# forgot to add lemon juice



## Werforpsu

SO...I made tomato sauce and forgot to add lemon juice to the jars. i did 16 pint jars BUT it was in the pressure canner.

The tomato sauce was pressure canned for about an extra five miutes (15 minutes at 10 lbs pressure) because I forgot to set my timer when the pressure stabilized (my mind was elsewhere today!)

would the sauce still be okay since it was pressure canned? the sauce was about 90% roma tomatoes so we are not looking at a situation with new hybrid tomatoes reducing the acidity either.


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## claytonpiano

I have pressure canned tomatoes many times without lemon juice. It would be different with a boiling water bath. I have forgotten with a boiling water bath, but just made sure that I ate those right away.


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## Werforpsu

Thanks. I figured the Key to success this time was the fact that it was in the pressure canner.


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## badlander

I accidentally did that with one quart and one pint that I hot bathed. I'm not too concerned about them. They both sealed successfully and the seal has held. There is no sign of mold or corruption in them. 

I know this is a new guideline for canning tomatoes and generally I do use the lemon juice in my tomatoes but my mother hot packed tomatoes for decades without water bath and lemon juice and seldom had a failure and we never got sick. I know botulism is a silent threat but I've always noted that when a jar failed, it failed in a big way and you could just tell by glancing at them that you had a failed seal.

Yes, I would also recommend using the lemon juice and also using that jar of tomatoes first just to be safe. But the jar you forgot is probably fine. Tomatoes are naturally acidic. Adding the lemon juice just gives them a little extra punch.


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## Melesine

We just had a thread on this recently. For whatever reason USDA still recommends the lemon juice even when pressure canning. So far I haven't gotten an adequate scientific explanation of why lemon juice is still required when pressure canning tomato.


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## simplegirl

I would just put those on the shelf and mark them to use first. I think they will be fine since were pressure canned. 

If it were a water bath, I would reprocess.


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## 7thswan

I do not use lemon juice eather. But I also only use my heirloom tomatoes.


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## Ohio dreamer

I, also, never use lemon juice when doing tomatoes and I do water bath. But then I don't use the newer tomatoes that are low acid.....I like the "old" kind better.


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## Bellyman

We made the mistake of water bath canning one batch of our homemade tomato sauce. We had a gallon of it spoil in STILL SEALED jars! Seriously, there was mold starting to grow on top of the sauce in sealed jars.

We pressure canned future batches but did not add lemon juice or citric acid. All of our batches after the first are doing just fine.


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## Werforpsu

thanks everyone for your opinions and guidance.


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## CuriousWanderer

I put up 14 quarts of tomatoes with a friend. I was doing all the blanching and peeling, she did the packing and waterbath. Someone forgot to add the lemon juice along the way and every single quart smells rotten when opened. Needless to say, I threw out every quart. Saddest day of the month for me 
That was a waterbath and not pressure canned though. I'm not sure if that will make a huge difference for you.


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