1. Yes.
2. Normal

Congrats!!

Save that juice and drink it or use for soup base when you open them up!!

Deanna

tucker, well done on the first-time canning!

As Deanna says, neither of those things is anything to worry about. MORE lemon is OK, just don't use LESS than recommended. And sometimes the juice separates. You can shake it back up when you open it, or leave it separate and use it for something yummy as Deanna suggests.

They say that you can help prevent the separating if you are canning tomato quarters by crushing the first few as soon as they are in the pot, then cutting the others right into the pot so they aren't exposed to air for long. Something about the enzyme that causes the separation.

But it's not harmful, and your home-canned toms will taste GREAT. Especailly when you take 'em off the shelf and open 'em in midwinter --- like summer in a jar....

Zabby

Thank you! Just the first time 'mater jitters.

If you wanting a canned tomato that shows less seperation of water, a good choice is to use several plum tomato varieties. These tend to have more meat and less liquid. I like to scoop out the liquiid and seeds when I pass them through my Villaware strainer. In this way, they are a sauce already, and have very little water seperation after canning.