You might have a cooler spot on your burner. I would make sure that it is the same location of jar each time, that would tell you that it is the location. I don't know about the flat top stoves, I specifically did not buy one because of canning.

Has to be specific to that one jar. Lid/band seal is most common, different packing of the one jar is another (ratio of solids to liquid is off in the one jar), nicks or malformed rims on one jar or a bad lid is another possibility.

Assuming the water is hot as supposed to be then the jar going in first should be heating up not cooling down. And the pressure inside the pot is uniform so jar placement makes no different.

Raw pack again?

Dave

I have found 1 canning jar this year that the ring didn't fit exactly. It was far enough off that I noticed it, when I was tightening it, it was like a stripped screw.

I wouldn't automatically assume it's placement that causes the siphoning. 2x is not sufficient to be certain that's the source of the problem (could be coincidence) and as Dave said the pressure inside the vessel should be consistent regardless.

If it's only one jar then I'd discount pressure variations and say the most likely cause is still the band-tightening issue and location is a fluke.

Carol

Not raw pack, tomatoes were simmering (about 350-400 degrees) in roaster quite a bit longer than the 10 min they were supposed to while I was peeling the last of them, then cutting up squash. The edges of the roaster were bubbling but the middle didn't seem to be so I put a quart or 2 at a time into my Dutch oven after I emptied the blanching water out, heated to boiling in there until squash was translucent, then packed. So each jar was boiling when packed, but sat in canner while I heated and packed the next quart.

I did find 1 jar with nicked rim when I brought them up from basement, all jars were inspected, rinsed in hot water, a cup of water in each and put in canner (they had been stored with plastic wrap over the openings, in a closed cardboard box). All rims and threads wiped clean after filling. Bubble wand pushed down inside several times - I did not find that I had to adjust the 1" HS after doing so though.

If it was the first jar this time it could possibly have had more solids (the first 5 were definitely more solids than the last jar). With the sauce that siphoned earlier this month it was all milled, so that shouldn't have been the case, and with the raw pack tomatoes the other day it's possible, but not likely, since I was peeling the tomatoes and popping them into the jars one at a time, not dipping out of a pot of mixed solids/liquids. And I did more than 1 jar or paste tomatoes (and a couple of mixed beefsteaks and pastes) so if the past tomatoes were denser I should have had more than 1 jar siphon then.

I will use the band tool next time.

Do you think the lid sealant is cooling too much if it is the 1st jar going into the PC? I'm not having the problem when I BWB, though I don't often BWB quarts, I'm wondering if

1) It's taking me longer to fill the rest of the jars than when BWBing b/c I'm usually doing half pints or pints, 6 quarts take me longer to fill than 6 pints

2) When BWBing, even if the first jar or 2 have tops out of the hot water when I fill and put them in, by the time I dump the 3rd jar full of hot water out into the canner, fill it, and put it in the water level is above the level of the jars so lids stay hot until I finish all jars and get water 1-2" above tops, turn the heat up and put the pot lid on.

I don't usually have BWB filled to over the tops of the jars (maybe right at) b/c I don't sterilize them (process for 10 min or longer) but I do have them filled almost to the top, and water in the canner up to the bottom thread or so, then start them boiling while I make the jam, salsa, whatever, dump 1 jar full into bowl with lids to preheat them, put jar back in canner (but water level of course has dropped slightly), take a different jar out as the 1st to fill.

When PCing, I put a gallon of water in the canner (yesterday only put 1/2 gallon, then put 1C in each of 7 jars planning on dumping half of them back into PC as I filled), put a little water in jars just to keep them from tipping, bring to boil for hot pack or simmer for raw pack, but then turn the burner off so it doesn't boil dry while I am prepping food (I need to get the timing better for PCing), turn it back on when food is almost done, when it's just starting to boil again take 1 jar out to dump into lid bowl, put it back in canner to stay warm until I'm ready to fill, again take a different jar as 1st jar to fill (pour the water into the empty jar to keep it from floating since I now have an empty space in canner), fill jar, cap, place in canner, repeat (last few jars get dumped in sink so not too much water in PC).

I will use the band tool from now on, but still trying to figure out what I'm doing differently in PCing as opposed to BWBing that is making 1 (first?) jar siphon each time and the length of time that jar is sitting in the canner before processing, and the fact that it's not submerged, are the only 2 things I can think of, since if anything yesterday I was trying to tighten the bands a little more than I usually do with jams/BWBing.

