Pressure canning Tomatoes

[MNTaxi]

I swear that I read or heard somewhere that it is recomended to pressure can tomatos now. Is that true? The Blue Ball book shows using a Hot water bath but I add like a tbsp of lemon juice to each pint.

Is it still safe to hot water bath can tomatos? I pressure canned some the other day and lost about 1.5" of liquid. I am not sure why. Is this normal? I think if I can I would prefer to use a hot water bath canner.

 

[mcnerd]

The Ball Blue Book actually lists recipes for BOTH methods, about page 69 for pressure canning. Look in the index for "tomatoes, canned". Adding bottled lemon juice is required for almost all tomato canning recipes for safety reasons.

Tomatoes strangely enough have proven to have more flavor when pressure canned.

 

[MNTaxi]

I have the ball canning book. I bought it about 2 years ago with a blue cover.

I see the recipie for tomatos packed in own juice. They are talking about using a hot water bath canner. Is their a more updated version now of the Blue Book?

My other question is whyam I using so much liquid when using a pressure canner? I think I loose between 1.5" - 2" of liquid? Is this normal and I am just over reacting?

 

[mcnerd]

You have the Ball Blue Book 'of Preserving', which is just fine. There is a newer book which is an Anniversary Edition entitled the Ball Blue Book 'Guide To Preserving'. Not enough changes to require a new book.

In your book, page 67 has several recipes for pressure canning tomatoes.

The "headspace" is very important since that is the amount of air expected to be purged out of the jar when processing. Too small a headspace and some food/liquid could be pushed out also. Too much headspace and air is left in the jar which can discolor the food and other problems.

Make sure your spring lids are only 'finger-tight'. If you tighten them too much it will cause more pressure to build in the jar before the purging occurs and could push too stuff out.

Also make sure your water/jars are not exposed to any drafts or sudden change of temperature during or right at the end of processing. Sudden temperature changes will cause a purge to occur, sometimes even emptying out most of the liquid contents of a jar or two.

The current recommendation at the end of processing is to wait 15 minutes, after pressure has dropped to normal, before removing the lid. This allows the jars to better stabilize temperature-wise before removing to the counter.

 

[Chef Munky]

I swear that I read or heard somewhere that it is recomended to pressure can tomatos now. Is that true? The Blue Ball book shows using a Hot water bath but I add like a tbsp of lemon juice to each pint.

Is it still safe to hot water bath can tomatos? I pressure canned some the other day and lost about 1.5" of liquid. I am not sure why. Is this normal? I think if I can I would prefer to use a hot water bath canner.

From The National Center Of Home Preserving

How do I? ...Can Tomatoes​

Selecting, Preparing and Canning Tomatoes

Introduction

Quality: Select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit for canning.
Caution: Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations.
Acidification: To ensure safe acidity in whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes, add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use one tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid. Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with product. Add sugar to offset acid taste, if desired. Four tablespoons of a 5 percent acidity vinegar per quart may be used instead of lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor changes.
Recommendation: Use of a pressure canner will result in higher quality and more nutritious canned tomato products. If your pressure canner cannot be operated above 15 PSI, select a process time at a lower pressure.
If a procedure from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning for canning tomatoes offers both boiling water and pressure canning options, all steps in the preparation ("Procedure") are still required even if the pressure processing option is chosen. This includes acidification. The boiling water and pressure alternatives are equal processes with different time/temperature combinations calculated for these products.


USDA Complete Guide, check chapter 3
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

 

[MNTaxi]

I have been paying close attention to the head space but seam to still have problems with stuff I use in the pressure canner purging liquid.

I have been waiting til the pressure valve on my canner drops andthan open the canner. I don;t seam to hear or see any purging going on. By than the liquid has already been purged.

So mybe my bands are a little to tight. I may try loosenig them a tad and see what happens.

Also one thing I thought of is purging some of the pressure while processing. I think I may be screwing up here. I basiclly sit in the kitchen and watch my canner dial to try and keep it around 11lbs. I have on occation lost track and it will jump to 13lbs. In this case I have used a spoon to tilt that presure regulator on the vent pipe to drop the level down to 11lbs. Than I adjust the temp of the stove.

So if my thinking is correct dropping the pressure from 13lbs to 11lbs within 10 seconds could be causing the pressure in the jars to be higher than that in the canner. Could this be causing the purge of fluids? I probably do this 3 or 4 times throughout the processing.

Is that why the recomend adjusting the pressure with the heat on the stove?

 

[mcnerd]

Yes.

 

[MNTaxi]

Is it ok if it acidentally gets up to 12 -13psi. As long as I use the stove to turn the heat down to adjust it. I will not purge this time when I can my tomatos and see what happens.

 

[sparrowgrass]

No, letting it go up a couple pounds won't hurt anything. Releasing the pressure thru the gauge definitely will cause you to lose liquid.

 

[MNTaxi]

Canned some Bread and Butter Pickles tonight. They look weird. Maybe just the recipe. Maybe because I have never seen them until after they have been in the jar a few months. Does the apperance change some after a month or so? After the cucumbers have time to absorb the liquid?

Goingto try more tomatos tomarrow. Not going to purge pressure using the guage. Going to use the stove. Will let you know how that turns out.

I bought a jar of bread and butter pickles at the store the other day. Why donlt they have onions in the jar?

 

[mcnerd]

'Look weird', no. There might be a slight change in the tint as is the case for all food when it is cooked, but that's all and they should look invitingly fresh and eatable.

What exactly is strange? What recipe was used?

As for onions in the jar, they are for flavor and commercially processed pickles probably don't have them because they tend to be mushy and they may not survive well under their method of processing. I've seen small quantity producers add them to their jars however.

 

[MNTaxi]

Looked at them this morning and they look a lot different. Not a weird as last night, lol. Made a second batch today and they look real good.

I canned some tomatos in theor own juice again todayto and I am still loosing liquid. I payed very close attention to everything and did it by the book. Still loosing liquid. Only thing I can thing of is band and lid tightness. Bought ready to beat my head against the wall.

Is their always going to be some liquid lost?

 

[MNTaxi]

I used the Ball Book recipe.

 

[mcnerd]

If you are positive that the spring lids are only finger-tight, increase the headspace by 1/8". No more, and see if things improve.

Not all tomatoes are equal and they may be expanding more than the standard expected.

It's all a learning process. Don't let it upset you.

 

[Constance]

It is still safe to can your tomatoes in a water bath. There is something you can do with tomatoes by using the pressure canner, though...If you have Romas, you can peel them and then cold pack them whole into the jars. They will make their own juice in the canner.

By the way, if you lost juice in the canning process, it means you didn't leave enough head space when you filled the jars.
They say now not to tighten the bands too tightly, but I always screwed them on good and tight.

 

[MNTaxi]

It seams theliquide in all the jars is about 1.5 " from the lip when I pull them out.

I will try increasing the head space on the tomatos for next time. I have been doing a canner load every week or so.