Another urgent canning question! :)

[Ipsey]

Hi!

I'm canning tomato sauce for the first time and have about 10 pints.

Now, my water bath canner only hold 7 pints! I have to boil them for about 35 minutes. Will my other pints be ok just sitting on the counter until I have space in my water bath to process them?

Thanks so!

[CalicoKat]

Hi!

I'm canning tomato sauce for the first time and have about 10 pints.

Now, my water bath canner only hold 7 pints! I have to boil them for about 35 minutes. Will my other pints be ok just sitting on the counter until I have space in my water bath to process them?

Thanks so!

 

Yup, they'll be fine.

 

Just don't add them to the boiling water from the previous 7 pints. You have to pour that out and add warm water (preferably about the same temp as the jars). If you don't you could crack jars with the temperature difference.

 

Personally I don't water bath them after I jar the hot sauce in the sterilized jars & lids. My mother & grandmother taught me canning and this is the way they do it and never had a problem.

 

Happy Canning!

Edited August 28, 2011 by CalicoKat

[Reeciecup]

They'll be fine, but don't put your heated lids on them until you are ready to process them.

[Ipsey]

Yup, they'll be fine.

 

Just don't add them to the boiling water from the previous 7 pints. You have to pour that out and add warm water (preferably about the same temp as the jars). If you don't you could crack jars with the temperature difference.

 

Personally I don't water bath them after I jar the hot sauce in the sterilized jars & lids. My mother & grandmother taught me canning and this is the way they do it and never had a problem.

 

Happy Canning!

 

Wonderful! Thank you!

I have lots of friend who say they don't water bath their canned tomatoes either. Should I add lemon juice to pain canned tomatoes or not, do you think?

 

I'm willing to go with what's been tried and true by generations of home canners :)

 

Thanks!

[Ipsey]

They'll be fine, but don't put your heated lids on them until you are ready to process them.

 

Ohh! That's good to know! Thank you.

[CalicoKat]

Wonderful! Thank you!

I have lots of friend who say they don't water bath their canned tomatoes either. Should I add lemon juice to pain canned tomatoes or not, do you think?

Only if it makes you feel better. :001_smile:

 

I'm willing to go with what's been tried and true by generations of home canners :) The red color of the pre water bath jars is so pretty. Post water bath they're more a cooked red color. The flavor is different too. That bright flavor you tasted before canning them is more mellowed. I have no science for this saying this but I think the pre water bathed jars have more nutrition.

 

No one's gotten food poisoning here yet in 3 generations. I always "sniff" the jar when I open it. Mom says if it smells like tomato it's good. If not, throw it out.

 

I've only had to throw out jars I canned from 2008. :D I found them hiding in the cellar behind the more recent jars while packing up for our move.

 

Thanks!

you're welcome.

[eaglei]

They'll be fine, but don't put your heated lids on them until you are ready to process them.

 

Why?

And is this true for anything you are canning, whether it goes in the hot water bath or the pressure cooker?

TIA.

[G5052]

I'm a big one on food safety, so I follow the USDA recommendations for home canning. Of course many people have done fine with other methods, but you really can't know for sure that you've canned safely unless you follow certain procedures that ensure that the food is truly heated to a high enough temperature for long enough to kill the "bad buggies." Here's a good article that gives specifics:

 

http://www.pickyourown.org/botulism.htm

 

And yes, you don't want to put the lids on until just before you process them to ensure a good seal.

[milovany]

I would do it differently. I'd take the tomato sauce out of the extra jars, keep it hot in a pot, process the full ones, then re-fill and can the extra ones when the first batch is done.

[Truscifi]

I do add the lemon juice to the plain tomatoes before water bathing them. Modern tomato varieties are, for the most part, less acidic than what my grandmother canned. She even started using lemon juice in the last few years because she noticed the difference.

[HappyCrazyMama]

I'm a big one on food safety, so I follow the USDA recommendations for home canning. Of course many people have done fine with other methods, but you really can't know for sure that you've canned safely unless you follow certain procedures that ensure that the food is truly heated to a high enough temperature for long enough to kill the "bad buggies." Here's a good article that gives specifics:

 

http://www.pickyourown.org/botulism.htm

 

And yes, you don't want to put the lids on until just before you process them to ensure a good seal.

:iagree: I'm just that way about canning. Myself, I don't go by tried and true for generations, I go by current guidelines.:)

 

and

 

I would do it differently. I'd take the tomato sauce out of the extra jars, keep it hot in a pot, process the full ones, then re-fill and can the extra ones when the first batch is done.

:iagree: That's how I do it too.

[Ipsey]

I would do it differently. I'd take the tomato sauce out of the extra jars, keep it hot in a pot, process the full ones, then re-fill and can the extra ones when the first batch is done.

 

That's what I wound up doing. I just filled 7 jars, and kept the rest hot.

I've got my fingers crossed :)

[Ipsey]

I do add the lemon juice to the plain tomatoes before water bathing them. Modern tomato varieties are, for the most part, less acidic than what my grandmother canned. She even started using lemon juice in the last few years because she noticed the difference.

 

I did wind up adding a little lemon juice or vinegar. Just to be safe.