Tools and directories

The batch log, and the fields that matter

Updated October 2026

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The fields Why those two weights do most of the work First jar and last jar Write it during, not after It is also the regulatory record Then actually read it References

A reduced sauce cannot be re-run from memory. Start weight, finish weight, fill temperature and yield are the columns that answer almost every question a bad batch raises.

The fields

Batch code, and the formulation version it was made to.
Ingredients by weight, with the supplier and the week they were bought.
Acid: what, how much, and the strength stated on the container.
Start weight of the full kettle, before reduction.
Finish weight, which is the reduction endpoint rather than a time.
Fill temperature, taken at the first jar and the last.
Time from filling to the jars being cool.
The pH reading, with the dilution and the meter.
Yield in jars, and what went to waste or seconds.

Why those two weights do most of the work

Start and finish weight together give the degree of reduction, which is the single variable that moves flavor, viscosity, salt, acid and sugar at once. A batch that tasted wrong and a batch that was too thick usually have the same entry in that column, and without it both look like recipe problems.

First jar and last jar

Recording fill temperature twice costs nothing and catches the failure that only affects part of a batch. A seal failure or a soft set in the last few jars of a run is a fill temperature story almost every time, and the log is what distinguishes it from a lid problem.

Write it during, not after

A log filled in at the end of the day records what you intended. It has to live where the work happens and be simple enough to complete with wet hands.

It is also the regulatory record

Once the product is commercial the log stops being a private diagnostic and becomes evidence the filed process was followed. That changes what it must contain and how long it must be kept, so ask the process authority what they expect to see rather than designing it alone.

Then actually read it

The value is comparison across batches, which only happens if the fields stay the same and somebody looks. An afternoon at the end of a season lining the reduction column up against the batches that tasted wrong is worth more than any single page here, and it is the only way the log pays for the time it costs to keep.

References

21 CFR 114, Acidified Foods, including the 114.3 definitions and the exclusion list. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21. law.cornell.edu

National Center for Home Food Preservation. Canning tomatoes and tomato products, including the published acidification rates. nchfp.uga.edu

Written from federal regulation and published extension guidance, not from a laboratory. An acidified food is a federal category with a filed process behind it, and your state enforces it. Anything here is a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture and a process authority, not a determination that you comply.