Canning Tomato Juice
Quantity: An average of 23 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts or an average of 14 pounds per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 15 to 18 quarts of juice— an average of 3-¼ pounds per quart.
Procedure: Wash, remove stems and trim off bruised or discolored portions. To prevent the juice from separating, quickly cut about 1 pound of fruit into quarters and put directly into a saucepan. Heat immediately to boiling while crushing. Continue to slowly add and crush freshly cut tomato quarters to the boiling mixture. Make sure the mixture boils constantly and vigorously while you add the remaining tomatoes. Simmer 5 minutes after you add all pieces.
If you are not concerned about juice separation, simply slice or quarter tomatoes into a large saucepan. Crush, heat, and simmer for 5 minutes before juicing.
Press both types of heated juice through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds.
Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars. Heat juice again to boiling. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jars, if desired. Fill hot jars with hot tomato juice, leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process. (Acidification is still required for the pressure canning options; follow all steps in the Procedures above for any of the processing options.)
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 Pack | Pints | 35 min | 40 min | 45 min | 50 min |
| Quarts | 40 min | 45 min | 50 min | 55 min |
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0– 2,000 ft | 2,001– 4,000 ft | 4,001– 6,000 ft | 6,001– 8,000 ft |
| Hot Pack | Pints or Quarts | 20 min | 6 lb | 7 lb | 8 lb | 9 lb |
| 15 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0– 1,000 ft | Above 1,000 ft |
| Hot Pack | Pints or Quarts | 20 min | 5 lb | 10 lb |
| 15 min | 10 lb | 15 lb | ||
| 10 min | 15 min | Not recommended |
Canning Tomato Juice
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ lbs tomatoes per Quart
- 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice OR ½ teaspoon citric acid Per Quart
- 1 teaspoon Canning Salt Per Quart
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes.
- Stem them, and trim off and discard bruises. Don't peel or seed or core.
- Take 6 of the tomatoes, cut into quarters and add to a large pot over high heat.
- Crush them with a potato masher or other similar tool.
- Stirring the pot frequently and keeping the heat high, continue to quarter the remaining tomatoes, adding them as you do and crushing them, so that they heat rapidly, too, and the mixture keeps on boiling, uncovered.
- When all the tomato is in, let simmer strongly for another 5 minutes.
- Pass tomato mixture through a sieve or food mill to remove skin and seeds.
- Put juice back in pot, bring back to a boil, then lower to a simmer to keep quite hot.
- Acidify jars. To each half-litre/ pint jar add either 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice OR ¼ teaspoon citric acid. To each litre/quart jar add either 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice OR ½ teaspoon citric acid.
- OPTIONAL: ½ teaspoon salt per half-litre/ pint; 1 teaspoon per litre/quart jar.
- Ladle hot juice into jars.
- Leave 2 cm (½ inch) headspace.
- Wipe jar rims.
- Put lids on.
- Process in a water bath or steam canner.
- Process half-litres (pints) for 35 minutes; litre (quart) jars for 40 minutes. Increase time as needed for your altitude.
Video
Notes
The USDA also offers a pressure canning process.
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