Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in tomato juice)
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Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in tomato juice)

   

Selecting, Preparing, and Canning: Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in tomato juice)1

United States Department of Agriculture Extension Service2

Quantity: An average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 13 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 15 to 21 quarts -- an average of 3 pounds per quart.

Procedure: Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split, then dip in cold water. Slip off skins and remove cores. Leave whole or halve. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to the jars (See FCS 8182 for acidification instructions ). Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jars, if desired.

Raw pack -- Heat tomato juice in a saucepan. Fill jars with raw tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Cover tomatoes in the jars with hot tomato juice, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Hot pack -- Put tomatoes in a large saucepan and add enough tomato juice to completely cover them. Boil tomatoes and juice gently for 5 minutes. Fill jars with hot tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add hot tomato juice to the jars to cover the tomatoes, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1 , Table 2 or Table 3 depending on the method used.

Tables

Table 1.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Tomato Juice and Whole Tomatoes in a boiling-water canner.

Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack
Jar Size
0 - 1,000 ft
1,001 - 3,000 ft
3,001 - 6,000 ft
Above 6,000 ft
Hot and Raw


 Pints or

Quarts


 85 min


 90


 95
100
*After the process is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Wait five minutes before removing jars.

Table 2.

Table 2. Recommended process time for Tomato Juice and Whole Tomatoes in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.

Canner Gauge Pressure (PS) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack
Jar Size
Process Time
0 - 1,000 ft
Above 1,000 ft
Hot and Raw
Pints or

Quarts


 40 min
5 lb
10 lb
25
10
15
15
15
Not Recommended
*After the canner is completely depressurized, remove the weight from the vent port or open the petcock. Wait 10 minutes; then unfasten the lid and remove it carefully. Lift the lid with the underside away from you so that the steam coming out of the canner does not burn your face.

Table 3.

Table 3. Recommneded process times for Juice-Packed Whole Tomatoes in a dial-gauge pressure canner.

Canner Gauge Pressure (PS) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack
Jar Size
Process Time
0 - 2,000 ft
2,001 - 4,000 ft
4,001 - 6,000 ft
Above 6,000 ft
Hot and Raw
Pints

Quarts


 40 min
6 lb
7 lb
8 lb
9 lb
25
11
12
13
14
*After the canner is completely depressurized, remove the weight from the vent port or open the petcock. Wait 10 minutes; then unfasten the lid and remove it carefully. Lift the lid with the underside away from you so that the steam coming out of the canner does not burn your face.

Footnotes

1. This document is FCS 8188, a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date: May 2003. Revised: June 2008. This document was extracted from the Complete Guide to Home Canning, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA. It was originally published on CD-ROM as part of HE 8149, Guide 3: Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

2. Reviewed for use in Florida by Amy Simonne, assistant professor, Food Safety and Quality, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.


Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.