How to Can Tomato Juice in Canada (Bernardin Method)

A row of jarred tomato juice is one of the most useful things a Canadian garden gives back. It drinks straight, it’s the base for soup and chili, and it’s the simplest way to put up a bumper tomato crop when you don’t have time to peel and pack whole tomatoes (growing tomatoes in Canada).

It’s also a low-acid food waiting to happen if you skip one step. This guide covers the water-bath method, following Bernardin and Québec. It follows Bernardin’s Tomato Juice recipe and gives their processing times in full — keep your edition open beside this page and check them against it.

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The single most important rule: acidify every jar

Every Bernardin tomato recipe — juice included — opens with the same line:

Add 1 tbsp bottled lemon juice per 500 mL jar, 2 tbsp per 1 L jar, or 3 tbsp per 1.5 L jar. Alternative: ¼ tsp citric acid per 500 mL, ½ tsp per 1 L, or ¾ tsp per 1.5 L.

This goes in every jar, every time, no matter the variety and no matter how tart the juice tastes. Modern tomato cultivars sit right around the pH 4.6 line that separates high-acid (water-bath safe) from low-acid (pressure canning required). The acid pushes the juice reliably under 4.6 — which is the only thing that makes the boiling-water method safe for tomatoes at all.

Bottled lemon juice only. Fresh lemon juice varies in acidity from lemon to lemon and is not safe here. See the pH 4.6 rule in full for why this matters so much.

What you need

• 10–11 kg (22–24 lb) ripe tomatoes — juice is the recipe for a glut, so any variety works
• Boiling water bath canner (a tall stockpot with a rack works) — which canner to buy, and when a stockpot is genuinely enough
• 6–7 × 1 L Bernardin jars, or double the count in 500 mL, plus new SNAP lids and bands
• Bottled lemon juice OR food-grade citric acid
• A food mill or fine sieve to separate skins and seeds
• A jar lifter and a headspace tool

The method (about an hour of active work)

1. Warm the jars and canner. Fill the canner, bring to a simmer, and heat the jars in the hot water so they don’t crack when filled.

2. Core and quarter the tomatoes, dropping them into a big pot as you cut.

3. Heat fast — and Bernardin gives two ways, depending on whether you care about separation.

   To prevent separation: quarter 1 lb (500 g) of tomatoes — about 2 cups — into the pot over high heat, and stir and crush until the mixture boils rapidly. Then add the rest gradually, crushing as you go, keeping a constant vigorous boil throughout. Once everything is in and crushed, boil gently 5 minutes before juicing.

   If separation doesn’t bother you: quarter the lot straight into the pot, crush, heat, and boil gently 5 minutes.

   The difference is heat speed. Cut tomatoes sitting below boiling release an enzyme that breaks down pectin, and that is what makes the juice split into a clear layer and a pulpy one. It is a cosmetic problem, not a safety one — which is exactly why Bernardin publishes the shortcut as a legitimate option rather than a mistake.

4. Sieve. Run the hot tomatoes through a food mill or fine sieve. Return the juice to the pot and reheat to just below boiling.

5. Acidify each jar. Lemon juice or citric acid into every empty hot jar, in the amount above. Optional salt too, if you want it: ½ tsp per 500 mL, 1 tsp per 1 L, 1¼ tsp per 1.5 L. Flavour only — the acid is the safety.

6. Fill. Ladle hot juice in, leaving 1 cm (½ inch) headspace. Wipe rims, apply fresh SNAP lids fingertip-tight.

7. Process. Bernardin’s tomato juice recipe gives, at altitudes up to 305 m:

   Jar size	Processing time
   500 mL	35 minutes
   1 L	40 minutes
   1.5 L	50 minutes

   Time starts at a full rolling boil. Above 305 m, add the boiling-water increment for your altitude band — the table is at the foot of this page. Verify against your Bernardin edition before you start.

   The 1.5 L jar is worth noticing. It is the largest size Bernardin publishes for any tomato recipe, and juice is the only one of the four that offers it — whole tomatoes stop at 1 L (with a 750 mL option), crushed and sauce at 1 L. If you use one, the acid scales with it: 3 tbsp of lemon juice, not 2.

8. Cool and check. Rest 5 minutes in the canner, lift the jars out without tilting them, and leave 24 hours undisturbed before checking seals. Don’t retighten the bands.

Common questions

It separated into a clear layer and a pulpy layer. That’s cosmetic — safe to drink, just shake. Heating the cut tomatoes faster next time reduces it.

A jar didn’t seal. Refrigerate and use it within a few days, or reprocess immediately with a fresh lid. See jar didn’t seal — is it safe.

How long does it keep? Sealed and stored cool and dark, about a year for best quality. See how long home-canned food lasts.

Related tomato guides

• How to can whole and crushed tomatoes
• How to can tomato sauce
• Whole vs crushed vs diced canned tomatoes
• Preserving tomatoes in Canada — the full hub