Crushed tomatoes (NCHFP, no added liquid)

This is the National Center for Home Food Preservation crushed tomatoes (no added liquid) process, adapted from USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, AIB 539 (revised 2015), not a house salsa ¹. Tomato sits near the acid line. Acidification is required for boiling-water and pressure options; the pressure times were not developed for tomatoes without added acid ². If you skip the lemon juice or citric acid, you are not on this process. See Food safety, Acidity, and Canning.

Quantity: an average of 22 pounds per 7 quarts; 14 pounds per 9 pints. A bushel (53 pounds) yields 17 to 20 quarts — about 2¾ pounds per quart ¹. Quality: disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit. Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines ².

Acidification (whole, crushed, or juiced): 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or ½ teaspoon Citric acid per quart; 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or ¼ teaspoon citric acid per pint. Add acid to the jars before filling. Sugar may offset taste; it does not replace acid. Four tablespoons of 5 percent vinegar per quart may be used instead, but vinegar may change flavor ².

1. Wash tomatoes. Dip in boiling water 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split; dip in cold water; slip skins; remove cores. Trim bruised or discolored parts; quarter ¹.
2. Heat about one-sixth of the quarters quickly in a large pot, crushing them as they go in so juice runs. Stir so they do not burn. When boiling, add remaining quarters gradually, stirring constantly — those pieces need not be crushed; they soften with heat. When all are in, boil gently 5 minutes ¹.
3. Put bottled lemon juice or citric acid in the jars (amounts above). Add 1 teaspoon salt per quart if desired. Fill immediately with hot tomatoes, ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process ¹.

Process from Table 1, Table 2, or Table 3 on the NCHFP crushed-tomatoes page. Hot pack, pints, boiling water, 0–1,000 ft: 35 minutes — quarts 45 minutes at that elevation — and the rest of Table 1 for altitude. Pressure options are on Tables 2 and 3; still acidify. Do not copy the whole altitude or PSI table from memory ¹. Pressure canning owns the canner; Canning altitude owns elevation.