Standard Tomato Sauce

From National Center for Home preserving

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 6½ pounds per quart.

Procedure: Wash, remove stems, and trim off bruised or discolored portions. To prevent juice from separating, quickly cut about 1 pound of fruit into quarters and put directly into saucepan. Heat immediately to boiling while crushing. Continue to slowly add and crush freshly cut tomato quarters to the boiling mixture. Make sure the mixture boils constantly and vigorously while you add the remaining tomatoes. Simmer 5 minutes after you add all pieces. If you are not concerned about juice separation, simply slice or quarter tomatoes into a large saucepan. Crush, heat, and simmer for 5 minutes before juicing.
Juicing: Press both types of heated juice through a sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds.  Add back and 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. 1 T. to pints and 2 T. to quarts for bottled lemon juice and 1/4 t. citric acid for pints and 1/2 t. for quarts.  Fill jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. Recommended process times are given below. (Acidification is still required for the pressure canning options; follow all steps in the Procedures above for any of the processing options.)