I don't think the sealant cooling is your problem. Can you mark the jars 1,2,3, to determine which one you put in first. Just strange that only 1 happens each time.

How long does it take you to fill all the jars? I would think that less than 10 minutes, closer to the 5 minutes, would make the difference. If you are taking longer than that, you need to speed it up.

All this PCing takes practice and you are doing well, especially not having someone in person to help you learn. I wish I was closer.

I don't tighten my jars any more or less than I do with BWB, so I don't think you should change what you are doing on that part.

I don't know, I have to time myself filling the jars. I know it takes a terrible long time to blanch and peel tomatoes by myself, so the raw-packed tomatoes the first jar was sitting a time while I peeled and packed the other jars. (I did blanch them all 1st so I could move PC onto that burner, had an 8qt stockpot with ice water with all the ones I boiled in batches in my 6qt cooling in them). That's why I got the roaster out to dump tomatoes into as I peeled them this time, then since that was full I ladled some out into Dutch oven after I dumped the water, started cutting up the squash and threw it in the roaster, then the last bit of squash went into the pan, heated for more than the 5 minutes recipe says to boil the squash, I thought it should be translucent/cooked thoroughly not still raw, that was the first jar (can you see anything wrong there?), then took more tomatoes/squash out of the roaster and heated on the stove to get the squash cooked and mixture bubbling w/o turning up the roaster all the way and scorching the edges.

Let the roaster sit in water a while b4 putting in DW on Pots and pans cycle, it still has burnt-on tomato around the top edge so I have to check that the bottom is heating up as well but since I boiled each jarful on the stove before packing I know that it was throughly warm, squash was cooked, though if roaster wasn't working correctly, it's possible some tomatoes (even with stirring) weren't cooked full 10 minutes even though the 1st couple lbs blanched were in there almost an hour from the time I started coring/peeling to when I filled the last jar.

I went to a $5 demo on fall soups at a gourmet kitchenware store Sunday, they do teach canning classes so I mentioned PCing but after the chef left I was talking to her assistant, mentioned troubles with the raw pack tomatoes and meat siphoning, she thought 15 min at 15 psi was too high for tomatoes so I don't know how much they follow USDA guidelines - maybe she just didn't know it off top of head but she was talking like she knows how to PC.

I did get some tips on making my chicken broth clear - I didn't know it wasn't even supposed to simmer (180), she said should be just below (160) while the bones were still in there!

I don't understand why you are using 15 #, you are under the 1,000 altitude, even with the stove height, won't make that much difference. One way you can tell is to the temperature that water boils on your stove, if it boils at 212, then stay with the 10. I did a search and if you are at 1100 the boiling point will still be at 212, I don't think your stove is that much higher.

Also, not all 'teachers' are certified and use the NCHFP guidelines. Several are just people that have the experience, not so much the knowledge.

Any time you use a roaster, you have to stir the contents, because (even brand-new) the roaster will heat more around the edges and bottom than the inside. You have to check the temp in the center, but not next to the bottom of pan. Keeping the ingredients hot before jarring is important. I would just change from raw pack to hot pack. Then you could add all the ingredients in the roaster and dip out into the jars.

I wouldn't raw pack anything that would need PCing, my personal feelings. Hot pack is so much easier for those things. Especially since you have a roaster.

Marla

Well I don't have a calibrated thermometer (I adjusted mine for boiling at 212 already) to check. I used 15 psi b/c I wanted the shorter processing time.

I don't mind learning from someone who isn't certified - heck, even if they don't use approved recipes, as long as they can figure out why I've still got siphoning when I've tried to check off everything on the NCHFP troubleshooting page. But I'm not going to pay $70+ to take a course just to do that - I've got to learn approved methods for that kind of money. In fact, I'm trying to get a "scholarship" to take a 2-day Better Process Control course for $50 (rather than $500) the state wants residential farmers to take so we can sell acidified foods.

At least they've finally brought it in-state (to Farm Bureau office) instead of us having to travel to Cornell. I tried telling the head of dept 3 years ago that didn't seem to be the intent of the expanded law allowing us to process jams and jellies in residential kitchen - you'd need to sell an awful lot of pickles to be able to travel and take that course! But if I don't get in, I'll just take the $100 Serv-Safe course they accept instead (not as applicable, but if it's approved, I'd rather spend $50 than $100, or $100 rather than $500...).

Sorry, I got sidetracked looking at HAACP presentation, then came back and realized I hadn't submitted the post.

