I've been making a lot of homemade marinara sauce lately and want to can it for storage, but I'm seeing conflicting info online about whether a water bath canner is enough or if I need a pressure canner. What's the actual safe method for tomato-based sauces?
Don't pressure can tomato sauce - use a water bath canner instead, since tomatoes are acidic enough (pH below 4.6) to be safely processed with boiling water. The conflicting info you're seeing probably comes from recipes that add low-acid ingredients like meat or cream, which would then require a pressure canner, but plain marinara is fine with a standard water bath setup. Just make sure you're following tested recipes from a reliable source like the USDA or National Center for Home Food Preservation, not random internet instructions, because canning safety really does depend on getting the details right.
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