I cooked down a pot of tomatoes and pressure canned them. I realized after they were cool that I forgot to add the lemon juice. They are just tomatoes and herbs, and were pressure canned for 20 minutes. The lids are all sealed and they look good. Should I be worried or will they be OK without the added acidity?
They should be fine, especially if the tomatoes were of an older variety. I'd mark them and use them first.
Netty, I did the same thing this year but most of the tomatoes I used were heirlooms so I think they will be fine. When I first started canning the recommended time was a 30 min water bath for quarts, with no lemon juice, but that was 46 years ago. I think all the tomatoes then are considered heirloom now! Canning is much safer now but it sure takes a lot longer and higher pressure also. I do try to follow all instructions though.
Thanks folks, I was hoping you would say that. After all the time it took to grow, peel and process it would break my heart to dump them out! They have been labeled as 'tomatoes no lemon' and are at the front of the pantry. I did another batch today and made sure to follow the directions to the letter. So when opening these jars for use, what would the signs of spoilage be (besides the obvious - mold, odd smell etc)? Should I boil them again to be safe?
Netty, according to this, pressure-canned tomatoes will be safe, even though you didn't add an acid. https://foodsafety.wisc.edu/assets/preservation/UWEX_addacidtomatoes.pdf Botulism is the stuff we need to worry about, and a hot-water bath doesn't bring the temperature up high enough to kill the bacteria, but pressure canning does.