WOULD YOU eat this? Is it safe?(Canning involved)

[sosurreal09]

I made a big batch of sauce consisting of previously canned diced tomatoes. I added spices and veggies: mushrooms, spinach, onion, garlic. It was my own recipe.

I canned it in a water bath and added 1 tbsp of vinegar to the whole batch, and then 1/2 tbs vinegar to each pint jar. It only made 6 pints.

I did it in the water bath for 45 mins.

I was reading something online that says you aren't suppose to use vinegar anymore b/c it won't prevent the botulism, you need to use lemon juice. Is that true?

Do you think my sauce is ok, or should I toss it?

[sagewinna]

How long ago did you can it? If you just did it, refrigerate the sauce and use it, or freeze it. If it's been a while, I would not eat it.

[sosurreal09]

I just canned it 2 days ago...still good?

[bremen]

perfectly fine. i use vingegar, and my sauce has been good 6 or 8 months after i canned it.

[JElaineB]

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable eating that. With all those veggies I think it should have been pressure canned, even though you added vinegar.

[cristeen]

I agree that that many veg probably needed pressure canning. Since you just did it, i'd open the jars, boil it again and freeze it.

And how on earth can lemon juice be better than vinegar? Vinegar has standardized acidity, lemons don't, and even bottled lemon juice varies by brand.

[sosurreal09]

IDK what the deal is with the lemon juice, everything I have previously read has been revised and only says lemon juice or citric acid. I read a forum on some gardening site where people were saying the safety standards have changed and that 5% vinegar won't do and the old recipes they used much stronger vinegar so you have to use lemon juice now.

I did freeze it. I didn't know I couldn't water bath can it b/c of the veggies though. I don't own a pressure canner

[Arduinna]

Yep, I'd have pressure canned it, because of the veg additions plus tomatoes are borderline for bwb canning already.

[sosurreal09]

dang it

[Miasmamma]

I canned my tomatoes last year in a BWB and they were fine. I've never pressure canned them actually. My grandma used to hot pack hers, but I've never had luck with that. I've not lost one jar with the BWB. I don't add anything but salt either.

[Elecampane]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma 

I canned my tomatoes last year in a BWB and they were fine. I've never pressure canned them actually. My grandma used to hot pack hers, but I've never had luck with that. I've not lost one jar with the BWB. I don't add anything but salt either.

It's safe to can tomatoes alone in a BWB with the addition of lemon juice or citric acid per accepted guidelines. Tomatoes can vary wildly in acidity so the addition of some acid is always recommended now. (It's not safe to BWB can the OP's recipe because of the many low-acid veggies--the pH could be high enough to allow for botulism.). You can also find tested tomato sauce recipes in the Ball Blue Book that are appropriate for water bath canning.

I thought the reason vinegar isn't typically used is just because of the flavor. There are tested salsa recipes that use vinegar.

I personally am super neurotic about canning so I would not take a chance on the sauce. It sounds delicious, though!


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[velochic]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma 

I canned my tomatoes last year in a BWB and they were fine. I've never pressure canned them actually. My grandma used to hot pack hers, but I've never had luck with that. I've not lost one jar with the BWB. I don't add anything but salt either.

The issue is not the tomatoes that require the pressure canning... it's the vegetables added.  The rule of thumb is that you can according to what takes the most processing.  Vegetables require processing under pressure.  The only way vegetables should be WB canned is with a TNT pickling recipe that has an extremely high acid content (and therefore would taste awful in a tomato sauce).

I go the other way for the sake of safety.  I actually pressure can even my tomatoes.  Quite literally the only thing I don't pressure can is my jam.