Canning tomato broth

Follow up to the question on canning tomato broth. I can’t figure out how long to keep steaming. My instructions say 60 minutes of processing time for tomatoes. Does that 60 minutes start at the time the steam starts or at the 40 minutes past steam start that you take the first drain of juice? How long do you steam tomatoes, pears, or apricots?

Erica Kardelis
Helper, Utah

I’m hoping you’re talking about using a steam juicer like my Mehu Liisa. I’ve found that I steam my fruits longer than the instructions say in order to get the most juice per batch. I steam until the juice pretty much stops running out the tube, taking care to keep water in the lower pot. Don’t let it go dry or it may warp the bottom of the water container. I steam juice tomatoes, most fruit such as raspberries, pin and chokecherries, wild plums, apples and so much more. You can certainly do pears and apricots too. Using a steam juicer is not like using a canner; you just cook until the most juice has been extracted and the fruit is pretty pale and puckered. It’s not a precise timing. — Jackie

Canning tomatoes

Wow, am not sure what I’ve done except maybe didn’t process long enough. Some of my jars of tomatoes when I go to open them I can literally pull the lid off with my fingers. It’s tight but doesn’t seem like my usual. They look and smell okay and I’ve used them after cooking for at least 15 minutes, think I should dump them? I’m canning like my mom did, hot pack and water bath 10 minutes for pints. I’ve ordered your canning books because someone said tomatoes don’t have the acid they used to and things have changed.

Lin Gendron
Wright City, Missouri

Whoa, water bathing tomatoes for 10 minutes is NOT enough, especially if the tomatoes you’ve canned are a low acid variety. Whole hot packed tomatoes should be processed for 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts and you should be adding 1 Tbsp lemon juice to pints and 2 Tbsp to quarts to allow for the lack of acidity in many varieties of modern tomatoes. I’m so glad you’ve ordered my canning book. You really need Growing and Canning Your Own Food. To be safe, I’d dump those underprocessed tomatoes. So sad … — Jackie

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