These are round tomatoes (top picture).
Use Roma or plum tomatoes for salsa. These
are smaller oval-shaped tomatoes that don’t
have a lot of water inside, and they are also a
bit more mealy (bottom picture). You can use
heirlooms if you want. They will produce a lot
more water, but will have great flavor.
Wash jars with soapy water and rinse. Then
sanitize the jars. It’s not important that they
are hot when they go into the canner. We just
need them hot so we know they were sanitized. You can use a hot dishwasher, or you
can put your clean jars upside down in a pan
of shallow water on the stove and heat them
up to a simmer.
Set up your kitchen with the proper
equipment. Use this picture as a
guide.
Get a pot of hot water boiling on the stove to
scald your tomatoes in.
Fill a pan of cold, ice water to dunk the tomatoes into after they are scalded. We just use
really cold well water. And we change it out
every now and then to keep it cold.
Put the lids into a small pot. Start it at low heat,
since it will take a while to get the tomatoes
done. Don’t let this boil.
Have a pan to put the tomato skins and compost into.
Fill the water bath canner with water up to the
inside line. Place the canning rack inside and
prop up on the edges as shown. If you haven’t
already, place your quarts inside the rack.
Place on stove and bring it to a simmer.
Wash the tomatoes in the sink.
Cut out the tomato core and any bad spots you
see from the tomatoes.
Remove the tomato skins by putting the tomatoes a few at a time into a large pot of simmering water for about 2-3 minutes.
Then dunk the tomatoes in ice water (or very
cold water). This will stop the cooking process
and cool them down. The skins should easily
slide off.
Slide off the skins and dump them into the
compost bin. Remove the bruises and tough
parts too. If you see any white areas inside the
tomato, cut them out.
Then fill the jars with either whole or cut tomatoes. You can cut them as large or small as
you like.
Periodically put your fingers into the jar to
squish the tomatoes in and release the juice.
(Hold the jar upside down to let it drain out).
This frees up room for more tomatoes. If you
don’t do this step, at the end of the canning
process, your jars will have a lot of liquid sitting
at the bottom of the jar.
Fill the jar to within a half inch of the rim.
Run a knife around the edge to release any air
bubbles.
OPTIONAL: Add about a teaspoon of kosher
salt (or pickling salt) to each quart.
Add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice to each
quart jar. This is an important step to keep
your tomatoes from spoiling. You are adding
acidity to the jar.
Wipe the rim of the jar (and the threads!) with
a clean cloth. You want a tight seal.
Take a rim from your hot pot of lids using either a fork or a magnetic jar lifter, and place it
on the top of the jar.
Screw on a ring. Screw it on tightly, but not super tightly.
Wipe down the outside of the jar (it’s probably
grimy from all the juice you’ve been pouring
out).
Repeat until the pot is holding 7 quarts. If you
only have enough for 5 or 6 quarts, that’s okay
too. You can still can a load if it’s not full. It will
just take a bit longer for the canner to heat up.
Put the quart jar in the canning pot. When they
are all in, lower the rack into the pot.
Cover the pot with the lid and set heat on high.
Bring it to a boil. Once you achieve a full
boil, SET THE TIMER.
Process quarts for 45 minutes.
Process pints for 40 minutes.
NOTE: NEVER LEAVE YOUR CANNER UNATTENDED WHILE
IT IS PROCESSING.
After the timer goes off, immediately take the
canner off the heating element and let it cool
down.
Remove the lid and pull up the canning rack.
Careful of the hot steam escaping.
Remove your jars with your jar lifter and place
them on a towel until cooled. To use the jar
lifter, use the end with the rubber coating
touching the jars. (You hold the other nonrubberized end with your hands).
Note: the picture here is of a different pot.
(Don’t be confused. I just didn’t catch a photo
of this. Pretend it’s the water bath canning
pot).
Place the jars on a towel overnight until they
cool. NOTE: DO NOT PLACE NEAR A
DRAFTY WINDOW OR FAN OR ON A COLD
FLOOR. The sudden drastic change in temperature could cause the jar to crack.
Check the next day to see if the jars have
sealed. To do so, press down on the lids. If
they bounce back and make a clicking noise,
they have not sealed. If they don’t bounce
back or click, they are sealed. GOOD JOB!
If for some reason one of them doesn’t seal,
no worries! Put that jar in the fridge and use it
within a week. Some people say you can reprocess them… I personally don’t do that.
You may need to wipe down your jars again
with a wet rag before storing them.
Label the lids of your jar with today’s date.
Store them in a dark room between 50-70ºF
(light and heat will cause vitamins to deteriorate).
NOTE: You can take off the ring before storing
them. At the very least, loosen the ring as the
moisture will cause the ring to rust over time.
Produce is best if used within a year, but you
can store them much longer than that (I’d go
as far as 3 years).
YOU DID IT!
Next time: Try using a pressure canner. It cuts
your time down to 15 minutes!