Is acid required when pressure canning?
I saw in the answers to this question that acid (like vinegar) is necessary to properly preserve hot sauce, and many other answers here similarly say that a low pH is necessary for safe canning of other things. But what if I'm pressure canning hot sauce, or anything else? Do I still need acid? Are there any pH requirements, or is proper pressure canning simply always safe?
Related question: how can I determine canning processing times?
Best Answer
No, additional acid is not absolutely required for pressure canning, as is demonstrated by this recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preserving for green beans. Similarly, the existence of low acid commercial canned products such as chicken broth demonstrates that acid is not absolutely required when pressure-canning.
Processing for a sufficient time at a high enough temperature/pressure will render the food safe for storage.
However, as a practical matter for home canning, I re-iterate the standard advise to only use trusted recipes from highly reputable sources.
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Quick Answer about "Is acid required when pressure canning?"
Both processes are based on having sufficient acidity and a pH less than 4.6 (ensured by adding lemon juice or citric acid) and are equivalent to each other. So for this recipe, adding lemon juice is as necessary for pressure canning tomatoes as it is for boiling water canning them.Do you have to use citric acid when canning?
Citric acid is a natural preservative used as a food additive. An essential ingredient in home canning, citric acid is used to maintain a safe pH level in the canning of fruit and vegetables. Although many fruits contain a certain level of acid, it is not nearly enough to kill all harmful bacteria.Why do you need acid for canning?
Anything that is preserved in a boiling water bath must have a high acid content. The reason that high acid levels are important is that the presence of acid inhibits the germination of botulism spores into the botulism toxin.Does pH matter when pressure canning?
If a food is low pH, then it's water-bathed; if it's high pH, then it's pressure-canned. That's why pH matters in home canning.Do you need acid to can tomatoes?
It is critical when home canning tomatoes, whether they are whole, crushed or juiced to acidify them during the canning process. The acidity of a tomato is considered borderline between high and low acid foods.What is Pressure Canning \u0026 Why Can food? Preserve Low Acid Food Safely
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