Experienced canner here, but I always like to doublecheck when I'm doing something I haven't done before.

For the first time, I'm having to make all my tomato based products using canned tomatoes. Happily, at the same time the tomato crop failed, I came into a bonanza of Red Pack crushed tomatoes in the giant #10 cans for next to nothing.

These canned tomatoes are "Crushed / Concentrated Extra Heavy". They're not as thick as tomato paste, and are still pourable, but are far thicker than what the fresh tomatoes I put though the mill would be. They're like what you would hope a really rich pasta sauce would be.

For some of my canning, I like using Mrs. Wages mixes (which have citric acid in them fwiw). They offer the option of using 10 cups of drained canned tomatoes, which you boil, simmer for 25, wb for 40, sit for 5. Standard. But there's nothing to drain with these, and in fact, they are so thick, that if you boil, then simmer for 25, they'll just spit up like a lava eruption. I ended up watering down a batch, at the ratio of 8 cups of crushed tomatoes to 2 cups of water, and they're still really thick. And because I added the water, I also added 1 tbs of bottled lemon juice to each pint.

How much can I water these crushed tomatoes down?

Is the tbs of lemon juice necessary since I'm adding water (I don't normally add water or lemon because of the citric acid in the mix)?

Your feedback appreciated!