Tomorrow is the first day of September, and with it comes all those traditional end-of-summer events, including tomato canning season (at least here in the mid-Atlantic where I live). Because the yearly tomato glut is finally beginning to arrive, I’ve been getting a number of questions about how to safely can tomatoes.
The most frequent question I get is from people wondering if they can boiling water bath process their favorite spaghetti sauce recipe. You know, the kind that has plenty of garlic, onions, basil, olive oil and sometimes even a few peppers.
Sadly, I always end up delivering disappointing news. You really can’t just can your family recipe. Anything canned in a boiling water bath needs to be high acid (for the science minded types, this means that it has to have a pH of 4.5 or below). This is because botulism cannot grow in high acid environments. However, tomatoes are in the grey zone, typically having a pH right around 4.5. Because of this, tomatoes need to be acidified when canned, so that the acid levels are pushed into the safe zone and the pH becomes something lower than 4.5. That’s why my instructions (and all other good ones you’ll find) for canning whole tomatoes includes two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice per jar (you can also use citric acid if you prefer).
When you make spaghetti sauce, one typically adds a slew of ingredients that, while delicious, lower the acid to seriously unsafe levels. Unless your family spaghetti sauce recipe contains several cups of red wine vinegar, it will be too low in acid to be canned in a boiling water bath.
Most canning information will repeatedly remind you that it’s incredibly important to follow tested recipes. While I will occasionally play around a bit with jams and pickles (and I only do this because I know which aspects can’t be monkeyed with), even I never deviate when it comes to acidifying my tomatoes. I always follow the instructions in either the Ball Blue Book or So Easy to Preserve when I want to preserve tomato sauce, soup and salsas.
The one caveat I have to offer is that if you have a pressure canner, you may be able to preserve your beloved sauce recipe (just so you know, any recipe that includes meat MUST be pressure canned). Pressure canners raise the internal temperature of your jars to temperatures in the neighborhood of 240 degrees, which is high enough to kill off any botulism spores that may exist in your food. However, you should still consult recipes that have been tested using a pressure canner to determine processing time and pressure.
The good news here is that there are plenty of safe, tested tomato recipes that are designed for canning. Let’s hear about your favorites!
Hi –
in regards to the pH – pH scale runs from 1 to 14. Low pH is acidic, which is below 7. pH 7 is considered neutral.
pH greater than 7 is alkaline or basic.
So, your statement: ” When you make spaghetti sauce, one typically adds a slew of ingredients that, while delicious, lower the acid to seriously unsafe levels.” need to read:
When you make spaghetti sauce, one typically adds a slew of ingredients that, while delicious, RAISES the pH seriously unsafe levels.
happy canning!
Susan, we’re actually both right. When you lower the acid levels, you’re also raising the pH level. It can be said both ways.
Susan, she said absolutely nothing wrong. lowering the acid level = lowering the acidity = raising the pH. Acidity is based on protons, mainly a free hydrogen ion. When you lower the amount of free hydrogen you lower the acid level (thus raising the pH)
Hi again, So I ventured into the canning world and bought my first Bernardine Starter Kit! Now I am of Italian heritage and I remember all of my relatives lining up their tomatoes down the driveways and garages every September but alas I was too young to help or remember. All of the aunts and my grandmother got together and made a weekend of it. I don’t remember them including garlic, but I do remember eating canned tomatoes as the base for the sugo (sauce) all winter long. They put basil leave in there. Is this safe? I want to do the traditional way of adding salt, tomatoes, basil, but would I also need to put in lemon juice or vinegar to make the pH level safe?
I also have some Serrano peppers, ONE Ghost pepper and 5 habanero and wanted to make a killer (not botulism!) hot sauce. I have learned from reading up on canning and safety that I sadly cannot make an infused hot pepper olive oil and we would not use it quick enough in our family to even justify making it for the refrigerator. I can’t find a recipe for this and I really only want to make one small jar that came with the canning kit.
Do you have any suggestions on the hot pepper sauce? Also, since you’ve been doing this for quite a while and know what you can adjust and cannot, are there any suggestions you can send this way to a newbie? Thanks, and your site is fantastic!
Just wanted to come back here to add that I found the Ball Tomato-basil-garlic recipe and I think I’m going to use that one. It looks most like the ones I grew up on. 🙂
Is it possible to test the ph of a sauce at home?
hi again I would really love an answer to my question, waiting with “baited breath!” #145 above
Kate MCCracken says:
August 15, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Hi Marisa i bought your book and i love it! i made the Tomato Jam, but am now a little concerned about the acidity after reading this long post. is it okay because of the lime juice? Also i cooked it down for about 3 hours, would the lime juice have evaporated along with some of the moisture? i used fresh juice in the first batch, and bottled in the second. this is one of the most delicious recipes i have ever made with our heirloom tomatoes and would hate to dump it! any advice would be appreciated!
