1. Prepare weighted-gauge pressure canner, jars and lids. Wash jars, lids and screw bands in hot, soapy water. Rinse well and drain. (Discard any jars that have any nicks, cracks, uneven rim surfaces or other defects.) Place rack in the pressure canner and place jars on rack. Fill jars halfway with water and add 2 to 3 inches of water to the canner. Bring water to a simmer over medium heat and maintain the simmer until you're ready to use the jars. Do not boil. Set screw bands aside. Place lids in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil. Keep lids hot until you're ready to use them.
2. Working in small batches, immerse tomatoes in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until the skins start to loosen or crack. Immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water and slip the skins off. Remove cores and any bruised or discolored portions that become apparent after blanching. Leave whole, halve or quarter.
3. Prepare tomatoes for packing*
4. Working with one jar at a time, remove a jar from canner. Place the jar on a protected work surface. If using, place funnel in jar. Before packing each jar of tomatoes, add lemon juice or citric acid to the hot jar in the quantity specified in chart**
5. Pack tomatoes into prepared jars to within a generous 1 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot cooking liquid (or boiling water if using the raw-pack method) into jar to cover tomatoes, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot liquid. With a clean damp cloth or paper towel, wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
6. Place jars in pressure canner. Adjust water level as directed by the manufacturer. Lock lid and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then close vent. Continue heating to achieve 10 lbs pressure. Process both pint and quart jars for 10 minutes.
7. Turn off heat. Let pressure return to zero naturally. Wait 2 minutes longer, then open vent. Remove canner lid. Wait 10 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

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*Raw-Pack Method

Bring about 4 cups water to a boil and keep hot (you will use it to fill the jars.) Do not heat tomatoes.

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Hot-Pack Method

Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel saucepan. (For best results when canning whole tomatoes, do not layer them in the pan. Quartered and halved tomatoes can be layered.) Add water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring gently. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

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**
Bottled lemon juice- Pint: 1 tbsp, Quart: 2 tbsp
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Citric acid- Pint: ¼ tsp, Quart: ½ tsp
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Add salt if using, in the quantity specified below:
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Pint: ½ tsp, Quart: 1 tsp

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Variations

Tomatoes Packed in Tomato Juice:

Packing tomatoes in tomato juice concentrates and enhances the flavor of the end product. However, the processing times need to be increased. Use either the raw- or hot-pack method and follow the steps above, substituting commercially prepared or homemade tomato juice for the water. Increase processing time to 25 minutes for both pint and quart jars.

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Raw-Packed Tomatoes with No Added Liquid:

You’ll get the most concentrated tomato flavor by packing tomatoes raw with no added liquid. However, this method requires a longer processing time to ensure that the heat fully penetrates to the centers of the jars. Use the raw-pack method, but do not boil any water. Follow the steps above, filling jars with raw tomatoes. After removing air bubbles, adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding tomatoes. Increase processing time to 25 minutes for both pint and quart jars.

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