Did you mark that jar? If so you can fridge it and use it soon or freeze it. Helps to put the juice in the jar before you add the tomatoes.

Dave

Did not mark any jar. What I a saying is that while doing the work I was sure I got it right. However, after done, later, next day, I got to wondering if I did indeed do all the jars. I am sure I did the vast majority, maybe even all of them, but then wondered if I might have missed putting the lemon juice in one jar. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. It's just a case of the after the fact wondering. I'm 99% sure I did it right, but 1% chance has me thinking. I hope this makes sense

I've got to get a system or method that ensures I have no doubt that I did everything exactly perfectly.

Gene,
Don't worry about it. The odds are that you did not forget and even if you did with one jar - I would not worry about it. Tomatoes are usually cooked into something anyway as we do not usually eat them out of the jar. I think you have better odds of being struck by lightning twice - rather than worrying about maybe 1 jar.
I don't know how you fill your jars, but if you put your salt and acid ingredient (I use citric acid crystals that are also white and dry like the salt) and I can see thru the wall of the jar whether I have forgotten something by looking at the volume of the salt and acid crystals. So there is no guessing on my part.
If I think I might need an extra jar, I set it with the rest
without the salt or acid. If I need it, I can tell fast which jar I need to add salt/acid to.
Also, with dry salt and acid, I can heat up my jars in a pan of hot water (to keep the bottoms from breaking) and I can still see my salt/acid mix in the bottom. No errors again.
Just my observations.
Jim in So Calif

I did that with a batch of low-sugar apple jelly last year, clean forgot to add the lemon juice. I put a check mark on the lid of each jar, which meant "use me first and check carefully." The entire batch was good, so I think I got lucky on the acidity of the juice. I sure don't forget anymore! Hope the same for you with your tomatoes.

I guess I will just pour it all out and trash it. What a waste.

And my point was there is no need to do that.

It becomes a rote assembly line but that takes time and practice and no distractions to develop.

Dave

I sure wouldn't trash them. If you aren't comfortable leaving them in the jar, you can freeze them and mark that they need to be cooked (boiled) at least 10 minutes before consuming.

Deanna

OK I am confused. I do not want any botulism. If you had a canned jar of tomatoes and you did not add any lemon juice, how can it still be safe? I assume you could probably use it right away safely, but what if it sat for months before you used it? Just in theory.
Thanks Gene the rookie

People used to have all kinds of canning habits and techniques, a lot of which are now deemed as unsafe. The boiling, sanitizing, and adding extra acid to a jar all increases the chance that no bacteria will grow, making your canned goods safe to eat...

At the same time, you could can and process jars without acid and salt and still be OK with controlling the bacteria, these are just extra precautions.

My grandma used to make jam by adding fruit and sugar to the jars and then turning them upside down, no processing or anything, and she was fine. While I would never dream of doing that, she was very clean when she did it.

The jars and lids are supposed to be used as extra helpers to let you know when something has gone wrong in a canned jar. If you processed it properly and the lid has sucked down, then the jar is air sealed. the only way for the lid to pop up now would be for bacteria to start eating and growing inside the jar, making gas and causing the lid to pop up. If the lid isn't popped up then no bacteria have grown in your jar, and it is safe to move onto the next test to see if it is ok to eat:

Your nose. If the lid is down, and it still smells good and not rank or foul, you've got yourself the beginnings of a great meal started that night!

For many many years people would can tomatoes without anything extra in the jars, and just toss out any jars on which the lid popped up. You can "can" tomatoes without extra ingridients, the extras just help to reduce the CHANCES of spoiling.

~Chris

OK I am confused. I do not want any botulism. If you had a canned jar of tomatoes and you did not add any lemon juice, how can it still be safe? I assume you could probably use it right away safely,

That's the point, they may not be safe but you still have options if you discover the mistake right away.

Best option - don't make the mistake in the first place. :) Or you'd use them right away, or you would freeze them, or mark the jars and insure active boiling before eating, or you would toss them. The option you choose is up to you depending on your personal comfort zone.

Some folks choose to leave it out intentionally since they maintain that it makes the tomatoes taste terrible so they prefer to leave it out and take their chances. Some just don't know any better. And some refuse to use it because no one they know has died from it - yet - that they know of.

But most of us prefer to guarantee our safety by following the instructions. But mistakes do get made, especially when just starting out. So don't get discouraged. You have learned a valuable lesson and the odds are you'll never forget to add it again. :)

Dave

First I wanted to clarify that jam is in no way comparable to tomatoes. Jam is high-acid and high-sugar and is processed to extend shelf life not for safety reasons.

So if Granny wants to open-kettle-can and then just invert the jars, that's fine. If something molds or a seal fails that's clearly visible and any jam like that can be discarded. Even so, the kinds of organisms that could grow in an unprocessed jam are not the kinds that will kill you.

Tomatoes, on the other hand, do pose a risk of botulism depending upon their acidity. Tomatoes are inherently marginal and some tomatoes do tip into low-acid territory.

Also, there seems to be a misapprehension about botulism. Botulism will thrive in a well-sealed jar because it doesn't like oxygen. An anaerobic environment is just fine for botulism spores. A sealed jar is no indicator of safety.

However, it still isn't necessary to discard these jars because IF something has developed, 10 minutes of cooking at a rolling boil will kill any botulism toxins. (Not the spores, but the toxins.) Since tomatoes, as previously mentioned, are normally used in soups or things like spaghetti sauce, they're going to get lots of cooking. You're not using them in a salad, after all.

However, that being said, if you're in any way uncomfortable, then do discard. If you're never going to look at those tomatoes without feeling queasy, then the best thing to do is just dump them, chalk it up to experience and move on. Believe me, every novice canner has some sort of memorable "oops" in his or her past.

Carol