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!
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This is the dumbest article about not canning your families tomato sauce recipe. Tomatoes are a high acid food on their own, don’t require ‘pickling’ with vinegar. I have been canning for over 25 years and I go against the grain sometimes and can things without canning recipes. Basic tomato sauce is perfect for a first canning experience and a water bath canner is fine.
BTW no one has ever gotten ill from my items including meat based things I have made in my pressure canner.
I have also won awards from my canned food including BBQ sauce.
Tomatoes are not a high acid food. Modern tomatoes do not have enough acid to be canned without adding something acidic.
I put red wine in my homemade sauce. I used canned tomatoe puree. So, was wondering is that safe to water bath and can???
Rosanne, I can’t determine that. You’d need to test the pH.
That’s a little hostile, don’t you think? Marisa is following the USDA standards for safe canning practices, which keeps inexperienced canners from getting sick, or worse, getting other people sick. Take a deep breath. No one was attacking you.
*like*
Thanks Marisa for always looking out for us while still embracing creativity in recipes. I always know I can trust your measured viewpoint on different preserving processes.
You’d have to be CRAZY to can tomatoes using a water bath….oh wait…never mind:-)
I’d always rather be safe than sorry…adding lemon juice is a good way to increase the acid levels safely without having the alter the taste too much. I love this website and need to buy your book, soon!
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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 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 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
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.
[...] Canning 101: Why You Can’t Can Your Family’s Tomato Sauce – Food in Jars | Food in… full jar. 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). Becaus… [...]
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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 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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thank you so much! Guess what I will be doing on my day off tomorrow?
Good stuff, however disappointing. Recently spent a good deal of time making marinara sauce which I canned.
. 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.
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
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?
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?
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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
I have inherited several hundred jars of plain tomato sauce canned by my mother in the eighties and nineties. Is it ok to eat the ones that are still bright red or do I need to toss the lot?
Thanks
Marie, I wouldn’t recommend eating tomatoes that are more than four or five years old.
Thanks Marisa. Let the disposal process begin!