Canning tomatoes

[ORChick]

I know why. Because when you bottle tomatoes in their own juice, you smash as many tomatoes into a bottle as possible. You don't put in tomatoes and then pour juice over them. As you are filling the jar with tomatoes, you press them down and they make their own juice. You keep adding more until the jar can't hold any more tomatoes, and the juice is automatically there.

When canning tomatoes in water, you put in the tomatoes, DON'T press them down, then add water. Therefore...much less tomatoes in the jar with water. That's why tomatoes in their own juice process longer- there are more tomatoes in the jar.

Thank you! Now that makes some sense. The recipes do state *in their own juice*. I wonder, were I to juice some tomatoes, and use that as the liquid, but without mashing down the whole ones, would that change the equation? I'll probably just end up pressure caning them, now that I have the equipment .... but, given our wet Spring so far - very like last year - I probably shouldn't count mytomatoes before they blossom

 

[ORChick]

Alright, I can see that the juice is marginally thicker than the water, but *45 minutes* thicker? That is the difference in recommended times for water bath canned tomatoes - 40 minutes as opposed to 85 minutes (I think that is for pints, don't have the BBB to hand at the moment). We're talking juice here, not puree. I just don't get it. Maybe I need to contact Ball. I have no problem following directions, but I really like to know the *why* of things, if you know what I mean. Thanks for the input, mandie & moolie.

WOW! They are up to that many minutes now! Is that for high altitude? It seems like they add more time each year to cover their butts.

I usually process my tomatoes (whole in their own juice with a shot of lemon juice) for 45 minutes for a quart. (water bath times) I process salsas and other meatless sauces for about the same time. Always have. Not dead yet. Just saying.

Yes, that is the recommendation (or, considering that this is from the BBB, perhaps I should say *requirement* ): HWB, pints and quarts, tomatoes in juice, 1 hour and 25 minutes; tomatoes in water, pints 40 minutes, quarts 45 minutes. Presuure canned at 10 lbs pressure (not high altitude), in water, pints and quarts 10 minutes; in juice, pints and quarts 25 minutes.
Its actually been several years since I have canned tomatoes, but I seem to remember that I did quarts, in juice, for 45 minutes - and all my books (which are all older than this edition of BBB) suggest that timing.