Kate
The lime juice elevates the acidity and makes this recipe safe for boiling water bath canning. What’s more, there are no ingredients added to the tomato jam that lower its acidity and acid levels don’t decrease radically due to cooking. Yes, you’re evaporating out the moisture, but the acid remains.
thanks!!
You can ,can your homemade sauce, minus meat, that’s only done is a pressure canner, if you raise the acidity level. You do this by adding 1 teasp of Lemon or Lime juice to each pint, or 2 teasp. to each quart.
When you are adding the lime or lemon juice do you add it to the total amount of sauce while still in the pot or to each container as you are placing it in the jar
I make tomato sauce and seal it in pint jars. Cook the cut up tomatoes and ingrediants in the oven in a roaster pan at 375 degrees for 3 hours. Run the mixture through my blender. Put the blended mixture in my stainless steel pot with the top on, and heat it up to the boiling point on the stove top. I put my pint jars in my kitchen sink with the stoper in in the drain. Pour a huge pot of boiling water over the jars so the jars are up to the brim in hot water. take a jar out with a pair of tongs, and pour some of the hot water over my jar seal. Empty the rest of the of water back into the sink. Ladel the hot mixture of tomato sauce in a pint jar until it’s almost full. Slap on the seal lid that I just pour hot water over then put on the ring and tighten it down as tight as I can get it. Let my hot jars cool slowiy covered in with bath towels. Later tighten the rings on the jars a bit more. No hot water bath for the filled jars, and I’ve eaten my sauce that’s over a year old and not a single jar was spoiled.
This is not a safe technique.
My family and I have canned tomatoes and sauces for years with 100% success . Peel and core tomatoes, quarter etc and in 22 qt pot cook with 1 tsp salt per qt of tomatoes, bring to big boil and cook for 10 min. Put jars and lids in dishwasher at hottest cycle. Fill and seal right out boiling pot. No water bath required. Remember you are going to bring this back to boil when adding to Chili-Pasta-soups etc.
I want to can my homemade spaghetti sauce but want to use canned tomatoes and tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes, can I do that or will they spoil because of not using fresh tomatoes?
You can do it, but you still need to follow a recipe that’s been designed for boiling water bath canning.
I have to admit I’m a little confused too. My question is similar to a few of these, can I make spaghetti sauce using canned tomatoes, tomatoes sauce, peppers, garlic and Italian seasonings and can it using a water bath? If I do this would I have to add lemon juice or citric acid and which should I use to least alter the flavor of the sauce? Thank you so much!
I never water bath anything anymore…..I cannot lift all that water anymore (getting old!). I pressure can all my foods now…even tomatoes. I also just add a little lemon juice to the tomatoes to raise the acid although I don’t think I need to if I pressure can! 🙂
Are you sitting down people?. Here’s what I did last year. Harvested my garden of tomatoes. A few different heirloom varieties. Cut out bad spots, threw them in my vitamix, skins, seeds, everything. Boiled on stove for a couple of hours till reduced about a third. Boiled my jars and tops for two minutes, put the sauce in the jars, put on the tops, tightened them. Left on counter to make sure the tops popped down. Put on shelf in basement. I put away 17 quarts, we have eaten all but four. I am here and healthy to tell the tail. I will say though, the hubby and I are processing some right now and they are going in a water bath. Ignorance is bliss, that water bath stuff is a pain.
I mean tale. Oh BTW I keep my eggs on the counter too.
I do the same thing with all my jams and jellies! (GASP)
The Italians did exactly what you did but they put the jars in a box and covered the box with a few thick towels to keep the heat in for a few days. I don’t water bath anymore…the water is way too heavy for me to lift and besides is dangerous. I pressure can everything now. Much easier…quicker and safer. 🙂
Hi Marisa i bought your book and i love it! i made the Tomato Jam, but am now a little concerned about the acidity after reading this long post. is it okay because of the lime juice? Also i cooked it down for about 3 hours, would the lime juice have evaporated along with some of the moisture? i used fresh juice in the first batch, and bottled in the second. this is one of the most delicious recipes i have ever made with our heirloom tomatoes and would hate to dump it! any advice would be appreciated!
Kate
I’m new to canning. I wanted to can homemade meals like vegetarian curries, stews, soups, dahls etc. Can I safely pressure can meals like this, which made to my own recipe with the pressure canner.
