I'm probably about as happy as I could be

[zazen999]

He was still alive at 7:51; perhaps he spent too much time in the pub and knows he can't put a word together sensibly after all the wine?

Or perhaps he had more bolognese for tea and that's it! No more Bob‽

[BumbleB]

Still have zillions of toms here, although now the glut is mostly green where we have had so many red on a daily basis since early July - The spreadsheet is showing 56 pounds of combined varieties - eek, half a hundred weight. We have made mostly sauces for the freezer, sundried etc and given loads away. I must note to grow less next year‽

[SarzWix]

Or perhaps he had more bolognese for tea and that's it! No more Bob‽

*moans...* Don't say that!

Really quite worried...

[smallblueplanet]

I bet Bob is watching Les Bleus play the Faroes - WC qualifier, they're 2-0 up thanks to two goals from Gignac!!!

I'm watching on an online feed.

Allez Les Bleus!!!

[zazen999]

I've sent the old codger an email.....see if that rouses him.

[scarey55]

Bob, Bob, are you there Bob
* calls pompiers

[SarzWix]

Oh, well, if there's sport on the telly... I'll suspend worry til later

[zazen999]

He eats Goat for a living; he'll be fine with a bit of botulism.

[janeyo]

bob are you ok???

[Glutton4...]

Now that's really funny;

I read janeyo's post; 'bob are you ok???' ...

Scrolled down and the SunLife advert said;

YES!

Timing - fab!

[bobleponge]

As Steve McQueen said in Papillon: "I'm still here you bounders"
Writing this from my hospital bed with wires and things hanging off me I ......
Not really. My wonderful internet non provider was true to form and cut off late afternoon.
I was probably a touch casual with my description Sarz, there really was nothing to worry about, I had read a lot about canning stuff before I did it, I still have PM contact with Chococlaire who is a canning grandmaster and I am confident in eating the remaining 2 jars of my bolognaise sauces, and all the passata I'm going to make today. (If at a future date I disappear for more than 24hrs, please alert les pompiers, Martigne Ferchaud, ta xx)

Old Codger Mme Zazen????? We shall be having virtual words....

And SBP was quite correct, due to no internet I was indeed watching les Bleus.

[SarzWix]

Hmmmm.... If you don't have a pressure canner, and you haven't added a lot of citric acid/vinegar/lemon juice to your bolognaise sauce, then it most certainly isn't safe to keep regardless of how many things you've read, or canning gurus on your friend list...

Your passata should be fine though, s'long as you aren't diluting it's acidity with other veggies...

Soz if I seem a bit OTT Boble, but it's one aspect of preserving that I don't think anyone should be casual with!

[rustylady]

i'm too scared to do anything in jars that hasnt been boiled to death with either sugar or vinegar (or both).....

Let's be sensible here. As long as your jars are clean and sterile (I wash mine in hot water with washing up liquid, and then stand on a wooden board in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes) and you put hot(ish) produce in, then put the lid on while still warm (not hot, cos the steam produced will make the lids pop off) as the chutney, passata, whatever cools a vacuum will be created within the jar which keeps everything sterile. Anyway, don't you take a sniff when you open a jar of anything (even from a shop) before eating it?

[Rocketron]

Let's be sensible here. As long as your jars are clean and sterile (I wash mine in hot water with washing up liquid, and then stand on a wooden board in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 minutes) and you put hot(ish) produce in, then put the lid on while still warm (not hot, cos the steam produced will make the lids pop off) as the chutney, passata, whatever cools a vacuum will be created within the jar which keeps everything sterile. Anyway, don't you take a sniff when you open a jar of anything (even from a shop) before eating it?

Thanks for that, rustylady. It has certainly put my mind at rest as to how we do our chutneys.

[SarzWix]

Chutneys are fine, they are made with the correct proportion of vinegar and sugar to raise the acidity beyond the point where botulism spores can multiply. In jam and other preserves, the amount of sugar does the same job, and salt in things that are brined.
In bolognaise sauce, enough other vegetables are added to the tomatoes to dilute the level of acidity to the point that botulism can multiply freely. The spores are not affected by the exclusion of air, nor being being boiled at an ordinary temperature. The only way to stop this from happening is to heat the jars under pressure for a set length of time, depending on the acidity of the contents.
If there is botulism present in a jar, you cannot tell by smelling it, it is odourless, and deadly.

I am sorry that anyone thinks this is scare-mongering, I can assure you it is not.

Growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum in canned food may cause botulism—a deadly form of food poisoning. These bacteria exist either as spores or as vegetative cells. The spores, which are comparable to plant seeds, can survive harmlessly in soil and water for many years. When ideal conditions exist for growth, the spores produce vegetative cells which multiply rapidly and may produce a deadly toxin within 3 to 4 days of growth in an environment consisting of:

a moist, low-acid food
a temperature between 40° and 120°F
less than 2 percent oxygen

[...]Although tomatoes usually are considered an acid food, some are now known to have pH values slightly above 4.6. Figs also have pH values slightly above 4.6. Therefore, if they are to be canned as acid foods, these products must be acidified to a pH of 4.6 or lower with lemon juice or citric acid. Properly acidified tomatoes and figs are acid foods and can be safely processed in a boiling-water canner.

Botulinum spores are very hard to destroy at boiling-water temperatures; the higher the canner temperature, the more easily they are destroyed. Therefore, all low-acid foods should be sterilized at temperatures of 240° to 250°F, attainable with pressure canners operated at 10 to 15 PSIG.

From the link posted above.