I was about to bring the last four jars of canned tomatoes over to their under-the-bed storage place, when I realized that, despite my lid testing after they had cooled, several jars were bubbling with white froth. A closer examination of the jars in storage showed six precious jars all ruined. I was just thankful I caught them before they exploded: glass shards and poisonous tomatoes in the bedroom is not a great combination!
I think I know what happened. The first batch I made, I filled to the base of the neck, and when I took them out of the pot, almost all of them bubbled over with tomato bits. I'm guessing it was those six that went bad: with tomato juice between lid and jar, they didn't seal properly. (Which is too bad: I suspected something might be wrong, so tugged on the lids after they cooled, and none moved.)
It could be, too, that I followed a recipe without lemon juice: just tomatoes in a jar. When I canned the tomato sauce today (22 pints), I added a tablespoon of lemon juice, in hopes that helps preserve the food.
Phil moved the cows all the way back down the slope, and combined the hillside cows with Fern and Charlemagne, Snowman and still-expectant Catherine. He said that the herd of twelve, milling around, renewing or establishing relationships, was all fascinating to watch.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
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Hi Amy! I have done some canning of tomatoes... did you add at least 2 tbsp lemon juice per quart? Or you can use straight citric acid... that's what I use... 1/2tspn per quart, straight into the jar after I have filled it. Super important everything has been thoroughly sterilized and I never let anything touch the rim of the canning jar while filling. Canning is one thing you don't want to mess up on, botulism can kill you. Wish I was there to help you out! Bummer you lost some, but keep on trying!
ReplyDeleteThe jars of sauce that I added lemon juice to all still look perfect. (They were also all new jars, so that may have had something to do with it.)
ReplyDeleteHow long do you sterilize your jars? I've seen everything from "a few minutes" to "25 minutes," and I opted for the shorter time, obviously with disappointing results.
I also spilled little blurbs of tomato on the rims. I don't remember if I wiped them with paper towel or clean washcloth, but that might have had something to do with it.
I will look for citric acid. Do you think vinegar (apple cider or white) would work? I wonder how folks in the 1800s canned. Maybe they had citric acid available.
And from now on: extra lemon in every jar!
I figure about 15 min of hard boiling will kill most anything in a clean jar. If the jars are older and a little cruddy I definitely go towards 30 min. You can't boil too much. I usually sterilize more jars and lids than I'll need so that if I do get a rim dirty I transfer the tomatoes and just don't use that jar that time. I am more careful about this than most but canning can be tricky business and it's a lot of work so I want it to work the first time. I actually sterilize everything I use... the lids, the jar grabber, the funnel, any utensils. Like I said, I am pretty careful. But once you get the hang of it's it's totally worth it. I had an elderly neighbor in Ashland who taught me a bunch. Keep at it! Can some fun stuff too.. salsa, apple pie filling, peaches etc! Miss you!
ReplyDeleteI know that it has been about a year since you wrote this entry, but I wanted to share some info with you and your readers that may be of help when canning:
ReplyDeletehttp://nchfp.uga.edu/
This is the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation which has all of the info needed including head room, acid addition, times for water bath or if it needs to be pressure cooked and how long you can save the final canned food before spoilage. As stated above, always sterilize everything and use a funnel for canning. The canning funnels are very inexpensive and keep the rims free of debris. Hope this helps!