Sonya, I’m not a pressure canning expert, but from what I understand, you can’t just pressure can your own inventions. I’d recommend heading over to the National Center for Home Food Preservation website and reading up on their pressure canning guidelines.
I took a look at the National Center for Home Food preservation link that you listed in a previous comment, and found this:
If a procedure from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning for canning tomatoes offers both boiling water and pressure canning options, all steps in the preparation (“Procedure”) are still required even if the pressure processing option is chosen. This includes acidification.
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_intro.html
I couldn’t find anything that said that pressure canning was fine for canning any custom spaghetti sauce recipe. In fact, in the spaghetti sauce recipe, which lists pressure canning times, it says:
Caution: Do not increase the proportion of onions, peppers, or mushrooms.
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html
I’m wondering if you can give me a link or tell me where I can find information on pressure canning allowing you to use whatever custom spaghetti sauce you want without having to add lemon juice or vinegar for acidification?
Thank you in advance for helping ease the mind of a new canner. 🙂
Beth, in the time since I wrote this post, it seems that the NCHFP has tightened their standards. Since I’m sure there was a reason for the tightening, I’d recommend that you follow the instructions found on their website.
I pressure canned some spaghetti sauce last night with meat in it. Based on my knowledge it should be okay regardless on my recipe because I pressure canned it for 75mins at 10 psi.
I allowed my canners to sit over night with out disturbing them, this morning when I opened my canners there was sauce inside floating around on the water. Not a lot but it’s there. My jars are sealed, my sauce looks fine. I’m not sure however what I did that would have caused the sauce to leak out and also I’m worried now if my sauce really is FINE…. sometimes I get too paranoid for my own good about killing family with food.
Thanks for reading any feedback would be appreciated.
K
You told Kelly (Question 137) that if using a pressure canner that the recipe doesn’t matter. Does this mean I can can my own spaghetti sauce recipe? Even if I make it with pre-canned crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. I am so confused at this point that I am ready to give up on this can my own recipe idea. Take back the canner and pretend this never happened.
I made my own sauce but the only fresh item I used was 2T basil. the rest were all canned (paste or dried garlic and onion spices). are they safe to water boil or should I start planning a lot of pasta this week?
Jen, if you didn’t follow a tested recipe, the sauce is suspect. And just because you use already-canned products doesn’t mean that they are safe and appropriate for recanning.
This stuff is so confusing! I hope you’re still answering replies on such an old post. You can’t water can tomato sauce, but how about pressure canning? And how do you know the time and pressure to use? One of your comments on here said it was ok, but other websites say don’t even pressure can tomato sauce. I found a recipe for a basic tomato sauce on Bell’s website, so I would assume that is safe, but you are allowed to add any dried herbs you want. All I’ve read makes it sound like you have to follow recipes exactly, but this one changes from person to person. How do I reconcile all this conflicting information?
http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipe.aspx?r=268
I am new at this. I have been told that I make a killer spaghetti sauce. The ingredients are onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, dry Italian seasoning, bay leaf, oregano, parsley, sugar, parmesean cheese, can tomato paste, diced tomato, and crushed tomato. Can I can this in a pressure canner or not? I would love to make up a mess of it and put it on the shelf to use but don’t want to kill anybody. Right now I freeze it in bunches but would like to can it if I can.
Thanks.
Marisa,
I’m planning my garden for the spring and what foods I’m wanting to put up and recipes I want to use. I grew up canning with my mom and while we stopped canning in the last 10 years I am planning to take it up again. We always used both water bath or pressure cooker when called for.
I have been doing a lot of research about what recipes are safe and that old canning books may not be safe to use anymore. Also, about using untested recipes. My mom and I used to prepare different sauces and not all recipes were tested. However, for those untested recipes she always used the pressure cooker. Unfortunately my mom has now passed on and I am looking for advice. Can I still use our old sauce recipes as long as they are processed in a pressure cooker? What about untested recipes in the pressure cooker?
Kelly, if you process your jars in a pressure canner, you can follow nearly any recipe you want, because issues of acid balance go out the window once pressure is applied. The deal is that you either have to inhibit the potential botulism growth with ample acid or you have to kill the botulism spores entirely by raising the temperature up above 240 degrees F.
made a rawish ketchup using tomato paste, raw onions and apple cider vinegar, salt honey … water bathed for 15 minutes is this safe… seals are all good
Mike, I can’t judge from an ingredient list whether a recipe is safe for canning or not. So sorry!
