Homestead · Food Preservation · demo dispatch
Water-bath canned tomatoes
Safety · Food safety: follow a tested process. Do not invent times, acid, or salt.
Marco Bellini · About 3 hours · intermediate · low · 6 proofs · 95 saves · 1 reactions
A small batch of peeled tomatoes in a boiling-water canner, with the acid and the headspace written down so you do not improvise.
canning · tomatoes · pantry · acid
Tools and materials
- Ripe tomatoes
- Bottled lemon juice
- Clean jars and new lids
- A boiling-water canner or a deep pot with a rack
Steps
1. Prep the jars
Wash jars. Keep them hot. Add bottled lemon juice: 1 tablespoon per pint, 2 per quart. Do not swap in a guess.
2. Pack
Peel, core, and pack tomatoes. Cover with their own hot juice. Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Remove bubbles.
3. Process
Lower jars into boiling water with at least 1 inch of water over the lids. Start the clock when the water returns to a boil. Follow a current tested time chart for your jar size and altitude.
Safety
Water-bath canning is only for high-acid foods packed the way a tested recipe says. Low acid, a short process, or reused one-time lids can leave a jar that looks fine and is not. Do not taste a jar that spurts, smells off, or lost its seal.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the bottled lemon juice
- Starting the timer before the water boils
Crush them for juice if you would rather not pack whole fruit. The acid rule does not change.
Proofs
[DEMO] Tried this on my balcony in Rome. First batch worked, will report back.
Four pints. Bottled lemon juice measured, not squeezed from a fruit I had around. Seals went down as they cooled.
I treat a canner like a joint: measure, then commit. Pints only. Acid in before the fruit.
Small batch from the ugly tomatoes. Lids down, no spurting. Labeled with the date.
Used a stock pot and a rack of rings. Water stayed an inch over the lids. Timer started at the boil.
Followed the acid and the headspace. One jar siphoned. I did not pretend it was fine. The other three sealed.
Questions
Rowan Hale: If a jar siphons mid-process, do I top it up and restart the clock, or is that jar done?
Inez Vargas: Pull that jar. Do not open it and refill it in the canner. Fridge it and eat it soon, or freeze it. The sealed jars keep their clock.
Accepted