I am reprocessing my tomatoes because I didn't water bath can them long enough. The tomatoes are still very hot in the 4 jars. Do I need to add more citric acid to the jars or will the original amount be enough? I have poured all 4 jars together in one pot to reheat again.
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There should be no need to add more citric acid to the tomatoes if you need to reprocess them again. it is recommended that you open the jars, throw away the lids, dump the content into a pan, and heat again. Now pour the content back into the clean jars and seal with brand new lids. Now go ahead and do the water bath the correct amount of time.
It is probably too late and this is already done. I am not a believer in reprocessing being safe because I got very sick from doing this.
The lesson I learned is if things don't can right the first time, use what you are able to use (meaning put it in the fridge) and freeze the rest.
Safety first!! If you are in the US and are in doubt about how safe what you did is, contact your local home extension office. If you tell me where you are, I can give you a number to call.
This just happened to me today !!!! I took them out of the water bath should I let them cool and freeze tomorrow? Or should I open up all my jars now and freeze now it's really hot '.. and I had a feeling I didn't leave enough head space '''''''''' I knew better
If you are going to freeze the tomatoes, I would do it now. It's usually best to freeze things at a cool temperature, to ensure the food freezes fast enough to avoid any possible time in the "danger zone", where food borne illnesses can form and to use less power for your fridge/freezer.
I agree with Pghgirl as it is too easy to contaminate food when trying to reprocess it.
If you have reprocessed your tomatoes, I would implore you to contact someone at this site and explain exactly what happened and the second process you used.
They may tell you it appears that your food is safe or they may tell you to dump it - please follow their answer as botulism is a very dangerous thing and not easy to detect.
This can be risky to reprocessing your tomatoes. Here are facts to safety and questions from the (nchfp) National Center For Home Food Preservation .
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