tomato sauce with capers and kalamata olives

This is the third recipe I have tested from Tart and Sweet and I can not wait to use it for a meal.

The book uses fresh, modern flavors and includes canning recipes I have not seen before.  I love the sections on pairings and preserve definitions, and for those reasons it will receive a place on my bookshelf.  I can not however, recommend this book for a new canner.

The first problem is the listed yields.  It is true that no cookbook is going to be spot on every time, but this book missed all three times by quite a large margin.  When making the Wasabi Green Beans, I did not even come close to the expected 4 pints, I had 6 pints plus two bags for the freezer.  If I had taken the time to look closer, I would have caught the mistake, a new canner would not.  It happened again with the tomato sauce.  The recipe listed 9 pounds of tomatoes to make 4 pints of sauce.  I used 18 pounds (should be 8 pints) and put 12 jars into the canner. 

The second problem is much more serious.  I was surprised when reading through the tomato sauce instructions that lemon juice was not added to the jar.  Yes, there is lemon juice called for in the ingredients, but it is stirred in to the whole batch.  As my batch was MUCH larger than the author's, this is a real problem.  Tomatoes are on the borderline ph wise for water bath canning.  The way to deal with it is to add some acid, usually lemon juice or vinegar.  If that acid is not added, your jars will not be safe to eat.  To make things worse, the cook is directed to process the jars for 15 minutes.  That set off another alarm, a cross check with other canning books and a review of the USDA website told me I was right to be concerned.  When it comes to tomatoes, pints require 35 minutes, or again, your jars will not be safe to eat.

As an experienced canner I was able to fix the problems, a new canner would not know there was a problem until it was too late.  Know your skill/comfort level and decide from there.