Help with first time pressure canning Tomato Sauce

10 years ago

Used my pressure canner for the first time Yesterday. Followed directions for my presure canner and made Tomato Sauce from directions on pickyourown.org. After comming out of the canner I noticed some of the sauce dried to the outside of the jars like it boiled over in the pressure canner. Checked the seals on all jars and there is a small loss of liquid(very small) and all are sealed. Is this going to be a problem? Is my Tomato Sauce safe? IF not what happened and what did I do wrong? Help please

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Comments (7)

readinglady
10 years ago
I haven't checked Pickyourown to see what their directions say. Some of them follow current guidelines and others don't. Assuming you followed safe-test procedures, the tomato sauce will be fine to consume as long as the seals are good.

You experienced siphoning of product from the jars. This phenomenon has been discussed many times as it's a common problem.

Here's the Presto FAQ regarding the problem. Many Extension sites also address the issue. It's also why we recommend a trial run with colored water to become accustomed to your stove and canner operation before processing product.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Presto FAQ Liquid Loss from Jars
rcapostman
Original Author
10 years ago
Carol,
Thanks for the info I have a Presto Pressure Canner so that explains what happened. We are using one of the jars today. I am sure glad this forum is here. I have a large garden and I was just wasting food even after giving lots away. My next attempt is bread and butter pickles!
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There are very few things that offer an approved choice of either type of processing. Basically it's peaches and some tomato products off the top of my head. Some food products can never be BWB and many can never be or never should be PC because of the damage done to the product. That is one reason for the across the board recommendation to stick with approved recipes, to not modify recipes, and especially to not modify the form of recommended processing. So it isn't an issue or choice that comes up all that often. But the chemistry behind it is confusing at times. Often it the addition of one ingredient such as sugar or dry herbs rather than fresh or one action such as pre-cooking that makes one recipe safe while another isn't. And some times it is just a matter of taste. With the peaches they offer both options because both have been tested and because some prefer them BWB and some prefer them PC. Personally we like the PC ones. Try both and see which you prefer. But many times it is just because there has been to scientific testing done on a certain food or recipe. In those cases, all we can do is use one that is approved. When the new, revised guidelines come out later this year (hopefully) there will likely be more changes to deal with. There are other legit sources besides NCHFP - Ball Blue Book, Ball Complete Book, Ellie Topp's book, among many discussed here. But never use "old family" or make-up-as-you-go-along or one of the how to preserve food in Alaska lady sites or ones from old cook and canning books without first having them vetted by those in the know. Be safe. ;) Dave
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The simple easy answer to your questions would be no, you cannot can it because one of the foundation rules of safe home canning is "You cannot safely can your own made-up recipes because you have no idea what the density or the pH is so processing type and time cannot be calculated. Personal recipes should be frozen, not canned." That's the simple answer from the approved guidelines and it is strongly encouraged that new or inexperienced home canners abide by that guideline. Does everyone abide by that guideline? No. As long as you recognize and accept you are moving into a potentially risky area you are free to do as you wish within some limitations. While canning already canned food is not recommended for several reasons, it is possible. The pH with already canned tomato products is usually ok as they add citric acid. But the density is still a possible issue. So my first question would be what is the exact recipe you want to make with specific measurements? Otherwise as already mentioned, yes you can always leave out any low acid ingredients you don't want but you cannot substitute others for them. Sugar (except in jams/jellies) is normally optional and can be left out. In personal recipes oil should be eliminated whenever possible or at least kept to a very bare minimum. Wine helps the acidity level so is no problem. All the pre-cooking isn't relevant to the canning safety and has no effect on the processing time required. So density - the thickness of your sauce when it goes into the jar - is the big concern when it comes to determining the PC processing time. Hope this helps. Dave
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@purrus ... you have to be scrupulously clean when canning, especially tomatoes, other veggies and food you pressure can ... on tomatoes, when canning, you must cut off the blossom end {the end at the bottom, sometimes it has what is known as blossom end rot - the black part - b/c it's a fungus ... } clean means no bacteria in your canning ... make tomato sauce you boil with what you are not sure of .... enjoy what you have and take notes for next year ... get a great canning book and do reading here and on other sites ... except for an *introductory* lesson on canning apricots from a friend, i'm self-taught, too ... i love *putting food by* <http://tinyurl.com/h8ehvxk>; ... there is a new edition, but most of the reviewers wish they had kept their older edition ... both are not a bad thing, but i love my older edition ... it's a fabulous book .... take care and don't, certainly and surely DON'T GIVE UP .... darlene i should add that if you get that book, or any other that you use constantly, take it to kinkos or office depot or one of those stores and have it spiral bound ... i did that, finally, and it's much easier to use and the pages do not crack out of the middle ...
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digdirt2
10 years ago
Hope you don't mind if I just C&P an answer from one of the previous discussions here on siphoning and its causes.

NCHFP has a good table on the causes of siphoning/loss of liquid that may help (Carol linked that).
One of the main causes is skipping the 10 min wait between removing the weight and removing the lid. Did you do that? You also want to wait several more min after removing the lid before removing the jars.

Adjusting the heat source too much is also a common cause. Better to let it run a little high than to adjust too much trying to keep it pegged.

Also check out the NCHFP How-To Use a Pressure Canner guide for step-by step instructions. Canner manuals are usually outdated on this info.

Dave

PS: NCHFP is also a better source of recipes as all there are tested and approved. Some the recipes at the source you used are not.
Linda_Lou
10 years ago
Be sure you use the 10 min. wait time after pressure canning. Let the pressure drop to zero. Then remove the weight or counterweight. Leave the lid on. Set timer another 10 min. Then remove lid and jars from canner. That helps with siphoning or liquid loss.

Also, I hope if this is a new canner and has a dial you got it tested before you used it. They can be inaccurate from the box.
As was said, please do not rely on websites that you do not know use safety tested recipes. Some people just make up things and post them. It can lead to botulism if you do things incorrectly.
The Ball blue book and the Univ. of Georgia and other extension sites are your best places for correct information.
myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
Pick your own tries to keep up as best as she can.
rcapostman
Original Author
10 years ago
To answer the questions here, yes I had the dial tested. I also waited the alotted time for the pressure to go down. One thing that did happen is the pressure did vary alittle but never dropped below was stated in the manual, in fact it did go higher then what was needed. Here is what I used for the sauce http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatosauce_pressure.htm. please someone look at it and let me know what you think. Anyway I did it yesterday afternoon and my wife is useing a pint of it tonight. I hope we dont end up at the ER
digdirt2
10 years ago
I checked the PYO instructions. They are fine and include the acidification too.

So it was the pressure fluctuations that most likely caused the siphoning. If you convert your canner to a weighted gauge canner you'll have less problems.

Dave

Help with first time pressure canning Tomato Sauce

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readinglady

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Help with first time pressure canning Tomato Sauce

Comments (7)

readinglady

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