Canning

[swissmiss26]

I just made a fabulous pasta sauce from scratch. I had no idea what I was doing, other than throwing stuff in a pot along with some almost rotten garden tomatoes and it came out wonderfully

Comments

[swissmiss26]

Whoops! This isn't supposed to be in here! If you happen to know the answers to my questions, though, go ahead and let me know!

[smilincookie]

From the best that my dad (an analytical chemist) and I could deduce, there was some unreacted baking soda left in the sauce. When this happens it can cause a color change in the sauce. This is similar to the reaction that turns carrot cake green if there is too much baking soda in that mixture. If you make the sauce again, try adding the baking soda in about half the quantity. See if it still cuts down on the acid and does not change the color. I'm still waiting on Art's response (another analytical chemist) and if his is different then I'll update the answer!

[smilincookie]

Ps- Milk is also a base, so it is possible that you "over based" the tomato and that caused the baking soda to not all react.

(now i really sound like a science teacher...HAHA)

[swissmiss26]

Thanks for the response! You are the first person to actually answer the question (I posted it in a community for cooking too...)

I didn't add the cream until after the baking soda debacle. I was trying to fix the mistake at that point, and it seemed to have helped.