Can I can tomatoe sauce with meat if I don’t add any water generally speaking? Or should I add some lemon juice or vinegar, I was also thinking wine? Thanks
Anything that includes meat must be canned in a pressure canner, not a boiling water bath canner. There’s no way to add enough acid to products that include meat to make them safe.
You can pressure can anything. Whether you want to is a matter of taste. Some stuff goes to mush, but tastes ok – not like fresh though.
For tomato sauce go by the pressure canner booklet, choosing the contents with the longest time and highest pressure.
I gave up the water bath as soon as I got my pressure canner. The taste and test was canned fish (trout). No longer do I have lemon trout in a jar. I fish and need a way to save my catch for later in the year, other than freezing, or smoking. It turns out like really good tinned salmon (wild of course).
Happened on this site by accident. Decent information and cautions for the novice, and reminders for the more experienced (aka old).
When in doubt go with what the manufacturers recommend in their handbooks. If you lost them, they are always available on the net, or with a toll free call.
Get a pressure cooker/canner that has the capability of 15 lbs, but has the handy 10lbs setting as well.
Good luck.
DBJ
I am new to canning and had a few questions….why can’t I pressure can my spaghetti sauce recipe and have to use a canning recipe? Can I pressure can my non tomato based bean, veggie, turkey, vegetable soup? Can I can my chili which is tomoto based with italian sausage and ground beef?
I am new to canning and had a few questions….why can’t I pressure can my spaghetti sauce recipe and have to use a canning recipe? Can I pressure can my non tomatoe based bean, veggie, turkey, vegetable soup? Can I can my chili which is tomotoe based with italian sausage and ground beef?
Good stuff, however disappointing. Recently spent a good deal of time making marinara sauce which I canned.
Other than the 1/2 cup of red wine and 6 lbs of tomatoes I don’t think anything else added acidity. Is there a way to test the acidity if I were to crack open one of the jars? I don’t know that litmus paper would work since the color would probably be red regardlessof the acidity 🙂 . Also used a water bath for 25 minutes and we live at about 3000 feet. This was the time recommended for some salsa we made which followed a Ball recipe exactly, however that recipe included 2/3 cup cider vinegar.
Thank you so much! Guess what I will be doing on my day off tomorrow?
I made ketchup today using Mrs. Wages mix and canned 5 pints. The mix called for 6lbs of tomatoes, 1 6oz can of tomato paste, 1 cup of vinegar, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the mix.
I boiled the tomatoes as directed, strained them and then added the vinegar and tomato paste and brought to a boil again. I tasted it at this point (without adding the sugar and mix yet) and it was very good! I thought it would make a good tomato soup if I added a little sugar. What do you think? Could I just use the tomatoes, vinegar, tomato paste, and some sugar and then water bath for 40 minutes like the ketchup? What if I added a bag of frozen vegetables- would this throw things off too much? I don’t have a pressure cooker.
Deanna, I’m not sure that you can safely can the tomatoes at this juncture. I’m fairly certain that the Mrs. Wages mix contains citric acid to ensure that the tomatoes have a safe acidity level. Without it, it may not be safe for canning. And please do not add frozen vegetables to it, they will lower the acidity level below safe levels.
Thank you Marissa. I just dug the package out of the trash and the ingredients are- modified food starch, salt, onion, xanthan gum, cayenne, garlic, spices.
Since there is no mention of citric acid do you think the 1 cup of vinegar is replacing that?
Deanna, since there’s no citric acid in the packet, you could can the tomato sauce as-is, provided that you don’t add anything extra.
Marisa, I’m a first-time canner, and I’m so glad I found your blog! After an unbearably long, hot, summer, my patio grown roma tomatoes FINALLY started bearing this month! I have a couple pounds of toms that I’d like to can into organic sauce. I’m fine with adding some lemon juice (I had seen it included in a recipe and wondered why), but I have a few questions. 1) Do I add the juice to the recipe or to each jar? 2) I’m canning for myself and my son, and want to use 1/2pt jars. How much lemon juice per 1/2pt jar? 3) Will I need to add sugar to the recipe to compensate for the higher acidity? 4) I found an intriguing recipe on allrecipes.com that includes ricotta cheese. Can I can that? Also, someone who heard I was trying my hand at canning “generously” gave me a large box of overripe pears. Will they be any good as a jam? Any other suggestions for them? I’m looking forward to your advice-my toms are a’ waitin’!
1. You add the lemon juice to each jar (please make sure that you’re using bottled lemon juice because of its consistent acidity. Whole Foods has a couple very good organic brands). Doing it that way ensures that you get the proper amount in each jar.
