Zeuspaul, thanks for bringing the spaghetti sauce recipe from that site. I had overlooked their recipes since I was looking for the very simple processing of tomato pulp after passing it trough a mill and just adding a little salt. We would then flavor/season it right before using, depending on what we use it for. However, making sauce is a good option, and also, as you say, I can simply substitute the low acid ingredients (peppers, onions, garlic) with just more tomatoes, omit the oil and voila! it is even safer and I do not mind using the processing times of 25-30 minutes. After all, I would cook a pasta sauce on the stove top for a long time anyways. Doing this we still follow USDA recommendations and adjust for a potential lower acid tomato by using the pressure cooker. Thanks you Dave and Linda for your responses. After reading all your comments and going to the appropriate links I decided that I will follow the more stringent - Pressure cook for 25 or 30 minutes - rather than the U of M recommendation to just bring the pressure canner to pressure and turn it off. Processing for 25-30 minutes feels safer and will not hurt the product canned (sauce or soup). Also, as Zeuspaul points out, it is within the recommendations from the NCHFP! (it is just slightly hidden). TomNJ thanks for the report on pressure cooking salsa, glad it does not get mushy even with the PC. Now vinegar or lime/lemon juice does not bother me at all on salsa (I use it even for fresh salsa) so we will probably try Annie's salsa just like it is, changing only the scoville rating of the peppers (not the amount of peppers). That would be BWB though. No problem there. One type of tomato that gave us the most delicious pasta style sauce (and fresh gazpacho but I want to make hot soups too) was made with Kelloggs breakfast (large orange tomatoes). Unfortunately last year's were so sickly and weak it was not even worth saving seed so we are starting new orange tomatoes, to see what orange variety does well here. Persimmon is one we are trying this year (among others). Just from tasting these types of tomatoes my guess would be that they are the lower acid types. However, putting citric acid or lemon juice on them would not work for me. This is why I am so glad to have a pressure canning options just in case we get a good harvest of orange/yellows. Other orange/yellows we are trying are Golden Queen, Rainbow, Nebraska wedding and Azoyka (sp?). There are also two tomato soup recipes that do not require acid/lemon juice added and that I plan to try (both). I will bump that thread or copy/paste since this site seems to be loosing valuable old threads.

Well you could always pressure can it with no safety concerns except it would be a 'guessed' time. For BWB canning it is "probably" safe with that much lemon juice but that's another guess. There is just no way to know for sure. And there is still the density issue to consider. It sounds like it would be pretty thick. NCHFP has a Mango chutney recipe that you can add tomatoes to and use it as a base recipe. It already has the onions and I suppose you could sub some peppers for some of them but it is still a make-it-up-as-you-go-along recipe which is strongly discouraged in BWB canning. And it calls for 3 cups of vinegar! So with all the guesses, the unknown pH factor, the density issue, and the no-cooking before eating factor combined, personally I would not do it. I'd make it and freeze it. Dave

Pickled Dilled Beans 4 lbs fresh tender green or yellow beans (5 to 6 inches long) 8 to 16 heads fresh dill 8 cloves garlic (optional) 1/2 cup canning or pickling salt 4 cups white vinegar (5 percent) 4 cups water 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes (optional) Yield: About 8 pints Procedure: Wash and trim ends from beans and cut to 4-inch lengths. In each sterile pint jar, place 1 to 2 dill heads and, if desired, 1 clove of garlic. Place whole beans upright in jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Trim beans to ensure proper fit, if necessary. Combine salt, vinegar water, and pepper flakes (if desired). Bring to a boil. Add hot solution to beans, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process 10 min. in a boiling water bath. For six wide-mouth pint jars 10 pounds asparagus 6 large garlic cloves 4½ cups water 4½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%) 6 small hot peppers (optional) ½ cup canning salt 3 teaspoons dill seed Wash and rinse canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions. Wash asparagus well, but gently, under running water. Cut stems from the bottom to leave spears with tips that fit into the canning jar with a little less than ½-inch headspace. Peel and wash garlic cloves. Place a garlic clove at the bottom of each jar, and tightly pack asparagus into jars with the blunt ends down. In an 8-quart Dutch oven or saucepot, combine water, vinegar, hot peppers (optional), salt and dill seed. Bring to a boil. Place one hot pepper (if used) in each jar over asparagus spears. Pour boiling hot pickling brine over spears, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 min. Let cool, undisturbed, for 12 to 24 hours and check for seals. Allow pickled asparagus to sit in processed jars for 3 to 5 days before consumption for best flavor development.