I just have to look for a medium-sized roaster. The 6 qt gets hotter than my slowcooker but doesn't hold any more (in fact, might be 1 qt less), and the 18qt is just too big. Does Nesco make a 10-12 qt? I'll have to keep haunting Goodwill. I could use the stockpot I bought as a BWB, but since it's so tall I wonder how evenly I would heat food in that - plus it's harder to ladle out of.

Might have to start heating things in the oven, though I don't think it's as energy-efficient as an electric roaster.

I have 3 crockpots, and each of them heat differently. My middle one cooks on keep warm, like low and low is like high. There are smaller ones, I just don't have them. I just fill the 18 one 1/2 full, anything smaller goes in my 7 qt.

Oven isn't more efficient, unless you are doing alot. Cook supper at the same time. My oven is usually used for lots of things at once.

Trying to do things 'quicker' isn't always better. I'd go back to the 10psi weight and try it. I don't think it saves much time. I'm usually prepping the next batch while 1 batch is canning, nothing fancy so I can keep an eye on the canner. I also don't watch the dial, that's what the weights are for. There again, I've done it several times.

Sheila, from your posts you are so over-thinking the process and so over-complicating it all that it is impossible to know what to tell you.

I don't know the cause of all the unnecessary steps in your preparation description. Are they because you lack the proper equipment? If so then the solution is obvious. Or are they due to a lack of understanding how to do the preparation?

1) there is no reason why it should take you any longer to fill 6 qts than it does 6 pints unless you lack the proper equipment or are totally disorganized in the process. A pot of ready to fill food, 6 hot jars lined up in 2 rows of 3 right next to each other, a canning funnel, a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup to dip with and fill the jars, wipe the rims, slap on the lids, screw on the bands and viola' - 3-4 mins tops.

I know it takes a terrible long time to blanch and peel tomatoes by myself

Why? A big pot with a insert full of tomatoes, 30 sec. in then out and dumped into a kitchen sink full of ice water, next bunch into the pot, out and into the sink. Fill up the sink with hot dipped tomatoes till they are all blanched. Turn off the stove, and start peeling out of the sink over the disposal or a bag for the compost bin. As peeled they all go back into the big pot (or into a big bowl). When all are peeled then heat them or not depending on hot or raw packed and then fill the jars and put them into the canner.

You never heat a few, peel a few, fill a jar, heat a few, peel a few, fill a jar. Way too much wasted time and motion. And using your canner to heat your jars also wastes space time and motion. Put 3" of water in it and set it on a back burner on med heat to be heating up while peeling.

The 1 jar siphoning - can only be caused by a problem with that 1 jar - nothing else can cause it. The odds are 9:1 that the band wasn't screwed down tight enough and in my experience it is almost impossible for a woman to OVER-tighten a band with their fingers but they often UNDER-tighten them. Even most men can't over-tighten unless they really put their whole hand into it.

The next 4.5% is that there is a small nick or such on the rim of the jar. The chances of it being anything else are slim to none.

But the bottom line - so you get one jar that siphons a bit. As long as it seals it's no end-of-life deal and it happens once in awhile to all of us no matter how careful we are. .

You insist on making comparisons to BWB canning when they have little in common so don't try to compare them as it only misleads and confuses you.

Dave.

I'll take the steps in chronological order instead of the way you addressed them - I pulled out my big stockpot (not the largest I use as a BWB) to cool the tomatoes in since they weren't all going to fit in my dishpan - the sink isn't much deeper and I don't like putting food in it b/c of the disposal, though I do bleach it once a week. I do sit a footed colander in it to wash each batch - I guess I should wash everything and put in a large bowl until they're all done, then start blanching?

So all I had to boil them in was my 6qt. I could use the other (8qt?) and use my largest (BWB) to cool in, I do have an insert for the 8qt. But do all the tomatoes have to be submerged or will the steam be enough to peel them?

I assume it's OK to let them sit in the ice water for a few minutes - but if I have to blanch in batches b/c I just don't have large enough pot or insert won't hold 12 lbs of tomatoes under the water, can I let them sit longer? You mention doing it in batches - how many batches does it take you to do 12 lbs of tomatoes? How long does it take?

I was trying to do hot pack and peel a few lbs of tomatoes, throw them in roaster, while next few lbs were blanching/cooling. You're right, raw pack just has too much air.