2. The rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon per pint jar. Three teaspoons equal one tablespoon, so if you plan on canning your tomato sauce in 1/2 pint jars, you use 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice per jar.
3. You should be using a tested recipe for your sauce, which will instruct you whether or not to add sugar to compensate. Please do not make up your own sauce recipe, because you will not know if it is safe.
4. DO NOT add ricotta cheese to sauce that you intend on canning. It is not safe to can dairy products and you will end up with an unsafe sauce.
I have several pear jam recipes on this site. Please check the recipe page, they’re all listed there.
Thanks for the quick reply. I will check out your pear recipes when I’m done here. But I guess I’m back to square one on the tomato sauce. I’m going to weigh my tomatoes, then search your recipes for a sauce that I can reduce the batch size on. Looking at my dinky 1/2pt jars and my strapping teenager, I think I’ll use pint jars for 1 meal serving sizes.
Should I just resign myself to freezing a pasta sauce made from this year’s small batch of romas, and know to plant more tomatoes next year, now that I know how resilient they are? I’m definitely going to make your cinnamon pear jam! What are your thoughts on using brown sugar? I think it’s such a great pairing for cinnamon.
How long of a shelf do i have if my PH levels in my home made Veggie Marinara tomato sauce? the levels are 4.16 Brix is 8 and my Bolognese (meat) sauce is 4.56. Brix of 10 i would appreciate you help thank you. Emilie
Emilie, the pH of a product doesn’t have any bearing on shelf life. If the pH is 4.6 or under, then it is safe for boiling water bath canning and safe to be stored indefinitely (though for best quality, use within one year). If the pH is above 4.6, it’s not safe to be stored for any length of time on the shelf if it hasn’t been pressure canned.
green pickled tomatoes with sliced onion and small amount peppers (color).
Followed recipe but only water bathed to neck of jars. Boiled 15 minutes covered dome lid, rolling boil.
Pickles or poison now?
Can I re-can it has been a week? OR dump out?
First time canning.
Did the jars seal? If so, they are probably fine. Because it’s a high acid product, if it does go bad, it won’t spoil in a way that could harm you. It will just go bad.
I canned up some bread and butter green tomatoes last week. Followed recipe exactly vinegar spice bring to a boil, pour over sliced tomatoes, onions and a few red peppers for color. It was my first experience with canning. I only filled the pot to the bands on the neck of the jars and boiled covered for 15 minutes. Question: Did I make pickles or poison? Can they be reprocessed correctly a week later?
If your recipe involved vinegar as the sole or major liquid, your recipe is probably safe. Pickled vegetables in general are safe to water bath – remember that we are striving for acidic conditions.
Hello everyone,
I just came across this site, and there is so much great information about canning. I am relatively new to canning — just put up my first strawberry and blueberry jams this summer.
I experiment with and develop my own recipes, and it would be incredibly helpful for me to know a reliable way to test if my recipe is safe for boiling water method canning (the average home cook is much more likely to have the necessary tools for this method versus pressure canning). Seems like a pH strip would do the trick. If I am pickling items in a solution/brine that is pH 4.6 or lower, can I be confident that it is safe? (Alternatively, would a puree of the item to be canned be the (only?) way to ensure the pH is low enough?).
I have been wondering if it is safe to using boiling water method to can pickles, which I think is likely to be safe since pickles are acidic. I also developed a recipe for a chile pepper and vinegar hot sauce that contains no liquid except for white vinegar, so it seems like a strong candidate to be safe for boiling water method as well: http://revelkitchen.com/2012/10/01/recipe-sriracha-inspired-fresh-chile-garlic-sauce/
Your input would be so very helpful.
Thanks,
Jennifer
There must be a way to measure the pH of tomatoes.
I was just on a Univ. of Wisconsin website the other day that talked about measuring food pH. It may have been http://www.foodsafety.wisc.edu/assets/preservation/uwex_addacidtomatoes.pdf but for some reason my browser is not opening that one today (pdf). What they did say was that pH measurement using paper strips is not accurate enough for values above I think it was 4.0. So in the range of tomatoes you do need to use a pH meter– can your tomatoes, open one can, cool, puree and measure. (from memory– please look it up) They showed different places to buy meters– Edmund Scientific sells one for $35-$40 (plus the buffers) and the others were all much more. Make sure to calibrate your meter above and below the region you are measuring.
