Water Bathing Spaghetti Sauce

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Ok, I finally graduated from doing jams in a stockpot that didn't even completely cover the jars, to a REAL boiling water bath canner, and to celebrate, on Sunday I brought home a 30 lb bucket of tomatoes from the U pick. And then discovered that the Ball Blue Book, which I had been avidly reading on Thursday night before, had disappeared. I couldn't find it ANYWHERE in the house (this is actually a not-infrequent occurence in our house) so I set to, trying to remember what I had read and what I had discussed with coworkers who used to can. I made sauce with green peppers, tomatoes and onions in the crockpot, filled sterilized quart jars, added 1 teaspoon salt (my co worker said only a pinch, but I was worried about the foods keeping qualities) and the Blue Book said something about adding lemon juice to insure acidity, so I added a teaspoon. Then Monday night and Wednesday I put the sealed jars in a boiling water bath and processed around about 10 minutes. This means I stuck the jars in the canner and checked by peeking under the lid whenever I went by. When I lifted the lid and it was at a rolling boil, I then timed an additional 10 minutes.(like for my jams and pickles) Tonight, in the bookstore looking (unsuccessfully)t0 replace the Blue Book, I read in one book a cause for panic- it said adding any vegetable, even onions or peppers, to tomatoes means they can only safely be pressure canned. Then I finally found a book that said you could water bath spaghetti sauce, but for 35 minutes. And stated to add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, not one. So I am not sure which authority to trust and can't call the extension service, since it's a weekend. Has anyone else water bathed spaghetti sauce with peppers and onions? Do I need to recook mine with more lemon juice and rebath for 35 minutes? I don't want to throw out 8 quarts of spahetti sauce, but I don't want to poison my family either (I've always frozen it before, but with my son's family now moved in freezer space is at a premium) And our families have no idea-they were the sort to go buy frozen orange juice at the store while the orange tree in the yard dropped its fruit and rotted. Help anyone?

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), February 22, 2002

Answers

I have the blue ball book right here and it says...add 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid to each quart jar. process quarts 40 minutes in boiling water canner. I typed this straight from the 2002 ball blue book. Hope this helps...Kristean

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 22, 2002.

I follow the instructions strictly, because I'm a newbie, but have had friends add 'stuff' to their sauce with no apparent problems.

If it were me I would re-process them for the full time - I wouldn't trust them with only 10 minutes processing.

Hopefully, there are more experienced people who can give you a clear answer.

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), February 22, 2002.


I wouldn't even take a chance on trying to re-process that particular batch. Use up some of that valuable freezer space and go buy another batch of tomatoes for proper processing.

Either that or start using a LOT of sauce.

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.


I would go ahead and reprocess in the hot water bath for a full 45 minutes. This is what I do for sauce with onions, peppers and zucchini added. Have fun...

-- Cheri Asprion (t.asprion@worldnet.att.net), February 23, 2002.

If you have just recently processed this spahgetti sauce then you can redo. I make a salsa with hot peppers and onions. I usually process quart jars about 30 minutes with a few tablespoons of vinegar (in the bath water) so the jars and pot don't get all corroded with that hard water stuff. You process jelly jars with less time say 10-15 minutes. As long as your sauce was hot,poured into sterilized jars and everyone sealed.....you can open the sauce and pour into a pot to start over. I have done this before with no problems. You run into problems when the jars did not seal. Another tip is if your jars don't seal right away, you can water bath them again. You usually will know if they are not going to seal in a very short time after being taken out. Water bath is more for sealing the jars than the product. I don't sterilize my jars...I wash them in very hot water,soap and rinse in very hot water then put the hot product in the jar and sterilize the lids for a minute or two by holding the lids with tongs in the water bath. I have never poisoned my family,my product is always appealing. So if ever the top is popped while sitting on the shelf for whatever reason....throw it out, and if ever the product doesn't look like it is supposed to....throw it out. Good Luck!

-- Carla (herbs@computer-concepts.com), February 23, 2002.


Mitzi I would follow the most recent recommendations, and that would be to pressure can. In the future though, may I suggest an idea? It's just a thought. Take your peppers, onions, etc., all that you would want in your sauce, and freeze them already chopped up. You could even mix them altogether first, and freeze them separately first in one-jar amounts. Then, water bath can your sauce to your heart's content, and when you open that jar place a portion of your frozen "additions" into it before heating. This would take up much less freezer space, keep you able to water bath, and still have the additions.

-- Katie (homesteader@accessnevada.com), February 23, 2002.

Mitzi, I can lots of tomato sauce with onions and garlic, but not pepper. The lemon juice is used because tomatoes have gotten less acid over the years. If your jars sealed okay, I think they're safe as long as you boil the sauce before you serve it. Of course, make sure it looks okay when you unseal the jars. Next time, I'd try the idea of freezing the peppers and adding them when you make the spaghetti.

-- Katherine in KY (KyKatherine@Yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.

Well, the one bunch is 6 days old and the lids were sealed, and smelled OK so I'm now boiling for 10 minutes and will then reprocess...won't give my adult kids any of the re-processed batch - will give them the new batch I plan on doing tonight. I got spattered and my immediate reaction is to lick the hot stuff off to prevent further burn, and I did it before I realized it hadn't gone the full 10 minutes boil. So I warned my dh that if I start seeing double he is to 1) call 911 and report botulism and 2) dispose of this batch. Thanks for all the answers.

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), February 24, 2002.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