Calling all canners!!

I am canning for the first time -- marinara sauce for gifts. I have the Ball book for technique. However it assumes tomato recipes are being made with fresh tomatoes and I used canned tomatoes (good quality organic ones, of course).

The canning instructions call for adding 1T of 5% acid liquid (like bottled lemon juice or vinegar), per pint jar. This seems excessive since the canned tomatoes already are more acidic than fresh. I plan to put some 6% balsamic in each jar.

How much would you use?

Queen of Spoons
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4 Comments

AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames December 21, 2010
I've heard it said (and read many times), never, ever can something that's already been canned. Freezer is a great option. I freeze sauces made from canned tomatoes all the time and they taste great when defrosted, especially when allowed to simmer for awhile, then tarted up before serving with copious amounts of chopped fresh herbs. ;o)
 
Queen O.
Queen O. December 21, 2010
Hmm. Looks like these are going into the freezer instead. Thanks for the link.
 
nutcakes
nutcakes December 21, 2010
I agree with susan g. This isn't something for guesswork. There are ingredients besides tomatoes so there are questions of proper treatment of all of it. I wouldn't make it except from a recipe from a University Extension, so you get a safe batch.

Read this discussion on some of the issues.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg1013121518336.html
 
susan G.
susan G. December 21, 2010
Maybe this is a question for your Extension Service. Food safety is at issue here.
 
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