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Taming Toxic Tomatoes

A little lemon juice does the trick

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Mary A. keith

Published: February 16, 2009

At the State Fair, there was a booth about home canning. One sign said that we should add lemon juice when we can tomatoes at home. I've never done that! What's the reason for it?

There are lots of people asking questions about home canning now, with food costs rising so much. With our local tomato supply, they're a good thing to start with. Adding lemon juice (or vinegar) to tomatoes is important because the acidity of tomatoes depends on how ripe they are, where they were grown, what the weather was like and what variety they are Not all the ones that are called "low acid" really are low acid. Some have enough acid but have more sugar to cover the taste. And, some that taste acidic really can be low enough in acid to be dangerous.

In any case, the lemon juice is important to make them all high acid. The bacteria that causes botulism food poisoning can grow in low-acid foods.

Tomatoes are right on the line between high and low. Without the acid, you might end up with toxic tomatoes. Call our office (813) 744-5519, ext. 136, or come visit in Seffner to get tested, safe home canning instructions for tomatoes and lots of other foods.

My papaya tree was seriously frosted last week. Some fruit is starting to color; others are still green. Can I use them?

If the insides of the fruit are not watery mush, then yes. They'll be safe anyway, it's just the quality that suffers and that depends on how cold they got for how long. Ripe papaya doesn't freeze well for storage, but it can be canned in sugar syrup. And there are some good recipes for slaw or salad made with shredded green papaya.

Check on the Internet for specific recipes.

I have a recipe for jam that calls for liquid pectin. I've never used it and would prefer to use powdered pectin. Can I substitute?

The procedures for using liquid and powdered pectin are different. For liquid pectin you heat the fruit and sugar together, then add the pectin and boil 1 minute. For powdered pectin you heat the fruit and pectin together, add the sugar all at once, bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. If you don't use the right procedure, the pectin won't work right and your jam won't set. It'll be safe, but it will be syrup. I can't guarantee that the jam will be perfect even if you do change the procedure, because the amounts of added sugar the two need might not be the same, depending on the fruits used.

I stuck a slice of ham in the freezer just in a sandwich baggie. I was in a hurry and didn't have freezer bags handy. Now it's been there about a month and there are a lot of ice crystals in the bag. Have I ruined the ham?

Not necessarily. It is getting freezer burn because of the poor packaging. You can use it quickly, before it gets any worse. It will be safe but probably dry and maybe tough. Cook it in moist heat, in a sauce or gravy, to help the texture. Ham doesn't usually keep a good flavor in the freezer for very long, so you should use it soon.

This cookie recipe uses a package of cake mix but also says to add a half cup of flour. It just doesn't say what kind of flour. Should I use regular or self-rising?

Use regular. There is enough leavening in the cake mix all ready. If the recipe needs self-rising flour, it will specify that.

Sometimes when I open a package of frozen vegetables, the box is full of ice crystals. Is it supposed to be that way? Is it safe to use?

It is not supposed to be that way. Lots of ice crystals in the package are a sign that the food was too warm and might have started to thaw sometime during storage. It might have been in your refrigerator, at the store, the warehouse, or in the truck shipping the food. If the package is new, and the food looks like it thawed completely, that it got limp and is all flattened out, for sure take it back to the store and get a replacement. If the food does not look like it ever thawed and there are just a few ice crystals, it should be safe to use. But the quality might not be best. It might be dry, tough or mushy. If you can, take it back.

Mary A. Keith, a nutritionist and health agent at Hillsborough County Extension, can be reached at (813) 744-5519 or mkeith@ufl.edu.

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