Canning Tomatoes Before you place your jars of tomatoes in the canner, be sure that the water is boiling.... when you actually drop them in, the boil will stop, so place the lid back on the canner, and just be patient. You can also boil water in a separate pot, on another burner, and add it to the canner to help bring up the temperature. Once the water starts boiling again, you can set your timer to 45 minutes, and direct your energies to clean up... (guys, if you are the ones doing this, please make sure not to leave a mess for your wife... she'll enjoy the tomatoes a lot more when it comes time to eat them.) Here you can see that I have some extra water boiling on the side to add to the canner when I remove the first batch of tomatoes from the canner. After 45 minutes has passed with your water at a hearty boil, you can pull the jars of tomatoes from the canner, and set them on a towel... you don't want to place hot jars on a cool counter, because the jars might break, and you'll have a big tomato mess to deal with. Don't be concerned if the jars leak a bit at the beginning of the canning process... it happens all the time, and isn't going to hurt anything. Additionally, you'll see some separation of the tomatoes and the liquid when you place them on the towel to cool... this is normal too. Well, here is the first batch of tomatoes.... allow them to cool overnight, and then check them for a proper seal by gently pushing down on the top of the lid... it should be sucked down, and not pop when you press on it.... if the lid does pop, you'll either need to place them in the fridge and use them in the next couple of days, or re-process them. If they're all good, just store them in a cool dark place until you're ready to use them. When you do go to use them, inspect the jar, looking for anything that is cloudy or hazy, and when you remove the lid, it should have an obvious seal... if not, throw them away and grab another jar. HOME