Are you pressure canning or BWB?
If you pressure can, you would be OK with the wine as it doesn't rely on the acid to preserve.
I'm not sure on BWB, I wouldn't, it just isn't worth the risk for me until I heard from some of the others here that I trust greatly (don't be offened if I didn't list you, just naming a few)....LindaLou, readinglady, Dave (digdirt).

I'm not sure and wouldn't advise it without knowing.

Deanna

What spaghetti sauce recipe are you using that calls for vinegar or lemon juice? Neither is in the approved BBB or NCHFP recipe?

Need to know the recipe source or see the whole recipe to answer because usually no, wine is not considered a safe substitute for lemon juice or vinegar when those ingredients are called for called for. There are exceptions but as a general rule it's no because wine pH varies greatly while vinegar and bottled lemon juice have a specific consistent pH.

Dave

I guess I could add in addition to lemon juice or vinegar. Haven't decided on a recipe yet. I could pressure can but prefer not, it's so darn hot right now!

alcohol is a better preserver than vinegar except it is much more expensive.

since tomatoes almost take care of themselves the addition of wine or strong alcohol like whiskey should help preservation.

Often you have low acid ingredients in spaghetti sauce as well as tomtoes, at least the ones I've made to can. Things like onions, garlic, sometimes a little celery. In that case, you want to be careful (especially when using a BWB) to follow the ingredient list exactly, and the volumes of each ingredient exactly. Wine can vary in it's ph..bottled lemon juice or vinegar doesn't.

Got it. I'll probably do one of the sauces in the Ball Complete or Elle Topps new addition of Small Batch. I haven't seriously studied them as this is my first time making sauce. Tomatoes are 33cents a pound and I'd like to do enough various tomato recipes to last the year. I've heard some bad things about canned commercial tomatoes and fertility issues that I'm avoiding them.
I always use a good amount of wine in my frozen sauce and like the way it tastes after maturing, for pizza and pasta. That and fennel seeds are my two key ingredients, other than garlic and hot peppers.
Believe me, won't take any chances with safety here! My mother and hubby are already afraid I'll blow up the kitchen with the pressure cooker!

All the approved spaghetti sauce recipes I know of require pressure canning because of all the low acid ingredients in them.

If you want to use your own recipe you'll need to freeze it rather than can it.

Dave

And can't you add the wine to the sauce when you're ready to make spaghetti if it isn't safe to add to the sauce unless you freeze it? I think it adds a wonderful level of robust flavor.

Small Batch Preserving has a BWB Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce (meatless) with basil, red wine vinegar and red wine. It's very intense. IIRC, I now use less basil and more parsley (total amount remains the same), a soft Merlot for the wine.

Although recipe calls for BWB I pressure can it.

Carol

I would think that if you followed an approved recipe for spaghetti sauce (or my favorite due to its wider range of uses, basic tomato sauce), adding all the required citric acid or lemon juice based on the recipe, that adding red wine to the sauce wouldn't be a problem. The sauce would be more liquid and more acid, as wine is mildly to moderately acidic. As sauce recipes are vague as to the final "thickness" of the cooked down product, there must be some range of "thickness" that is ok. The recipe for basic tomato sauce even instructs to reduce by varying amounts depending on if you want a "thick" of "thin" sauce. Processing times remain the same.

Of course this would be done at your own risk, as you are tampering with approved recipes.

Sharon

Adding wine as opposed to substituting it for vinegar or lemon juice would never be an issue.

You're adding an acid and thinning the product, so neither density nor pH would be a problem. However, you might have to add a little sugar to compensate for the tanginess.

Carol

The Small Batch is the one I'm looking at, I'll make sure acid is used as specified. Glad to hear you like it and recommended changes. I'll probably use a touch of fennel seed and red pepper flakes. I like big flavors!

So are we talking about just tomato sauce or about spaghetti sauce as posted? They aren't the same thing. ;)

My comments above are directed at spaghetti sauce which is usually a more complex recipe, requires pressure canning, and doesn't call for the use of lemon or vinegar.

So yes, with a simple tomato sauce using only dried herbs there are no problems. Spaghetti sauce with the usual inclusions of garlic, peppers, onions, etc. is another matter.