I'm not heating, peeling, packing a jar (even doing raw pack), then blanching, peeling more for the next jar. I had all the tomatoes blanched and cooled, ready to go before I took 1st jar out of canner, but was peeling them for raw pack a jar at a time, didn't think I should let them sit (in ice water? a separate bowl?) while I peeled all of them. If I ever do raw pack again I will peel them all first as you suggested. This is the sort of practical advice I need!

For hot pack I was heating to boiling on the stove since my roaster didn't seem to be getting the middle hot enough, then packing 1 at a time. Should I give up on my roaster/Dutch oven when processing more than 5 qts? Will food get hot enough in 8qt pot with 10" diameter?

I am limited to standard kitchen utensils (besides the PC) and I cook for a family of 4 not an army so don't have huge pots, or place to store them (canning stuff goes in the basement during the winter, no room in kitchen cabinets).

I also have 2 large burners on the front of the range, smaller ones are in the back and it's hard to fit anything bigger than a teakettle back there when the front burners are in use. In fact, in 6 years I've probably used the back burners 5-6 times max. The control panel/knobs are on the back too, and I simply can't fit large diameter pot back there, couldn't reach knobs even if I did.

But if I need 1 front burner for something else, I can heat the jars with hot tap water (100 degrees or so) as you suggested to someone else, they don't need to be hot for long, just as long as they're hot when you're filling them. But the canner is a problem - I really need to get the BWB boiling while I'm prepping (though I don't seem to have a problem organizing myself then). PCing doesn't require as much hot water (just a gal) - should I try heating 6C at time in my big Pyrex cup in the MW and pour in the PC so it won't take as long on the burner, I can put it on when I pull the blanching pot off? I'd use the blanching water but that gets nasty and I'm afraid a stray seed might float in under the rim of a jar and then I've got the siphoning problem again.

As far as lining up all the jars and filling them, I thought you were supposed to fill 1 at a time and put in canner to keep warm, otherwise the food gets cold in the first jar and the last empty jar is cold by the time you fill it. It does take me almost 2x as long to fill quarts as pints (and 2x as long for pints as halfpints) b/c I only have 1 ladle, so I have to scoop 2x as many times to fill a jar. I do have to speed up on adding the CA, freeing bubbles, and wiping the jars - when I'm filling halfpints and even pints I just have to wipe the rim but maybe b/c I'm rushing with the larger jars I get sloppy and drip stuff down the outside of the funnel (and raw pack tomatoes I forgot to use the funnel, just peeled tomatoes over the WM jar and made a real mess). I will try the 2C Pyrex next time, and only use the ladle when I get to the bottom of the pan.

The thing that drives me crazy about the 1 jar siphoning each time is that it's not sealing (the meat did but not the tomatoes b/c of the seeds getting caught on the rim after they boiled up).

Thanks for the tips, at least the prep and filling the jars should go faster next time!

I hesitate to ask, since I don't have much storage space, but what minimum equipment should I have to be able to do 1 canner load at a time (I don't think I'm going to get into marathons, even if I can speed things up so that I have time to do more than 1 load a day)?

Here's my two cents, for what it's worth.

Prep the tomatoes before you even think about heating the PC or the jars. Wash the tomatoes and get all the blanching and peeling done first and have them on standby (no need for them to be heated at this point) in a pot or roaster. That will free up stove space and it also frees up any pots you might have used to blanch and cool the tomatoes.

When you are blanching, if you've got the space, you can take the tomatoes out of the ice water and put them in a bowl or something when they are cooled if you don't want them sitting in water. That way you can do the blanching all at once (in a couple of batches) and you can do the peeling all at once. I've found that it's better and quicker to do everything one step at a time (no matter what it is you're trying to do), instead of trying to do several different steps all at the same time.

Once the tomatoes are prepped, that's when you heat up the PC and jars. And while those are heating, bring the tomatoes up to the correct temperature.

When everything is ready, fill all the jars at the same time, put on lids, and put them in the canner to process.

If you are worried about the jars cooling down too much when you are filling them, you can keep hot water in the jars that haven't been filled yet. Just dump the water out immediately before filling with tomatoes.

Rodney

I guess I should wash everything and put in a large bowl until they're all done, then start blanching?

Probably. You should complete all of one step before moving to the next step. All washed, then all blanched and cooled, then all peeled, etc.

12 lbs. of tomatoes, even 12 lbs of paste types, isn't much. Easily blanched, iced, peeled and ready to go in 30 mins. tops and likely less. Is 12 lbs your average load? Average load is 20-24 lbs. at a time so if you get bigger pans you can double your load done in the same amount of time. Are you trying to do crushed or whole?

