Expert: Chris Manley - 8/18/2008

Question
I recently received an answer that you can not water bath home made beef, chicken or vegetable stock safely.

What about a homemade barbecue sauce that is tomato based, is this safe using the water bath method?

As well, a simple past sauce, is this safe using the water bath method?  

Answer
If you have a pressure type canner, you can safely process stock and sauces.  It is not recommended to water bath these items, as spores that may cause botulism poisoning can survive the temperatures in a water bath.  A pressure canning process can reach 240 degrees, the temperature required to ensure the inactivation of the spores.  

Adding additional ingredients to a tomato based product may alter the pH enough that the product is not safe unless processed in a pressure type canner.  Typically adding lemon juice or citric acid is required to ensure these items are safe using the water bath method, however it is difficult to account for differences in the tomatoes used in the sauce, and so the amount of acid (lemon juice, citric acid, vinegar, etc.) to use can be different for each batch.