Wash the jars, bands and rings in hot soapy water.
Place the water bath canner on the stove and fill 1/2 to 3/4 full of water and bring to a simmer.
Place clean jars in canner to simmer and keep warm until the tomatoes are prepared.
Wash the tomatoes and cut an “x” in the blossom end. This will help with peeling.
Bring a pot of water to a simmer, add a few tomatoes at a time to the pot. Simmer for 30-60 seconds until the skin splits.
Place split skin tomatoes into a cold water bath to cool.
Once tomatoes are cooled. Remove the tomatoes from the cold water bath and peel. The skins should easily slip off.
Core the tomato and cut in half or into quarter and place into a bowl until all the tomatoes are prepared.
Take a jar out of the canner and add lemon juice 1 tablespoon for pint jars and 2 tablespoons for quart jars. Fill the tomatoes to a 1/2-inch headspace.
Add boiling water to the jar to bring the level to 1/2-inch headspace.
Take a rubber spatula or plastic knife and run it along the insides of the jar to release any trapped air bubble.
Add more boiling water to bring the level back up to 1/2-inch headspace if needed.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to pints and 1 teaspoon salt to quarts if desired.
Clean the edge of with a damp cloth to remove any salt or tomato bits.
Place lid onto the jar, adjust ring to finger tight. Place jar in canner filled with water on stove.
Continue until all jars are filled.
Make sure water level is 1 inch above the jars. And bring to a boil.
Once processed, remove jars from canner and place on a towel or cutting board too cool.
Let cool for 12-24 hours.
Remove rings and test to see if the lids have sealed.
If sealed, label and store in a cool dark area for up to 1 year.
Video
Notes
1 pint jar = serving for the nutritional facts below. The nutritional facts below are meant to be a guide.Remember when canning it’s important to add acid to the tomatoes because tomatoes are a borderline high acid food. And it’s important to follow the guidelines for safe canning which you can find here in a convenient pdf.