I assume it's OK to let them sit in the ice water for a few minutes

They can sit in the iced water for hours if it was needed for some reason.

So all I had to boil them in was my 6qt. I could use the other (8qt?) and use my largest (BWB) to cool in, I do have an insert for the 8qt. But do all the tomatoes have to be submerged or will the steam be enough to peel them?

Sounds like a real equipment problem given your pics of boxes of tomatoes. Try a 16 to 20 qt. stockpot minimum. You can't do much of anything with a 6 or 8 qt pot. Store them during the off-season like we all do. Basements are fine for off-season storing.

I had all the tomatoes blanched and cooled, ready to go before I took 1st jar out of canner, but was peeling them for raw pack a jar at a time,

Have them all blanched, cooled AND peeled before you ever begin filling a jar. If you don't want to use your sinks then buy a couple of cheap big plastic dishpans. DIL only has a single sink so she uses 1 of the 5 gallon Rubbermaid totes $4 each, filled with a couple bags of ice and water and a bucket to hold the peelings. As each tomato is peeled it goes back into the iced water till all are done.

As far as lining up all the jars and filling them, I thought you were supposed to fill 1 at a time and put in canner to keep warm

Yes if it is something that takes a long time to fill each jar like say hard firm foods in big chunks or say green beans - they take a bit longer to fill as you have to do some jiggling and packing - but hot pack tomatoes are like filling jars with slop - pour it in. But a ladle isn't going to cut it. Most hold maybe a cup tops - lots of wasted motion and time. Invest in a couple of Pyrex measuring cups 2 cup size minimum, 4 cup size even better. - dip pour and fill the jar.

Minimum equipment IMO - 1 16-18 qt. stockpot and 1 20-24 qt. stockpot, at least 2 canning funnels, 1 Pyrex 4 cup and 1 2 cup, at least 1 heavy duty SS slotted spoon, and in your case at least one or two 15 qt. plastic dishpans or equivalent.

Dave

PS: some really good tips from Rodney too.

I'd have to weigh 1 of the big pans of tomatoes - a small pan that needed to be done ASAP (last of the wrinkled, a few bad spots) was 8 lbs, I took some picked the other day that weren't so ripe to fill out the 12 lbs (weighed after peeling & coring since I was cutting bad spots out) needed for the Tomato and Squash recipe, but then I only put in 1lb 12 oz of squash (had 2.5 lbs but left 1 whole squash in fridge) b/c it just looked like a lot. Then I was really careful not to put too much squash in any particular jar, which is why I had a little squash left over and had to use the quart of raw packed from the fridge for a 6th quart. If I had used the 4 lbs of squash I'm sure I would have had 7 quarts (full canner load).

And since my BWB is only 10" diameter, I don't normally process more than 8C (about 9 lbs, depending on draining) of tomatoes at a time. In fact, other than some spaghetti sauce in quarts (Topp's), I have pretty much only used tomatoes for salsa. 2011 wasn't a good year b/c it was wet, and 2012 I sold most of my crop. So this is the first year I am finding myself with more tomatoes than I know what to do with, and of course I got the PC this month so can process things like the squash mixture, and in bigger quantities.

I have an 18qt Nesco (that doesn't fit in my sink or DW), 1 canning funnel (plus other regular funnels that can be used for non-chunky stuff), 1C, 2C, 4C and 8C Pyrex measuring cups, a metal strainer-type spoon I scoop the tomatoes out of the blanching water with as well as a Tupperware (heat resistant) slotted spoon that's got a smaller bowl.

I do have a 12 qt plastic dishpan in the basement, I think my stacking baskets are larger but of course they're ventilated ;-) so won't work for chilling. I have 1 huge shallow SS bowl from my great-aunt but I don't think that will work for chilling - will work to heap up washed produce.

I can imagine what a 24qt stockpot looks like - restaurant equipment! How tall is yours (I assume you have one)? I don't even know if I can fit that on my stove with the range hood! Maybe the turkey fryer that we used to steam clams on the side burner of the grill (it has a spigot at the bottom) is that size. But I don't think I want to use that on my glasstop stove, and I'm pretty sure the spigot won't work out even on the front burner. It does have a basket that fits all the way down inside, unlike the pasta insert (?) for my stockpot, so I guess I could use the Presto with that basket for blanching, but then I'd have to wash it out before PCing.

