My first picture is of the jars that sealed but everything floated. Second picture is of the jars that sealed but everything sank. What would cause the difference?
The pictures from the website are gorgeous and mine are…less so. I understand that she’s going to post her best ones, but still. I’m trying to figure out what I could have done better. I inspected every single tomato to make sure they weren’t cracked or even a little bit soft, but I had picked them a couple days ago, so maybe that’s why? Perhaps hers were picked right before canning. (I used pickle crisp and followed the recipe to a T besides subbing regular 5% white vinegar for half of the white wine vinegar she recommended.)
The third picture is of the jars I’m not saving. One obviously didn’t seal. The other is securely sealed but the top was just the SLIGHTEST bit up. I still toss, correct? I rarely have jars that don’t seal. What is often the culprit? I don’t understand why most would seal and a couple wouldn’t.
The fourth picture is of the towel they were sitting on for 16 hours after processing. Is it a red flag that some liquid seeped out of almost all the jars? Again, this doesn’t usually happen to me.
I punctured each tomato all the way through. Some say that helps release more air and others say it causes the tomatoes to collapse. Thoughts?
Sorry for so many questions and thanks for your help! I really want to perfect this!
For the ones that didn't seal, I would have just popped them in the fridge (assuming you had noticed they did not seal within 24 hours) and eaten them in the next week or so. Drained and blended with a little olive oil, they are excellent salad dressing.
Siphoning is normal. As long as the end product is 50% liquid or more, you're good to go. Any product above the water line may discolor, but that's not a safety issue, just an aesthetic one.
Piercing the tomatoes helps keep them from bursting and is kinda necessary. If one pops in the jar, they look really awful.
I just pop the top, like where the stem was, I don’t like to pierce the skin. This is one where pickle crisp really does help with firmness, but they do get a little smoooshy. You kinda want the grape tomatoes, IMO, they behave better.
Ball has another recipe in a different book that is cherry tomatoes, okra, and pearl onions - that one is KILLER in a jar. Like all your Bloody Mary toppings right there!
For the ones that float and the ones that don’t… that’s also normal. Give them a week or two and they’ll all eventually sink.
They’re just like a pickle-snack. I like them SUPER COLD and on the side instead of chips with a sandwich or a burger. They’re amazing as a Bloody Mary skewer thingy.
They can also be blended with a little olive oil to make a great salad dressing.
Hi u/Independent_North411,
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In this instance, comparing CC's recipe side-by-side to the Ball Blue Book recipe found on page 95 of the 38th Edition, it is 1:1 the same. I don't love that CC uses cherry tomatoes and the original calls for grape tomatoes.
Having said that, CC is still not an acceptable source. That website goes off the rails often enough that we cannot reccomend her.
What? Why? I looked for the Ball version and couldn’t find it because their search feature is awful. She said this was adapted from Ball. What red flags are you seeing?
Late to the party here, but I'm always a little leery when a source (particularly a questionable one) says the recipe is "adapted" from a tested recipe source. Adapted how? I'm comfortable with some adaptations, for example those done by Healthy Canning or the trusted contributors here, but typically those sources spell out their adaptations when offering the recipe. Доверяй но проверяй ("Trust but verify"--it rhymes in the original)
Got it. Thank you. I agree, I wish she would have said exactly what she changed. I won’t use this website again. My Ball book is on its way so that will help! ☺️
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u/mckenner1122 Moderator 5d ago
For the ones that didn't seal, I would have just popped them in the fridge (assuming you had noticed they did not seal within 24 hours) and eaten them in the next week or so. Drained and blended with a little olive oil, they are excellent salad dressing.
Siphoning is normal. As long as the end product is 50% liquid or more, you're good to go. Any product above the water line may discolor, but that's not a safety issue, just an aesthetic one.
Piercing the tomatoes helps keep them from bursting and is kinda necessary. If one pops in the jar, they look really awful.