Wonder of one of those pool kits would work! 🙂
I’m new 2 canning and started it as I live a healthy/old school lifestyle. I understand all points given, but all in all it makes me laugh when people mention the USDA/FDA regulations. Have u seen what yet deem safe? Fake sweetners/legal opium/mcdonalds?? Why honestly believe anything they say?
USDA/FDA actually test all of their recipes over a course of months to see if anything bad grows in the jars. I don’t like all of their policies either but on this one I stick to the recommendations.
Jacob, I understand your view. But this is basic science; you really don’t need the USDA at all to understand the conditions that a certain deadly microbe thrives in. Just put the USDA/FDA portion out of your mind so that you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Marisa,
You mentioned the use of pressure for canning, one of the comments I read somewhere on this sight said it needs to be 15 psi. I have never heard of that before, I use a vacuume machine that takes the air out. Should I still add lemon juice or acid?
Thanks Michael
A vacuum sealer is not the same as a pressure canner.
Glad I read up on this, too! Although I made spagetti sauce this year, I froze the jars! I do that for leftover soup, too. (I have a vacuum sealer adapter for the jars which is probably not necessary). I didn’t even know you couldn’t water bath can spagetti sauce…although I have started canning my own salsa and am glad to hear that I can do the salsa canning in water bath because I’d have been so disappointed! Thanks!
OK so last month I canned about 15 pint jars of a made up recipe for sauce. I just kept adding stuff until it tasted like I wanted. I know so many people who said just make your own sauce and do a water bath it’s fine. Well I looked it up in the ball blue book and the ingredients were similar, just not the proportions, I used my garden tomatoes, 1/4 of a medium onion, a large clove of my garden garlic, olive oil (not sure how much, maybe 2-3 tablespoons), a shake of hot sauce, herbs and some port. I saw that you should use 1 Tablspoon of lemon juice so I poured it over the jar when measuring and each jar probably had a splash extra, I figured it’s help make it mare acidy, then processed for the 35 min in the recipe. I thought I’d be ok. Now the first few jars were done about 6 weeks ago and the most recent about 2 weeks ago and looking up new ideas to make my sauce even better and I see this blog. CRAP! I have eaten two of the jars so far and I’m scared about what to do with the rest. My mom suggests dumping it into a stock pot, boil for a long time then freeze, or maybe get a pressure canner and do the same but pressure can it instead of freezing. Will this be safe? I’ve never wanted a pressure canner since I really only can jelly, jams, chutneys and sauerkraut. But I really enjoyed doing the tomato sauce so I’d like to do it again. I really don’t want to have to dump many hours (let alone the cost) but I will if it’s not safe to re-process at this point. I’m just wondering what time frame you have for re-processing like this. I know if something doesn’t seal you should do it in 24 hours, but all the jars are sealed.
Hi Marisa, I have a question about rhubarb pie filling. Can you prepare the filling using sugar and Lemon Juice,cooking it to a boil then put into sterilized Jars and hot bath it? If so how long would you bath it for in 500 – 1000 ft above sea level ? Thanks Marisa
Marisa,
I’m planning on canning tomato sauce tomorrow. I just bought a pressure canner specifically for canning sauce so that I don’t have to add lemon juice to it (I have water bath canned it the last two years with lemon juice, but I don’t like the way it changes the flavour). I know it is safe to pressure can without it, but so many websites say to do so, including the link you provided above for processing time in response to someone else’s question. I think it is just to be on the extra safe side–I can’t imagine that you could can beans without acid but you need it for tomatoes…? If you don’t put lemon juice in, does this change the processing time for pressure canning? And should I be putting lemon juice in when pressure canning or is it just recommended to ensure absolute safety?
Rosalyn, if you are pressure canning your tomatoes, you do not have to add acid. When you pressure can, acid levels become moot, because you are elevating the temperature of the jars above the point where botulism spores can survive. It is entirely unnecessary at that point.
That is what I understood as well, but so many sites I’ve seen (from government agencies, etc.) still recommend lemon juice even if you are pressure canning. So thanks for responding! I wasn’t going to use it anyway, but I just wanted to hear it from someone I know is a canning pro. Thanks very much!
hi. i was wondering – since i found this site – i was planning on canning some hot and sweet peppers in tomato sauce. i’ve done it before, and only used the water bath. i didn’t use a recipe before – but i did use store-purchased tomatos and sauce, then added garlic, etc.
is it safe to can this in a water bath? i’m not really much of a canning person, but i love italian peppers in sauce. hopefully, i’ll get a reply before i can them. thanks so much for your help.
Nope, not at all safe to can in a waterbath. Not enough acid. Don’t do it.
