Canning Jar Count from Produce Calculator
How many jars will your harvest fill, or how much produce do you need? USDA / NCHFP canning yields for 25 fruits, vegetables, tomato products, pickles and jam in quart, pint and half-pint jars, with canner loads, bushels, jars and lids to buy, lemon juice for tomatoes and light syrup for fruit.
How it works
Jars = produce weight ÷ weight per jar (USDA / NCHFP: average pounds per 7-quart canner load ÷ 7, or per 9-pint load ÷ 9; half-pints = half a pint), rounded up · Produce needed = jars × weight per jar · Canner loads = jars ÷ jars per load · Bushels = weight ÷ bushel weight · Lemon juice for tomatoes = 2 tbsp per quart, 1 tbsp per pint
Knowing how many jars a batch of produce will fill saves you from a half-empty canner or a scramble for more lids mid-session. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (USDA Complete Guide) gives an average weight of fresh produce for a full canner load of 7 quarts or 9 pints of each food, and those averages drive this calculator: about 3 lb of tomatoes per quart packed whole, 2¾ to 3 lb for crushed tomatoes, 5 to 6½ lb for sauce that is cooked down, 2½ lb for peaches and 2 lb for green beans. A pint is not always exactly half a quart, because jars pack differently, so pints use the 9-pint figure. Work either way: enter the weight you have to get the jars, or the jars you want to get the weight to buy, with canner loads, bushels and the extras the recipes need. Salsa, pickles and jam follow tested recipes rather than the canner-load tables, so treat those as estimates. Weights are as bought, before peeling and trimming. Ripeness, variety and packing move the real yield, so prepare a little extra and keep a couple of spare sterilised jars and new lids ready.
Worked example
You have 20 lb of tomatoes to can whole or halved, which takes about 3 lb per quart (21 lb per 7-quart canner load). That is 20 ÷ 3 ≈ 6.7 quarts, so plan on 7 quart jars, one canner load, and buy 8 with a spare. Add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice to each quart, 14 in all. In pint jars it would be 20 ÷ 1.44 ≈ 14 pints. Going the other way, two canner loads of 9 pints of green beans need 18 × 1 = 18 lb of beans.
Sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation — How do I can? · Clemson HGIC — preserving apples (USDA canner-load quantities) · UC ANR — canning tomatoes (USDA canner-load quantities) · NCHFP — quick fresh-pack dill pickles · NCHFP — strawberry jam with powdered pectin
Frequently asked questions
How many pounds of tomatoes make a quart?
About 3 pounds packed whole or halved, a little over 3 pounds crushed, about 3¼ pounds for juice and 5 to 6½ pounds for sauce, depending on how thick you cook it. A 53-pound bushel gives 15 to 21 quarts of whole tomatoes.
Why do the pounds per jar vary so much?
Cooked, reduced products like applesauce, tomato sauce and jam lose water and volume, so they need more raw produce per jar. Corn and peas are weighed in the husk or pod, so most of the weight never reaches the jar. Pack-and-brine items like pickles and beans fill a jar with less weight.
How many jars fit in a canner?
A standard canner holds 7 quart jars or about 9 pint jars in one layer. Many pressure canners hold more pints or half-pints stacked two layers deep. Set your own number under More options.
How much produce do I need for a full canner load?
Choose “Produce for my jars” and enter 7 quarts or 9 pints. For example, 7 quarts of peaches need about 17½ lb and 9 pints of green beans about 9 lb.
Should I prepare extra produce?
Yes. Ripeness, trimming waste, packing tightness and how far you reduce a sauce all shift the real yield, so prepare a little extra and keep a spare sterilised jar and lid on hand.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.