As mentioned bottled lemon juice can be used instead of the citric. The site below sells a pound of citric for just $5.19. The also offer other acids used in wine making, as well as ascorbic acid which is used for color retention. I found a site where ascorbic was very cheap by the pound too. Buying in a larger amount saves you money. The True Lemon I see here is in small packets, with each equuivilen to a teaspoon of lemon juice. They tend to be clumped up inside the packets, as if excess moisture had been added. As to acidity, I doubt if even the maker can tell you if its accurate. I do know that a half teaspoon of citric acid is a LOT more in volume compared to the True Lemon packets size. A similar situation when I found a site that sells powdered vinegar. I asked them if the acidity was similar to regular vinegar, but they had no real answer, and said it was meant more for a flavoring. If you buy canning jars and supplies locally, Ball and Mrs. Wages also sell the citric and ascorbic acids. If your local suppler has none, ask them to order it for you. Sometimes you can find small jars of citric in the spice section, also known as 'sour salt'. Durkee sold that product many years ago too. Here is a link that might be useful: Citric acid source

As Elizabeth said, the ones in the PC and BWB are equivilent processing times. Folks don't normally want to PC tomatoes for a longer time. It is based on the "general" public. It is easier and faster to just add the acid. It would take a long time for the heat to penetrate the tomatoes in the pressure canner that most people would not want to do that. All the commercial tomatoes have citric acid added.Fruit fresh is only for color preservation, not for adding acidity. Do not use it instead. It must be citric acid or bottled lemon juice. The Minnesota guidelines are not safe to rely upon for tomatoes. One thing, most of us are not in Minnesota. Secondly, this is their own independent study. This is not the USDA standard testing.( The National Center For Home Food Preservation are the ones to rely upon. They are the leading authority when it comes to canning. Elizabeth Andress wrote the USDA guidelines.) Our soil will be different than theirs. If you grow the same tomatoes in your garden and I grow them in mine they ph level can be totally different. The canning times for the other veggies are based not only on ph, but density. It depends upon how the cells of the veggies absorb the heat in the pressure canner. Denser things take longer to process. For example, green beans in water will heat faster than a jar full of just packed tomatoes. Same reason the zucchini and tomato mixture is processed with no acid added. The juice from the tomatoes, the way they are diced, etc. all make a difference in heat penetration . Same reason tomato juice doesn't take as long to process as whole tomatoes. The juice is thinner and less dense. So, that is most of the reason behind tomatoes taking so long. We find that the crushed tomatoes result in the best texture, faster times, etc. There is a comparable time, but that is for tomatoes packed in water. Who wants to fill their jars full of water with tomatoes ??? If you raw pack them, then it does take 85 min. in the BWB canner. So, when we teach canning lessons we have them do the crushed tomato version from the NCFHFP. You crush and heat some of the tomatoes first, then keep adding the rest of the tomatoes to the pan and heat them all. The PC is supposed to have a higher nutrition value than the BWB canned tomatoes. If you think them too tart, some folks add a pinch of sugar. I don't even notice the tartness of the added acid to tomatoes. I hope I answered everything. If not, then ask me again. Things are CRAZY around here now ! Oh, and the thing about boiling them first before you eat them. Well, if botulism is there, think about you opening that jar, touching the lid with botulism on it. Then, maybe dripping it on the counter. Just not really that wise to use boiling as insurance in my personal opinion. Either you processed them correctly and they are safe or they are not safe. So, I suggest do it correctly and no risk involved.

All good inputs. I perused some extension service articles after reading these; I hadn't realized that 20%-acidity was so dangerous (okay, so Chemistry wasn't my favorite class)! If I decide to bump the 5% up a bit, I DO like the idea of freezing, and would probably go that route. Gardengal, I'm interested in these long-term effects. Understand that, thus far, all of I've read were about half a dozen extension office articles linked off the Organic Gardening forum; I'm sure there are a lot more, hopefully more recent, out there! One article stated that "acetic acid is not reported to accumulate in the environment and readily breaks down to water. Interestingly, 24 percent acetic acid apparently can temporarily decrease soil pH". Source: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/entomology/ndsucpr/Years/2002/July/18/weeds_18July02.htm That article was about a half-dozen years old, which, in this day and age, is ancient history, possibly folklore! I also found reference to the labeling you mentioned on one of the products. Per the attached, apparently calling acetic acid 'inactive' gets the mfr. around some regulations. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nursery-weeds/weedspeciespage/acetic_acid_factsheet.pdf It does tell me something that they only used the vinegar at a lower-level (albeit still higher than 5%). Types of places I'd be using this: aisles in veggy raised gardens (already have cardboard and hogfuel down), between concrete sections of sidewalk,on gravel path. Many thanks (among other reasons, for keeping me from burning out my eyes)!!

Adding an acid to yeast breads will have a positive effect on something called glutathione which is found in the wheat germ (whether the germ is an added ingredient, or the germ found in whole wheat flour). Glutathione (which you can also get from yeast if you proof it in water that is too cool) breaks down the gluten strands and often accounts for those whole wheat "bricks". By using an acid ingredient (ascorbic acid - aka vitamin C or orange juice, vinegar or citric acid are a few popular choices) it will counteract the negative effects and helps to repair the gluten bonds that have already broken as well as helping to sustain the leavening during baking. It promotes yeast growth causing the yeast to work longer and faster and helps produce an acidic atmosphere in which yeast grows best. Ascorbic acid is often added to baker's yeast, but in very small amounts. You don't need to add an acid ingredient to naturally-leavened breads (aka sourdough made with a real starter) because they are already acid enough. I generally add 1/8 t. ascorbic acid (or Fruit Fresh) per loaf of bread made with whole wheat flour, or if there is wheat germ added to the recipe. But TOO much acid can be a bad thing. -Grainlady