Diced Tomatoes

This post isn't really a recipe. It's just a step-by-step post about how to can diced tomatoes. If you are interested in canning your tomatoes, I hope it is helpful. More than anything, I'm writing this post so I can clearly remember what I did for next year.

1. Peel and chop tomatoes and place them in a large pot. Chop tomatoes much larger than you would expect diced tomatoes to be as they will cook down significantly.

2. Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to an almost boil. Once they are bubbly and starting to get foamy on top, simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat jars and lids to sterilize.

4. Fill hot jars with tomatoes, leaving more head space than usual (see photo below) in order to leave room for the lemon juice and salt.

5. For quarts - add 2 T lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt. For pints - add 1 T lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt. Be sure to leave 1/2 inch headspace.

6. Wipe rim with a damp, clean cloth.

7. Seal and place in water canner. Process pints in a boiling-water canner for 35 minutes and quarts for 45 minutes. Remove from canner, place on a towel and let cool. Be patient for them to seal, as I have found with both batches that they take longer to seal than other things I've made.

I'm not exactly sure of the yield of this - on Saturday Logi and I made 21 quarts and I believe we started with something like 15-18 quarts of tomatoes.