<Can I process them in my pressure cooker?>

No the processing times would be invalid as small pressure cookers heat up and cool down too fast. Plus half pints would still have to be processed for the pint time which would make them even mushier.

But tomatoes do not have to be canned in a pressure canner. They can be done in a boiling water bath so why do you want to pressure can them?

<Also, why do my tomatoes seem to turn into tomato water. I would like whole tomatoes.>

I can't say because I don't know which canning process you are using but there is no reason I know of that would turn whole tomatoes, properly canned, into "tomato water" unless they are being way over-processed or were exceptionally over-ripe to begin with. What variety are you using and how do you prepare them? Do you use Hor pack or Raw Pack methods?

So what set of instructions are you using to can your tomatoes? NCHFP instructions for canning whole tomatoes offer the options for canning them in water, in tomato juice, or with no added liquid.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can3_tomato.html

Dave

PS: - yes many freeze their tomatoes whole to wait on canning them until cooler weather or until they have enough to do a big batch at one time. Freezing also makes them easy to peel but they will be softer when thawed.

digdirt2--Thanks for answering all of my questions. It has been awhile since I canned tomatoes. My husband and I used to can together. We enjoyed it.We had a big garden then and I usually put them in a water bath. Maybe they were over-processed, but I bet it was because I dipped them in boiling water and they were pretty well "squished" by the time they were put in the cans. I remember it seemed like the bulk tomatoes sank to the bottom, and the rest of it was "tomato water". Anyway a dear friend always used her pressure cooker to can. I thought that would short cut the overall handling. Guess not. BTW, she's still alive. So nice of you to answer. Thank you. I have some Cherokee Purple tomatoes that I will just bag up and put in the freezer. Not a big batch. Barb

Unfortunately there are a lot of folks out there who don't understand the differences between a canner and a cooker and why those differences can be important. Then there are those who call them 'cookers' when they really are big enough to be a canner and vice versa. So the labels can be confusing. So maybe what she had was in fact a pressure canner.

But if you want to use our canner and it is a weighted model and you still want to use the 1/2 pints then you can do them for 15 mins @5 lbs assuming you are under 1000 feet altitude. They would probably be a better texture than doing them for 40 min in a BWB canner.

Dave