Nope, my kitchen is not equipped or laid out for major food processing (canning or cooking). When we built the house I had no idea I was going to be growing and preserving so much! DH is going crazy with the canners and jars and food-grade buckets and seed starting flats and pots in the basement, and the produce on the kitchen counter, fridge, overflow in the laundry room and basement! Usually the BWB lives on the stove in late summer, now it and PC are alternating and boxes for both are just off the kitchen tile in a corner of the family room.! He does like Annie's salsa though ;-)

Thanks everyone.

My 22 qt is 10" tall and 12" wide - just measured it - fits perfectly on the large burner.

But if you don't want one that big there are 12 and 14 and 16 and 18 qt ones. 6 and 8 qt ones are just very limiting when it comes to canning. And since you have the Pyrex measuring cups at least you can switch to those for filling jars.

You grow a ton of tomatoes to be so limited in canning equipment. Thought about setting up a canning kitchen in the basement to eliminate so many of your problems? Or have room for another freezer someplace?

Dave

Yes, I posted a couple of years ago about setting up a canning kitchen with an old coil stove in the basement but I think I'd still have to use the upstairs kitchen for retail - I don't think state or local health depts would like me canning in basement with no running water and I'd have to finish the kitchen area (at least the ceiling since we have insulation between joists).

Main kitchen has a 9ft center island but my work space is only 5ft - bathroom vanity depth, rest is wrap-around breakfast bar and I do heap tomatoes up on it, cooling rack, but it's meant for the kids to eat bfast, DD does her HW there, etc. It's also hard for me to reach over the dropped counter. So I mainly have 3ft b/t sink and stove, and that 5ft across from the stove, to work in. Other side of sink has dishdrainer (and I keep my lids/bands there, usually a few canning jars or a bucket of fermenting pickles) and MW. Other side of stove only 2ft has canisters, utensil crock, and in front a tile hotplate that I keep my 8C Pyrex and jar lifter on during season.

DH asked if I wanted to get an old fridge to put in basement for harvest time - I may take him up on it. We have a chest freezer, just bought a couple of years ago to supplement the bottom freezer in kitchen French-door fridge and the 5cf upright freezer we already had (now 15 yrs old).

And this year wasn't a great year for tomatoes - last year was better, I'm just lucky I sold most of them (was wholesaling some as well as selling at market) b/c I didn't have time for canning!

I do have the 12 qt stockpot I bought as a BWB (and it has cooked turkey stock a few times - I use the one from my set for chickens).

The turkey fryer/clam steamer is 12" D, 15.5" tall and would fit under the range hood (24" above surface) but it would be hard to get the basket in and out. Plus it's Al, not sandwich bottom, not flat bottom. I have a 9" burner. Not going to work. But the 23qt Presto (Duh! forgot that was the size - still can't imagine having another pot that size) has the disk on the bottom and basket should fit so I guess next time I have a bunch of tomatoes I can blanch them in that with the clam basket, just have to wash it out b4 PCing so maybe do blanching and peeling 1 day, cooking & canning the next? Just have to find room in fridge (or keep the tomatoes on ice in a cooler overnight?).

I really respect your organizational skills if you can a ton (or more) of tomatoes each year without a commercial kitchen (and assistants).

I don't use anything larger than my 22 qt PC, but I do use my sink (after giving a good scrub, just to be sure). You need a big stock pot, anything smaller than 12-16 qt is a waste (plus it should fit inside of your PC for storage, mine does).

Hubby sits away from stove/sink in the dining room area of open kitchen, prepping. Then the tomatoes goes into stockpot hot water, we dip hot tomatoes out into ice cream buckets, take 3-4 steps to sink, dump in as cold of water as can come out of tap. While I'm peeling them, there is another stock pot heating more tomatoes. My tomatoes usually are in the water longer than the 30 seconds, but doesn't cause any problems. I peel in one side of sink and have a huge colander (I wish I knew where I bought them). Peeled tomatoes go into the colander (I don't ice them down, maybe I should). As soon as that colander is full, I fill the jars (the colander will hold about 5-7 qts of tomatoes. Of course this is just tomatoes, nothing else.

I have the stockpot on one burner and the PC/BWB on other big burner. As soon as I have 7 qts ready, they go into processing pot. then I set the timer, either for warm up or BWB time. This goes on for anywhere from 3 hrs to 15 hrs, until we are done for the day.

When we can, it is a operation that we have nailed down.