Holy Crap - Explosion in the Kitchen

imaguitargod said:
No way, you would totally win that bet. Rule #1, never bet Brown ;)
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Iggy,

You ain't no fun! I was hoping the Brownies would win, just so I could send you a bottle of my yellow (tomato) juice! I would, of course, attach a note for the de3livery people to handle with care!

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
Iggy,

You ain't no fun! I was hoping the Brownies would win, just so I could send you a bottle of my yellow (tomato) juice! I would, of course, attach a note for the de3livery people to handle with care!

Mike
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Hehehe, thanks. Hey, if you want to send me a bottle anyways, lol.
 
SHet happens..I remebr mom had jars of peaches that lasted nearly 8 years, and one of that same batch exploded after two months.

It just didnt get done right. Maybe ya had a bad jar or a bad seal..it happens. Honestly, I can't imagine usign plastic 2litre bottels for tomatos products or anythign else. I use only boiled glass, even if it's for a week in the fridge.

Canning aint a science..(even tho it is)..not in the home. ANd seems to me like simply you need to check pH and practice more stringent canning. Tomatoes are esp. sensitive. They SHOULD have a good pH, but lots of new kinds are bred to be less acidic cuz peeps don't like that.

No worries. Lesson learned eh?

Now if that'd been a Mason full of Nagas....o0

-QS
 
AlabamaJack said:
Assuming you didn't use the pressure canning method and your mom did not make yellow tomato juice.

If you want to make sure...use quart mason jars and the pressure canning method...I am new to canning myself but watched my grandmother do it for years...

Matter of fact....I threw out 19 quarts of "pickled" peppers because they were not pressure canned and have been on the shelf for two or three years.

Unless I am going to eat it within a couple of weeks all will be pressure canned....I sure don't want food poisoning or to give any food poisoning...

I have been reading extensively on canning methods over the past 3 months and have decided that checking the pH and using the pressure canning method is the safest way to go...JMO....
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AJ,

I called mom and no, she never preserved yellow juice. As for using Mason Jars, I'm rather glad I didn't. I don't think the glass could have withstood the pressure. I know if I didn't have a ring on the top, it would have blown its lid, so to speak.

Given that, I've used the 2-liter pop bottles for probably 10 years, maybe more, They work fine. But apparently not fine enough when a huge amount of pressure builds up. But I have to wonder what might have been the result if the juice was in glass jars with a ring holding down the lid??? Would lots of glass have flown???

Mike
 
Mike...you are correct with the "glass flying everywhere" thingy....but if they are pressure canned, there is no way anything can grow in it...presure canning brings the temperature of the foodstuff to about 240F under 10 psig...

Mike...please don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing you...I just don't want you to get sick from something...thats all...
 
I don't pressure can much anymore since I do only high acid foods, and I don't grow shrooms anymore but I would certainly recommend useing at least a boiling water bath method with added lemon juice.

From Bernardin's guide "Tomatoes canning & specialty recipes"
"Tomatoes have a Ph that falls close to 4.6 - the cutoff point between high and low acid foods. Acidity levels vary due to variety and growing conditions. For these reasons, tomatoes preserved in a boiling water canner must have acid added to each jar - citric acid, lemon juice or 5% vinegar."
 
wordwiz said:
One problem with all the theories - they don't apply to most of the juice and that is what I am trying to discern. I have probably 20-22 quarts of yellow tomato juice. All treated the same way: squeeze the juice out of the toms, boil it in a huge pot, pour it into cleaned bottles, put a cap on and seal them. I have to suspect that it is specific type of tom that is involved, as I have another bottle that has foam at the top, a layer of water, then pulp. I have not shook it up - I'm waiting to find someone I don't like so I can give them a present!

J/K! But hey Iggy, you wanna bet on the Bengals/Browns game? If the Bengals lose, I'll send you 2 liters of yellow tomato juice!

Mike
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Mike, how do you seal them after you put the cap on? Thanks.

If you have a second bottle doing it too you might want to store this batch some place you don't care it if gets painted with yellow tomato juice. Good luck.
 
I simply screw the cap on as tight as it will go.

I stumbled upon two liter bottles by accident. I love Mt. Dew and one day noticed I had left a partially drank bottle of Dew in the fridge - for well over a week. I excpected it to be completely flat but it was not in the least.

Several years ago I made a batch of ketchup in 24 ounce bottles. I use a couple of them a year and even though it has been close to 10 years since I bottled them, the stuff is still fresh.

Mike
 
I have to agree with AJ and all who say pressure canning. The chance of botulism is nothing to play with..that's very dangerous. The only way the juice would be safe to water bath can is if you added vinegar, lemon or lime juice to it for acidity. You have a ticking time bomb, sorry. Rather see you not have any problems from unsafe methods.
 
AlabamaJack said:
LD...doesn't it say that the hot water canning method is fine for high acid foods but not for low acid foods?....either way, it is a pain in the A** to pressure can but it is sooooo much safer....again JMO
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You are right AJ -- I canned these in vinegar and salt with garlic -- so I should be safe unless a lid is no good... I havent done anything with low acidity yet to warrent a pressure canner and maybe just maybe if I am a good boy I can get one for Christmas ;)
 
I'm seriously considering redoing the yellow juice, but I'm very confident the red juice is fine. However, it is important to note that most of the juice is behaving exactly as it should. Plus, I won't be drinking this juice, I am using it in chili that will cook for hours.

I've also done this for years, just not with yellow juice.

Mike
 
pepperfever said:
I have to agree with AJ and all who say pressure canning. The chance of botulism is nothing to play with..that's very dangerous. The only way the juice would be safe to water bath can is if you added vinegar, lemon or lime juice to it for acidity. You have a ticking time bomb, sorry. Rather see you not have any problems from unsafe methods.
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so...in theory...am i right in thinking that a long and hot hot water bath with vinegar added should be safe??
 
Do not add vinegar to red tomato juice - it will make it useless! I know, because I did last year and threw away probably 50 quarts of juice. Adding lemon juice or vinegar to yellow tomatoes - I don't know if it is necessary if the jars are canned. Face it, peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans and such are not low in acid and mom never added vinegar to them when she canned them. This idea of having to have a low pH in anything canned is wrong - period.

Mike
 
If you are pressure canning then you don't need to lower the pH. If you're doing a water bath method and you don't like the vinegar then try lemon juice or citric acid
 
AJ,

Thanks. I found one site by the Ohio State Extension Service (or some similar group) that said 5.0 was minimal. I was at 4.9 but added some vinegar and it was at 4.4.

I am still leaning to the theory it was a rogue bottle, or rogue toms or something out of the ordinary that cause the explosion. It's the only one of 30 bottles that has behaved that way, and close to 1/2 of them are either white or yellow juice.

One thing that doesn't make sense - I don't sell how a slightly higher ph would encourage rapid fermentation in absence of sugar, yeast or any other catalyst.

Mike
 
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