Ace 55 and Delicious have been often mentioned as high pH (the bigger the pH number, the less acidity). Nectar has been mentioned as a very low acid small tomato. Your best bet is to allow the tomato to get extra ripe ... all tomatoes lose acidity as they ripen and the amount is appreciable. Nectar hybrid from Park Seed A study was done by at the University of Illinois in 2003 where about 85 Heirlooms were checked for pH. Here it is in order from lowest acid (highest pH) at the top of the list, to highest acid (lowest pH) at the bottom of the list. Also is the average fruit size in ounces just to get an idea of the tomato. You are probably looking for anything with a pH of 4.6 or greater. So, most tomatoes down to about 4.35 or so if you allowed to get extra ripe would probably be good. Hillbilly is a great tomato, yum! oz/tomato pH Hillbilly 16.2 4.79 Russian Big Roma 6.7 4.74 Big Rainbow 16.0 4.71 Red Rose 9.2 4.71 Brandywine, Red 9.8 4.66 Ingegnoli Gigante 3.3 4.61 Russian Rose 12.7 4.61 Black 3.8 4.59 Federle 6.5 4.59 Pete's Italian Plum 4.7 4.56 Zapotec Pink Pleated 6.3 4.56 Jersey Devil 5.2 4.55 New Jersey 5.3 4.55 Spitze Russia 7.3 4.54 Large Polish Paste 8.2 4.53 Bisignano #2 7.3 4.52 Opalka 5.9 4.51 Rutgers 6.8 4.51 Burbank Red Slicing 4.2 4.49 Tondo Fario 5.7 4.49 Black Krim 9.4 4.48 Grandma Mary's Paste 3.4 4.47 Marglobe 5.8 4.47 Rio Grande 3.0 4.47 Super Sioux 5.0 4.47 Le Case di Puligia 1.0 4.46 Soldacky 13.5 4.46 Ten Fingers of Naples 1.9 4.46 Brandywine, Pink 14.1 4.45 Rio de Fuego 2.5 4.45 Hungarian Heart 14.1 4.44 Kavalarovo Plum 1.1 4.44 Antique Roman 6.9 4.43 Homestead 8.9 4.43 Amana Orange 15.4 4.42 Amish Paste 7.4 4.41 Joe's Plum 10.2 4.41 Juane Peach 1.6 4.41 Goliath 16.1 4.40 Howard German 4.1 4.40 Polish Linguisa 6.0 4.40 Rose de Berne 5.4 4.40 Delicious 6.2 4.39 Italian Plum Canning Type 3.0 4.39 Moskvich 6.2 4.39 Brandywine, OTV 10.7 4.38 Cherokee Purple 8.6 4.38 Martino Roma 1.9 4.38 Napoli 1.7 4.38 Popovich 3.1 4.38 Santiam 3.2 4.38 Arkansas Traveler 4.8 4.37 Brandywine, Yellow 13.2 4.37 Di Santos 7.7 4.37 Costoluto Genovese 4.9 4.36 Saucy 1.8 4.36 Anna Banana 5.9 4.35 Black From Tula 9.9 4.35 Ellis Island 14.7 4.35 Stupice 2.2 4.35 Ernie's Plump 6.9 4.34 San Marzano 2.1 4.34 Watermelon 14.2 4.34 Super Italian Paste 5.4 4.33 Bloody Butcher 2.6 4.31 Jubilee 6.9 4.31 Striped Stuffer 3.9 4.31 Giant Syrian 10.6 4.29 Landino di Panocchia 3.5 4.29 Laurano 2.5 4.28 Mortgage Lifter 12.8 4.28 Pantano Romanesco 7.8 4.28 Caspian Pink 12.4 4.27 Persimmons 9.0 4.27 Bull's Heart 9.3 4.26 Ropreco Plum 1.8 4.24 New Hampshire Surecrop 1.0 4.23 Pomodoro Grosso 5.4 4.22 Oscar 6.3 4.21 Silvery Fir Tree 3.8 4.21 Abe Lincoln 4.9 4.20 Bianco Great White 9.2 4.16 Prairie Fire 2.3 4.10 Purple Calabash 4.0 4.07 Platillo 4.1 4.02 PC This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Fri, Oct 3, 14 at 20:29