Canning Fruit, Jam and Tomato Sauce
High-acid foods go in a boiling water canner for a USDA-tested time. Low-acid vegetables and meat need a pressure canner.
The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, the National Center for Home Food Preservation and your state extension service publish tested times. Use them as written, including the elevation adjustment.
Boiling water canning for fruit
Hot pack, 1/2 inch headspace, 0 to 1,000 ft:
- Peaches, pears, plums: pints 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes.
- Apple slices: pints or quarts 20 minutes.
- Elevation: add 5 minutes at 1,001 to 3,000 ft, 10 minutes at 3,001 to 6,000 ft and 15 minutes above 6,000 ft.
Keep 1 inch of water over the jars at a full boil and start timing once it boils. To stop peaches, pears and apples darkening, hold the cut fruit in an ascorbic acid solution while you work.
Tomatoes and tomato sauce
Add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid per pint, double for quarts, to every jar of tomatoes. Tomato sauce and puree process 35 minutes for pints and 40 for quarts at low elevation. See our tomato passata guide.
Jam and jelly
Fill hot into sterilized jars with 1/4 inch headspace and process 5 minutes up to 1,000 ft, 10 minutes up to 6,000 ft. Do not use paraffin. More in the jam guide.
Pickles and relish
Use vinegar of 5% acidity, keep the recipe's vinegar to water ratio, and process the jars. See pickling.
Low-acid foods
Green beans, corn, potatoes, squash, meat and stock need a pressure canner; there is no safe boiling water time. See pressure canning.
Sources we checked (October 2026): USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015) through the National Center for Home Food Preservation: Peaches, Pears, Plums, Apples (sliced), Tomato acidification, Tomato Juice, General Information on Jams and Jellies, Using Boiling Water Canners.
Common questions
No. USDA says jars for foods processed 10 minutes or longer in a boiling water canner do not need presterilizing. Jams processed for 5 minutes do.
A boiling water canner reaches 212°F and is for high-acid foods. A pressure canner reaches 240°F and is required for low-acid foods such as green beans and meat.
Use it within a year for best quality, stored between 50 and 70°F. Discard any jar with a bulging lid, spurting liquid, off odor or mold.
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