Thank you so much. I’ve heard from “folks on the street” that good old saying, “I’m sure it’s fine!” But I trust this forum much more. Out it goes! just the cost of learning a new skill. Thanks again!!
I just water bath canned 6 jars of amazing spaghetti sauce, then happened to read about botulism. I used nothing to increase the acidity. 🙁 They are now in the fridge. So, the sauce cooked and simmered for about 10 hours, the jars boiled for 45 minutes, and sat out to cool for 15 hours. Would it be a risk to eat this sauce?
I am going to buy a canning book today.
Elyce,
When I was learning to can (nearly 40 years ago), Mama always said “When in doubt, dump it out.” If it were just tomatoes, and you’ve kept it in the fridge since coming out of the canner today, I would say dump it all back into your big pot, reheat it to boiling, re-sterilize your jars, use NEW lids, and add 1 TBL commercially prepared lemon juice per pint (or 2 TBL per quart), and can it again. However, if you’ve added onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc., etc., etc., and you didn’t use a recipe that tells you how much acid to add for the proportions of other veggies you used, I personally wouldn’t trust it.
First of all high acid is defined as a PH of 4.6 or lower and the FDA has determined any finished tomato product with a PH of 4.7 or lower is enough to prevent the growth of C. Botulinum.
This article got me curious about the sauce that we’ve been making all summer. I happen to work in a chemistry lab, so I packed up two samples from two different recipes made since June, and a ripe tomato and headed down to use our digital pH meters.
I calibrated the meter using distilled water and tested against some known pHs to confirm and tested all three. The tomato itself came in at 4.24, and both sauce samples came in at 3.92 on three separate tests. I used a fair amount of peppers and mushrooms in the sauce but I also added about a cup and a half of white vinegar to both for extra acidity. I can post recipes if anyone would like.
Now to my question: You said that anything under about 4.5 is safe, so all else being equal, the pH should be OK here on terms of making it inhospitable for botulinum, right? I’m certainly not new to chemistry, but I am new to canning!
Yep, anything under 4.5 pH is considered high in acid and safe for boiling water bath canning. Typical pH testing for canned goods is to puree the product, so that you can get a read on the overall pH. But your recipes are testing in those ranges, they are safe. I’d love to see the recipe you’re using!
I would love your recipe, thanks
Yes, recipe, please.
I have been canning my tomatoes without adding acid for years but decideded to try it differently this year …it was wonderful …my husband says they are the best I’ve ever done …I dropped a few basil leaves in bottom of jar with sea salt and lemon juice and now this is my ‘new’ way of putting up tomatoes.
Was the basil fresh or dried?
if you are still following this, can you post the proportions you are using of basil, lemon, sea salt per quart? i can wing it but i don’t want to end up too salty
I just found your site; it has tons of really great advice and tips, all useful even for a veteran canner like me. I put up my first batch of tomatoes when I was about six or seven. There was a LOT of supervision. I was so proud when I stood back and looked at my very own jars of tomatoes, from my very own tomato vines in my very own patch of garden. That feeling has never faded. Now, sixty years later, I turn all of my tomatoes into salsa. I use a couple kinds of tomatoes, and since my recipe calls for vinegar I don’t have to worry about acid levels. Now, for the question:I’d like to make spaghetti sauce this year (meatless), can it be canned safely in a boiling water bath if I add some kind of acid to it? Or would it be better, safer, to just put up an unseasoned tomato sauce then add the onions, peppers etc when I plan to use it?
Rose, if you follow a tested recipe for your sauce, you can safely can it in a boiling water bath. However, I find that it’s actually easier to make either crushed or peeled tomatoes for my preserves. However, it’s really a matter of what you’ll use.
I just finished canning tomatoe sauce. I don’t know what i was thinking but did add about 1/2 cup of onion to five quarts of the sauce without adding lemon juice. I water bathed for 40 minutes. Is this sauce safe? What should I do?
I was wondering if I add citric acid to my tomato sauce recipe if that will be all right for the water bath method? and also if I need to add more or less than what the directions on the jar call for, it is 1/4 teaspoon for pints and 1/2 teaspoon for quarts? I would not want to get my family sick, but would really like to make spaghetti sauce. thanks
Hi, I wanted to can my grandmother’s enchilada sauce recipe, with a few alterations. Basically I want to can tomatoes with spices (chile powder, cumin, oregano, granulated garlic, dehydrated onion) and some green chiles from my garden. I thought I could add the lemon juice and salt that I would add to my plain tomatoes. I am omitted the meat and olives from my grandma’s recipe that I figure I can add later. I am assuming that adding the green chiles is similar to the chiles added to salsa and that the recipe will be safe. What can you see in my recipe that would give you pause? The onion?