Dave

Gardendawgie, I am sorry, but your information is incorrect. Wine cannot be substituted for vinegar or bottled lemon juice if that is what is called for in a recipe. It is a totally different kind of acid and will not preserve the food. The ph will be totally different with wine than with the bottled lemon juice or vinegar. Sure, some recipes have both added, but you cannot substitute one for the other.
This is from Elizabeth Andress, the lady who wrote the USDA guidelines for safe home food preservation :
"We have no basis for knowing how wine acidifies, compared to the tested acids of citric acid, vinegar (acetic acid) and lemon juice. Not all acids acidify vegetable tissue the same (ie, they are not interchangeable in equal amounts). The typical types of acids found in grape wines are tartaric acid, potassium hydrogen tartrate (cream of tartar), malic acid and potassium hydrogen malate. "
You can email her directly if you wish, but I have already done research on this subject. ( I teach food preservation safety as a profession.)
Dave is right, a spaghetti sauce that is meant to be pressure canned and a basic type tomato sauce are two different things.
Never, never can your own recipes. You need to follow the tested safe recipes. The only changes you can make are to add other dried herbs, not fresh, or you cannot safely add any additional or different low acid vegetables. Fresh herbs would be considered the same as a low acid vegetable. You can omit low acid vegetables, but never add any not called for .
As was said by Dave, also, if you want to use your own recipe or modifications other than listed above, you will need to freeze the sauce.

Oh no, I wasn't planning to can my own, and yes, I guess we are talking about a flavored tomato sauce, not spaghetti sauce. I'm just glad I can add the wine or found a recipe like in SmallBatch.
Had just wondered if it was interchangeable with the other acids. Obviously not, course I asked the question before finding the Small Batch recipe which looks good.

Processed 7 pints and enough for tonights dinner. I used the recipe for Chunky herbed tomato sauce from the Small Batch book. Used my new emersion blender to zip the maters after baking an hour and skinning. Added the rest of the ingredients and cooked on the stove for an hour.
It tastes amazing! Oh, added a tablespoon or two of fennel and crushed red pepper. Some powdered garlic for extra taste.
Best darn sauce I ever made. Hope it tastes good off the shelf!
I also learned how to use my food strainer (kitchen aid) for two jams I'm making to process tomorrow. The raspberry/chocolate we'll have a bit of tonight with homemade ice cream. Yum! Also, making blackberry jam, low sugar.
Tomorrow, will do apricots and strawberries to. Thinking about apricot/Wine/vanilla sauce and strawberry,mint,black pepper are next.
Then, papaya/mango chutney.

Yep, another one HOOKED on canning!!! :)

Dave

Lol! Yes, I figured I would get hooked. Thus the reason I went ahead and bought everything, including the PC. Right from the start. It's an addictive and challenge addition to cooking, baking and gardening.

Another question about this sauce. The Small Batch chunky basil sauce sys to process in a BWB for 35 minutes per pint.
I'd like to PC this time if possible. I live at 1300 feet so I need to make that adjustment too, which she doesn't have in her book. (I looked it up online last time)
I wasn't sure you could switch from BWB instructions to PC but would think if I can do his it would be better, plus my hot stove won't be on as long.
Can I cook down the sauce in crock pots and then bring it to a boil on the stove? Last time I baked it but it got very hot in the kitchen.
At 110 degrees, I'm not looking forward to having the oven and stove going all day. I'm wanting to go get a couple of on-sale chickens because I need homemade stock but don't know if I want to heat up the kitchen from that too. Might do both today, just get the heating up done all at once!

You can cook the sauce in the crockpot and then bring to a boil.
Yes, you can use the pressure canner. You can check the Univ. of Georgia and find a similar recipe for the processing time. If you live at higher elevation, then use a higher pressure.

Tracy, I often make apple butter, tomato sauce, chicken broth, etc. in the crockpot and then can it, it's fine and works well.

Annie

35 lbs of tomatoes, previously frozen, in the crock pot with red wine. Will add the rest of the ingredients when it starts to cook down as it's too full right now.
Does freezing tomatoes change the smell? They don't smell as good, almost a spoiled smell but not really. They were still very cold, although fully thawed.
Smelled kind of like when my fresh salsa starts getting stale.

These tomatoes taste bitter and sour. Is it the freezing or the difference between sandwich type and the romas I used this time?

Just tossed 35 lbs of tomatoes in wine into my lasagna garden. They were nasty! Wether it was bad tomatoes or the freezing/thawing I don't know. Back to the produce market tomorrow. This time no freezer, no crockpot.

I am sorry you lost all that food.
Freezing should not have done that to tomatoes. Besides, it is not normally considered safe to use frozen tomatoes. It changes the density of the sauce, according to Elizabeth Andress at the University of Georgia.

I wonder if when I defrosted them they got too warm on the outside? Either that or I missed some bad ones when I put it in the freezer.
Next time I'll just do fresh ones without freezing. Our kitchen is awfully warm this time of year and I have no fridge space for defrosting.