Rinse the tomatoes and cut in half, or quarters for larger tomatoes.
20 lbs tomatoes
Add a strainer/colander to a large bowl.
Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170F.
Wash your lids with hot soapy water and place them in a clean bowl for now.
Add the tomatoes to a pot of boiling water and parboil them until you see the skins start to come off one of the tomatoes (about 1-2 minutes).
Use a slotted spoon and remove the tomatoes and place in the strainer.
Run the tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds and skins.
Transfer the tomato puree to a pot over low heat or a crockpot set to low. Keep warm until ready to can.
Add 3 quarts of water to your pressure canner and put it on a burner set to high. Make sure there is a canning rack in the bottom of the canner.
Add lemon juice or citric acid to your canning jars.Quarts: 2 tbsp lemon juice OR 1/2 tsp citric acid. Salt (optional) 1 tspPints: 1 tbsp lemon juice OR 1/4 tsp citric acid. Salt (optional) 1/2 tsp
10 tbsp lemon juice
Place a funnel on a canning jar and ladle in the warm tomato puree, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Headspace is defined as the space between the top of the food and the top of the jar.
Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.
Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure they are free of any food.
Place a clean new lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
Using canning tongs, gently place the jars in the canner.
Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe. Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes. Then put the pressure regulator on top.
Pretty soon, the air vent will pop up.
In a dial-gauge pressure canner, process pints and quarts based on the elevation guide below:*0-2,000f ft {PSI: 6 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*0-2,000f ft {PSI: 11 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*2,001-4,000k ft {PSI: 7 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*2,001-4,000k ft {PSI: 12 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*4,001-6,000k ft {PSI: 8 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*4,001-6,000k ft {PSI: 13 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min*6,001-8,000k {PSI: 9 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 20 min*6,001-8,000k {PSI: 14 lbs of pressure} = Pints & Quarts 15 min
When the dial gauge reaches the appropriate PSI, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at the PSI or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cooking time. You’ll likely need to adjust the temp on the burner a few times depending on your stove.
When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping. Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid of the canner (Pro tip: I always use oven mitts when I take the lid off because the steam is super hot).
Let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs. Pro tip: allowing the jars to sit in the canner with the lid off can help reduce the siphoning of liquid in your jars.
Remove with canning tongs and place on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed.
Water Bath Canning Tomatoes
Complete steps 1-8 above.
Fill your canner so that there will be 2 inches of water over the tallest jar that you are canning. Set it on a large burner set to high.
Complete steps 10-14 above.
When the water has reached a rolling boil, place the jars in the canner and place the lid on top.
Process pints and quarts based on the elevation guide below:*0-1,000 ft – Pints =35 min Quarts =40 min*1,001-3,000 ft – Pints =40 min Quarts =45 min*3,001-6,000 ft – Pints =45 min Quarts =50 min*6,000 ft+ – Pints =50 min Quarts =55 min
When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs.
Place on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
Notes
Typically, 45 pounds of tomatoes will make 14 pints or 7 quarts of tomato soup.
This tomato soup can be frozen in wide-mouth canning jars. Leave 1 inch of headspace in the jars to allow for expansion during freezing. Allow to fully cool in the jar before freezing.
Your soup may separate in the jars after canning. This is totally safe as long as the jars are sealed. This is the result of using tomatoes with higher water (juice) content.
Once the jars have sealed, remove the rings. Label and store sealed jars in a cool (best results are 50-70˚F) dark place for up to 12-18 months.