Thanks.
Jeanette Voss
The FDA’s “Bad Bug Book” (yes, that is really what they call it) includes a list of the pH of common fruits and vegetables. Anything with a pH higher than 4.6 is considered low acid and unsafe for boiling water bath canning.
I’m confused- you say “anything with a pH higher than 4.6 is considered LOW acid”? I tho’t the higher the pH the more acidic, and going lower on the scale is more alkaline. How do you check the pH of foods not on the list, like breadfruit and guava? Mahalo for your input.
A high pH number means that the product is low in acid and a low pH number means that something is high in acid. A pH number of 4.6 or below means that the product is high in acid, a pH number of 4.7 or above means that it’s low in acid. In order to check the acid of something, you make the product, then puree it and use a pH meter or litmus paper to test the acid level.
ph 0 to 4.6 is high acid, ph 4.7 to 7.0 is low acid (7.0 is neutral, not acid or alkaline) ph 7.1 to ph 14 is alkaline.
Marisa is correct.
The list of low acidity tomatoes is here: http://www.pickyourown.org/tomato_acidity.php
Thanks for giving out this web address. I am wanting to can some tomato sauce that has green peppers, onions and garlic in it. It also includes vinegar instead of lemon juice. And I was wondering how much i would need. (My Better Homes and Garden’s canning book is really really old (1973). But it is a good resource. Thanks again for the site.
Really old is really a respective point of view, I use my Mom’s recipe book published in 1958. Too bad it has the cover missing. Suppose that was from seven boys and two girls learning how to cook and can. Except jam pretty much everything else (fruits, corn, green beans, chicken, beef. fish, tomato and sauces,) are pressure canned.
You are correct, Marisa. Sadly, some who have been canning for years and years don’t do the research to see that tomato acidity has lowered considerably in modern times and diffrerent varieties swing dramatically in their acidity. Just because no one has gotten sick YET on your products, doesn’t mean you aren’t taking a risk. Citric acid is a great, cheap addition that won’t adversely affect the taste of your canned goods.
I think all first time canners should follow the rules exactly. After they have been canning a while, or if they have a family or friend who has done it for years, they can start experimenting, but only after fully understanding the reasons you use a water bath and/or pressure canning method. They need to understand the a ph of different foods and different foods mixed together which helps determine which canning method to use and when in doubt, use pressure canner.
Also, we grow only Heirloom tomatoes. They have a higher acidity then new varieties and hybrids.
I have been canning for a long time, but got sick and laid off for a while, so I still need to look things up. My older Homes and Garden Cookbook works for the easy things and I use the cookbooks that came with the canning supplies (Ball and Kerr) which give you a lot of information on creative recipes like tomato sauces etc. I think you can still get the updated ones through Amazon.
Does your ‘research’ include checking the pH of actual tomato sauce? If not, you’re making assumptions. FWIW, I just made some sauce and my pH came out at 4.
Calibrate your meter & collect your own data!
Hello Marisa,
Ok, I accept the danger of using the water bath for tomatoes. Ok, I will use my pressure canner; how long, and what pressure for pints at sea level?
I would rather have just tomatoes not tomatoes with lemon juice.
Ken
Ken, all the information about canning tomatoes safely can be found here. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can3_tomato.html
I have a question pertaining to the above listed link. I cannot, for the life of me, understand the chart they use for canning times! I’m using raw pack 1/2 tomatoes, no liquid, dial canner, under 2000 alt. I see two rows, the first row makes sense, but the second row?? It says something like the process time is 25, then the row continues as 11,12,13,14. I’ve looked on several different sites but none explain how to read this chart. Thank you so much for your wonderful article! Still trying to figure out all the conflicting info out there but your article really cleared a lot of things up for me…except for that blasted chart 😉
Macanddew- The other numbers in the row- 11, 12, 13, 14- indicate how much pressure to use. According to your altitude, you would want 11 lbs of pressure on your dial gauge canner for 25 minutes. This is for quarts. Their instruction for pints is 40 minutes at 6 lbs of pressure for your situation. I hope this helps. 🙂
I used powdered ascorbic acid instead of lemon juice in my pressure cooked tomatoes. Is that ok? I just processed them and realized – so i put them in the fridge. Can I add lemon juice and reprocess the cans?
Thanks.
San, if you pressure canned your tomatoes, there’s no need to acidify them at all. Just so you know, ascorbic acid is used in canning to prevent discoloration, but not for the acidification of low acid foods.