My wife and I are about to do some tomato canning tomorrow. We have a bunch of mason jars that we didn't have time to sterilize.  She thinks that just washing them in hot water is enough. After searching around all instructions require boiling.  What is the bare minimum necessary? 
Before filling the jars, you should do the following:    Place the jars (right-side-up) on a rack inside a boiling-water canner   Fill the canner and jars with water to one inch above the jars   Boil for 10 min (or more for higher elevations)   Remove and drain the jars, one at a time    I toss the lids and rings in there as well, since the lids seal best when the rubbery-stuff is softened first anyway.   I have read that some people use their dishwasher's "sanitize" cycle instead, but you should contact the manufacturer (or check the user's guide) to see if it really gets hot enough. I don't know much about using the dishwasher for this purpose; perhaps someone else can elaborate.   If you're looking for great canning instructions, check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They will explain how to can safely, botulism-death-free.  