SOX, You may want to check with the Harvest forum.

Agree this is a Harvest (canning and preserving) forum question. What you'll be told on that forum is that technically, per the guidelines, yes. If you raw packed them and if it has been more than 24 hours since you did them they are way under-processed and sufficient time has passed for toxins to have developed in them. That is the safest route to go.

Personally (and I stress not guideline approved) I would dump all the jars back into a large pot, boil them for 15 mins. to destroy any toxins, pack into fresh jars and lids and re-process them for the full 85 mins. Be sure to add the required bottled lemon juice if you didn't do it already.

As an alternative to the 85 mins. you can do them in a pressure canner for 25 mins. at 10 lb. adjusting for altitude.

The texture quality will be affected but at least they will be salvaged.

Dave

I don't know of any tomato recipe that calls for 85 minutes processing time, what did you do, put corn in them or something like that?

plus in a pressure canner it only takes 10 minutes at 5 lbs.

I don't know of any tomato recipe that calls for 85 minutes processing time, what did you do, put corn in them or something like that?

85 mins. most definitely is required when BWB processing. Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed raw without added liquid) and Whole or Halved Tomatoes (packed in tomato juice) both require 85 mins. BWB processing.

True pressure canning reduces the time required but it sure is NOT reduced to 10 mins. at 5 lbs.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning tomatoes NCHFP

The book with my mirromatic pressure canner says quarts 5lbs for 10 minutes quarts or pints. I follow the book on it. Always have, I only can about 50 quarts a year...so maybe I,m not as educated on it as this other guy..... The university of Georgia says tomatoes hot pack boiling water bath-- hot pack quarts 45 minutes, pints 35 minutes. Hope you didn't throw them out. In their own juice suggests to me that you basically stewed them and packed them hot, right? That's what they recommend in the link below.
I wouldn't be worried about them at all!

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning tomatoes guidelines Georgia

Using a pressure canner manual as a source for canning information is never recommended. For cooking info, fine. But not for canning. And many canner manuals include such a disclaimer.

They are often poorly written and edited in the first place because they try to cram a huge amount of information into a small pamphlet. They contain outdated information that is seldom updated as canning guidelines improve.

This is especially true given the easy and inexpensive access to current canning guidelines both online and in published canning books such as the Ball Blue Book.

Dave

I am 77 years old and have been canning tomatoes for more than 50 of those years. Never, ever have I processed
tomatoes for as long as 85 minutes and I never will!

At the point that truly becomes necessary (extraordinary
germ mutation, whatever)I will cease eating tomatoes fresh,cooked,canned,or frozen.

I have noted that through the years the USDA has frequently increased the recommended processing time for many vegetables, none I think, more than they have tomatoes. I
have wondered if this could more likely reflect bias towards
commercial interests or true science.

How could it be possible that all my family has thrived on
home grown processed vegetables over the years, using canning guides published by various commercial entities
as Ball, various canning books, cookbooks, pressure cooker manufacturers,etc.

Just luck? Come now! Reflect on this: it is, indeed,
possible (though unlikely) that I or my heirs could sue
a commercial source for erroneous canning information (and
they might even win judgement) that just ain't going to happen with the USDA! So which parties have the most sincere interest in being right- i.e. subjecting themselves
to the least risk while simultaneously offering the most in nutritive advantage to their customers or clients?

Now, I must end by urging all to recognize that I am a man
grossly subject to making errors in judgement. Though in this case I am specifically making no recommendations
to anyone regarding food processing technology or methodology I caution that doing whatever my text seems to suggest is risky business and could result in someone becoming sick even unto death, by golly! So pay no attention to this addled old man.

Just for clarity Larry but the instructions in the Ball books is the same as the USDA instructions. The difference in times all depends on the packing method used - you have 4 different options. 85 mins applies only to whole'half tomatoes packed with no added liquid or those packed in added tomato juice.

Dave

85 minutes?????? Wow - never heard of that. It seems like after 85 minutes, your whole/half tomatoes would be reduced to just juice.

seems like after 85 minutes, your whole/half tomatoes would be reduced to just juice.

Nope. Works fine. Many prefer that method since its the way they first learned how to do it and because it results in much less juice since the fruit are packed raw with no added liquids.

The BWB 85 mins. method has been in the canning books since at least 1972 or maybe longer but that's the oldest BBB I have.

Dave

funny i never heard of 85 minutes,i boil them for 1 hour and people say i go overboard. most of the time i'm jaring pureed tomatoes to which i ad 1/2 teaspoon and salt to every jar. or sometimes raw quartered tomatoes skin and all in mostly juice. i know of some people who put hot processed tomatoes in jars,put the lids on wrap them in blankets, and tell me they seal themselves.no boiling. i do remember in the old days jars busting on the shelves. so far i havent had problems but next year i'll boil them an extra 20 min, to be safe, by the way if they go bad when you open the jar there is a stench.

The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to can tomatoes

by the way if they go bad when you open the jar there is a stench.

You can become ill or even die from eating improperly canned foods that have no "stench" at all when opened.