Help me with canning!

[VocalMinority]

This is SO humiliating.  After years of discussing it, we FINALLY put in a big garden this summer.  I blew off everyone who told me I "had to" use this or that pesticide or chemical fertilizer, and lo and behold, things grew...and grew...and grew!  I'm at the huge-colander-full-of-tomatoes-every-day stage, right now.  So I want to can them.

I read about this and have followed the instructions.  I sanitized everything; blanched and peeled the tomatoes; put them in the glass jars, using a wooden spoon to compact them; ran the handle around the edges to get out air bubbles; left the appropriate space between the top of the food and the mouth of the container; took care not to overtighten the rings around the lids; added the appropriate amount of lemon juice; and boiled them for the suggested length of time, in a sufficiently deep pot with a lid and a contraption to raise the jars off the bottom of the pot.

Twice now, I've wound up with jars half-full of water, with tomatoes floating in the top half.  There is also so much air left in the jars that you can see it bubbling up from the bottom while they're still hot; and if you turn the jars upside-down, a huge pocket of air floats up, occupying maybe a fifth to an eighth of the jar.  Although SOME of the lids appear to have sealed (the "button" that pops up when you open the can has drawn down), I assume this is NOT how a safely-canned jar is supposed to look, with all that air.

I am SO frustrated.  Too much expense and work has gone into making this garden, tending it, harvesting these tomatoes, washing, peeling and processing them...for me to wind up with jars that aren't as safe to put on the shelf as something I could buy for $.89 at Wal-Mart.  My DH's grandmother had no formal education to speak of, but she could grow and can her own food.  I feel like an idiot!

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

[serenbat]

did you let your jars sit un-disturbed until they were completely cooled? 

can you pry the lid off with your hand or do you need an opener?

did you hear "pops" when they were cooling?

did you use a canning guide- with exact minutes for processing listed?

how many did not seal (that you can open without an opener)? have you put the ones that did not seal in the frig?--

if you have non-sealed you can freeze those- I use plastic bag but some do use glass and you won't loose the tomatoes that way

I would want to know these answers first before figuring out what you did wrong.

so you know- Ball makes a marking stick to give the proper head space - I can't just find a single picture of it but it is the BLUE stick shown here - scroll down- you can buy them if you don't have one - 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Otka8qyTnv4/TJ11x2tI0LI/AAAAAAAAGUs/sLHGWTEF-SY/s400/4712631_91fbae5cd6_m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2010/09/24/tomato-tarte-tatin/&usg=__SvLbVW8T0uqvGDUI5rLFqonSneA=&h=208&w=400&sz=19&hl=en&start=3&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=2tKScQLOixrAdM:&tbnh=64&tbnw=124&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcanning%2Bheadspace%2Bgauge%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbm%3Disch&ei=DVY_Tt31C4XVgQfz2MX8Bw

personally, I never can tomatoes-main reason is what I use them for and the size I need and jars do not work as far as tomatoes go for me- I do paste-in 3TBSP size, chopped in 1 and 2 cup size, sauce in 1 and 2 cup size and juice in 1 cup size - so bag and freezing works for me but I do can other items

[VocalMinority]

The lids did appear to have sealed, in the sense that the convex part on the top drew down and is now concave, such that I expect it will "pop" when I try to open it.

I do have a Ball measurer, for head space, and used it.

I did let them sit undisturbed, until fully cooled.

I have 4 kids, so I wasn't in the kitchen enough, while they were cooling, to know if they popped.  :-)

My concern - my assumption that things aren't right - is based on how much air is still visible, in the jars.  The top 1-1/2 inches is just air, that floats right up, if you turn the cans upside-down.  Properly-canned foods can't have air in the jars, can they?  (That's not said in a sarcastic or rhetorical way.  I'm new at this, so I'm earnestly asking.  Can they?)

[serenbat]

no, and 1 1/2" is not good!

if they are sealed you could reopen and freeze

I don't can tomatoes like I said also because of the use of lemon juice and I don't want that---being said, if it was me, I would contact your local 4H, in my state, 4H is run via our "extension offices" (in PA, Penn State Univ. helps run it) and they DO deal with canning and I would find your local body and talk to someone there--could be that you simply did not fill enough given the shrink-ish you encountered if you did have a proper head space prior to sealing you simply had more settling going on-IMO

I would seek other advice since no one else as posted

good luck if you do another

I know many can but you can look into freezing and not have to deal with the ph that way-if you have the space-tomatoes can be a treat to deal with

[gardenmommy]

Hmmm... I've canned tomatoes for years with no problems.  I just stuff hot tomatoes in the hot jars, stick a hot lid on them, and put them in my hot water canner.  I don't pressure them, and they almost always seal (there is occasionally the random one that doesn't seal for whatever reason).  How full are you filling your jars?  Do you squish them in pretty tightly?  Are you sticking whole tomatoes in the jar, crushed, or chopped?  How long are you processing them?  

Here's what I do:

Blanch and peel tomatoes, then toss them in a pot to heat.  

Heat tomatoes until boiling.
Heat jars in boiling water.

Pour tomatoes in hot jars, clear bubbles from jar.

Wipe top of jar, place lids and rings on, tighten.

Place jars in hot water canner, process, (20 minutes?  I can't remember, I'll have to look it up.)

Remove jars from canner, place on towel to cool overnight.  

Does that sound similar to what you are doing?

[flightgoddess]

I think it is just the nature of the tomatos, during the processing, the heat starts to cook the tomatoes basically, so they release their juices. Tomato juice (not like in a can, that has 'pulp' in it) is more like a serum, and is pretty clear and watery. (like blood serum is clear like liquid) And then the fruit/pulp will naturally float becuase it is not dense/heavy. So in al likelyhood, you just have a lot of floating tomato and tomato 'serum' Perfectly edible. That often happens with minimally processed/cold pack tomatoes.

You can lessen that effect if you pre cook the tomatoes a couple minutes to relase of the juices (ie hot pack) If you rather prefer cold pack, then scrape out as much of the seeds/watery membranes as you can before packing them in jars and it will seem like a little less separation.

proper head space is 1/2 inch, no more than 3/4in. And it's not really air, but empty space.... when yo tip it over, the food just follows gravity and fills the lowest point.

And the bubbles are not necessarily from air before canning, when you can, you heath the foods up, and they will release steam, and steam rises as bubbles (I don't know if that was the best explaination.) You don't really notice it in dense foods, like jam and stuf, but you will see that with pickles and juices.

So in all likelyhood the ones where the buttons did pop and seal, they should be fine.

[serenbat]

did you follow a recipe that only said to "blanch"?

just wondering