Homemade Canned Tomato Juice (2024)

FAQs

How long do you water bath tomato juice for canning? ›

Adjust lids and process in a water bath canner, pints for 35 minutes and quarts for 40 minutes, at altitudes below 1,000 feet. Using a dial-gauge pressure canner, process pints or quarts for 20 minutes at six pounds of pressure or 15 minutes at 11 pounds of pressure at altitudes below 2,000 feet.

The short answer to the question is “Yes, to ensure safety, acid in the form of lemon juice, citric acid or vinegar must be added to tomatoes that will be processed by a pressure canning option”.

First don't panic. People have canned tomatoes for generations without adding lemon juice. Lemon juice is added to increase the margin of safety. They USDA started recommending this when they realized that some newer varieties of tomatoes (like the yellow ones) are lower in acid.

Can linings might discolor or corrode when metal reacts with high-acid foods such as tomatoes or pineapple. As long as the can is in good shape, the contents should be safe to eat, although the taste, texture and nutritional value of the food can diminish over time. Home canned foods should be used within 1 year.

Tomatoes and tomato products have traditionally been canned in a boiling water bath (212 °F). However, recent research shows that for some products, pressure canning will result in a high-quality and more nutritious product. Directions for canning a variety of tomato products are given below.

Fill jars with raw tomatoes, leaving ½ inch headspace. Press tomatoes in the jars until spaces between them fill with juice. Leave ½ inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.

Tomato's bitter flavors are in their skin

According to the USDA's guide to home canning, it's important to peel root vegetables and tomatoes before canning them because much of the bacteria lives on the skin. Proper canning should kill off most of the bacteria present, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Some growing conditions may cause the tomatoes to be unsafe to can even when the tomatoes look fine. Tomatoes with blight and those from dead or frost-killed vines may be lower in acidity and are more likely to carry bacteria. Do not can using the open kettle method.

If too much headspace is allowed, the food at the top is likely to discolor. Also, the jar may not seal properly because there will not be enough processing time to drive all air out of the jar.

Why is there water at the bottom of my canned tomatoes? ›

When canning whole tomatoes, a common complaint is a large amount of liquid at the bottom of your jar with “floating tomatoes” at the top after processing. The floating is caused by the tomatoes' natural water content, which gets released after you process them.

Once the tomatoes are juiced, bring the juice to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil for 10 minutes. The juice can be cooked as long as desired to condense and cook off any excess water. Once cooked, remove from the heat and pour into sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.

Testing has shown that some current tomato varieties have pH values at or above pH 4.6; a few have values of pH 5 or even higher. Adding the recommended amount of bottled lemon juice or citric acid lowers the pH of all tested varieties enough to allow for the safe process of water bath canning.

You can use a variety of plums, beefsteaks, brandywine, and Campari tomatoes when making tomato juice. Campari is one of the juiciest tomatoes with a sweet, high sugar content but a low level of acidity. They also have a rich, deep color.

To prevent juice from separating, quickly cut about 1 pound of fruit into quarters and put directly into saucepan. Heat immediately to boiling while crushing. Continue to slowly add and crush freshly cut tomato quarters to the boiling mixture.

This way, you'll be opening jars of garden-to-table tomatoes in the middle of winter to make spaghetti sauce, salsa, chili, eggs shakshuka or any number of tasty dishes. Canning with the hot water bath method is easy; it does take a little time, but we guarantee it is well worth it!

Check the water level. If the water does not cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches, add boiling water as needed. Bring to a rolling boil, cover the canner and boil for 10 minutes if using 4-, 8- or 12-ounce jars or for 15 minutes if using 16-ounce jars. (Check individual preserve recipes for more specific processing times.)