Today Elizabeth Andress answered my question a bit more indepth about the acid blend and in particular about malic acid. She said that someone had emailed her about it. She said she didn't know if that person was in the audience or not, so I did push the button on the box to tell her that I was. I really appreciated her addressing this question. She said that when acids are added there is a buffering that takes place. She said different amounts of the other acids would be needed due to the natural resistance of the foods being canned. So, there is no way to safely determine at home how much of the other acids would be needed in place of plain citric acid. She said that the acid will also change the water activity in canned foods. This is what I learned or at least made it more clear and seems more indepth, espcecially why some things need more acid when pickling than other foods. As acid is added to a food the pH decreases (becomes more acid). The speed and amount of pH change depends upon the acid added and the buffering capacity of the food. Most food acids such as citric acid or acetic acid are relatively weak acids. The buffering capacity of a food is its ability to resist changes in pH. Therefore, the amount of acid that must be added to a food to lower the pH is dependent upon the buffering capacity of the food. Foods high in protein such as meats have greater buffering capacity than vegetables. Meat will thus require greater amounts of acid to lower the pH to the same degree. Maturity and varietal differences affect the buffering capacity of vegetables. So, I did some good information from her. She seems to be such a kind, down to earth lady. I was so pleased to have been able to see her on the video conference today. I have some more information to share on other subjects from today.

DON'T THROW THEM OUT YET!!! Is the only problem is that they were potentially low acid and everything else is okay? (SOMEONE PLEASE CORRECT ME OR CONFIRM THAT WHAT I WRITE NEXT IS CORRECT.) I think the only risk is THEORETICAL botulism. Mould etc. shouldn't be a problem in properly canned tomatoes even without the acidifier. (?) In the unlikely case that you do have botulism, isn't it denatured by boiling the product for at least 20 minutes? (PLEASE CONFIRM.) If that's the case, then just label the tomatoes for your own use, do not give them away, do not taste the raw product, and cook for at least 20 minutes. When I crack open my canned tomatoes, I cook them that long anyway to make a tomato sauce. Also remember that the acidification is because tomatoes are borderline acidity. Hopefully someone else can answer whether the acidity of the ascorbic is sufficient.

Well there are blue potatoes so I'll guess potato. Can I have more than 1 guess? I'll also guess beets.

Thx SMD. Now did you feel guilty paying the Miele tax for a box of citric acid ;-) I'll be off at the Chemistry store. All this jibbering and yabbering about DW soap. I do need to stock up some more on CA and buy some new phosphate.. The juice bottles in which I've been keeping my Sodium Percarb ( I think I bought the big bag 5 - years ago), and I rebottled them all in used 1/2 gallon juice jugs, I swear to this very day is still outgassing. It swells the bottles up. Every once in awhile if I'm reaching in the cabinet to get something, I will open the cap to let it whoose...as the air outgasses. 6-8 months later, it's once again full of air, waiting to outgas.. The point I'm trying to say, is a little goes a long way, and I'd rather buy in smaller batches these days just to know the rotation is fresh...