I brought my tomato harvest in and am now processing it for the winter. I'm out of freezer space. So I'm putting up tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, etc., with my pressure canner.
So for those of you who do this sort of thing: Our Extension Services (Dept. of Ag. in the various states) recommend adding lemon juice or another acid to tomatoes, because although they are on the acid end of the pH scale, they may not be acidic enough on their own to inhibit botulism (and it's friends). Ag.Ex. say this is particularly the case with a lot of the modern tomatoes, which have been genetically designed to be less acid. I only grow heirlooms, and typically only paste varieties, so I'm in the gray area as far as acidity and food safety.
I have used vinegar (ruins the flavor of sauces, but ok in some settings, such as a pickle). In the past I've used powdered citric acid and it pretty much ruined the taste of the finished product. I am now using bottled lemon juice, which doesn't interfere as much with flavors, but it is still noticeable. (The Ag Extensions say "just add sugar to counter that, but the flavor is still never the same again.)
I'm not going to use litmus paper to test it, as it's not reliable enough. I had actually considered looking for an electronic meter of some sort, but they're expensive and designed to test water (from what I've found). Just for one year I'd like to put nothing in some jars other than tomatoes! And taste that when I open the jars again. (But not risk a trip to the hospital.)
Has anyone sorted out a way to manage the acidity issue?
