I don't know if this is the official "right" answer, but here's what I do. . . 2 or 3 hours after I take anything out of the canner, I check the seal by gently touching the middle of the lid. If there is any give, I know that that jar has not sealed. So I take my sharpie and put a little dot on the lid. The next night (I do all my canning in the evening), when I take off my rings and wash my jars, any jar that has a dot on the lid, I check those jars extra carefully for the seal. Anecdotaly I have found that if a jar doesn't seal within an hour or 2, most likely it isn't going to seal. Based on the system I use, I would feel comfortable letting my jars sit an extra day or 2 before removing rings, washing and putting away for storage.

Carol, I agree. I would truly leave out that oil. Yes, you would still add the bottled lemon juice since you are adding other ingredients. I think that much garlic is too much, also. This one has 20 lb. of tomatoes and only 8 cloves of garlic. Plus, only 1 T. of oil. Canning your own recipes is not suggested due to safety issues, it can put you at a risk for botulism. I would not can what you are telling us, but freeze it instead. I think it is best if you stick with the recipe from Ball Blue book that has basil in it if you wish to can one . Basil-Garlic Tomato Sauce Ingredients 20 pounds tomatoes 1 cup chopped onion 8 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 cup finely minced fresh basil Bottled lemon juice Instructions Prepare Ball® or Kerr® jars and closures according to instructions found in Canning Basics. Wash tomatoes; drain. Remove core and quarter tomatoes; set aside. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. Add tomatoes. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put tomato mixture through a food mill or strainer to remove seeds and peel. Combine tomato purée and basil in a large saucepot. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced by one-half, stirring to prevent sticking. Add 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice to each pint jar. Carefully ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rim and threads of jar with a clean damp cloth. Place lid on jar with sealing compound next to glass. Screw band down evenly and firmly just until a point of resistance is met-fingertip tight. Process 35 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 7 pints. For altitude adjustment increase processing as indicated below: 1,001-- 3,000 ft.....5 minutes 3,001-- 6,000 ft...10 minutes 6,001-- 8,000 ft...15 minutes 8,001- 10,000 ft...20 minutes Nutrition Information Per 1/2 Cup Serving: Calories 73 Protein 3g Carbohydrate 15g Fat 1.5g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 28mg Potassium 702mg % USRDA: Protein 6% Vitamin A 21% Vitamin C 102% Thiamin 12% Riboflavin 9% Niacin 10% Calcium 2% Iron 8%

Katy it is normal for the juice to separate. It is due to the enzymes in the fresh tomatoes and for the most part it cannot be prevented. It can be reduced by cooking the tomatoes before processing them into juice but you will still get some. You'll find this discussed in greater detail over on the canning and food preserving forum. It is linked at the top of this forum's front page - just click on Harvest. Dave

I would only do tomatoes in pressure cooker. A nice diner in Nashville Tn, 1961 served home canned food to a group & they all raved how great the food was. Several died & this time it was the canned green beans that killed them, so delicious taste doesn't mean a thing, Botulism will likely kill you. Several of these people were in the medical profession so they thought the food was wonderful as there is no "taste" to botulism, some survived but I didn't find out how they came out. All vegetables & meats need to be pressure cooked at the exact minutes recipe states, don't ever cut it back as it takes that long to kill botulism. Some lemons are not very acid. I had a Meyer Lemon tree & the lemons made awful lemon pie, no taste at all, no acid so ruined recipes, so wouldn't count on lemons being acid enough. Not worth your family's lives!