Home canning gives you the ability to harvest large yields and keep your food waste low. Tomatoes are one crop that have a variety of canning options. Canning tomato sauce is a good way to use leftover crops over time. This excerpt from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Complete Guide to Home Canning shows you the hot pack process for how to can tomato sauce. Try this and our other canning resources to help you stock up after each harvest.
The following is an excerpt from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning covering how to can tomato sauce.
Canning Tomato Sauce
Quantity: For thin sauce — An average of 35 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 10 to 12 quarts of sauce-an average of 5 pounds per quart. For thick sauce — An average of 46 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 28 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 53 pounds and yields 7 to 9 quarts of sauce-an average of 6 1/2 pounds per quart.
Procedure: Prepare and press as for making tomato juice. Simmer in large-diameter saucepan until sauce reaches desired consistency Boil until volume is reduced by about one-third for thin sauce, or by one-half for thick sauce. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars (See acidification directions). Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jars, if desired. Fill jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.
Recommended process times are given in the Image Gallery.