Pressure canning salsa

[KnittyGritty]

If I have a recipe for salsa that I like, can I just pressure can it? Does it matter that it's not a recipe specifically for pressure canning?

 

[moolie]

Pressure canning salsa will pretty much destroy all the texture and turn it to mush. You could try it though and see if you like it, I'd just process it based on the ingredient that has the longest processing time.

Is it a canning recipe or just a well-loved fresh salsa recipe? Salsa recipes for canning have a specific level of acid (ratio of tomatoes and added acidic ingredients like vinegar and lime juice) to low-acid ingredients (like onions and pepper etc.)

 

[KnittyGritty]

Yeah, I was wondering if those ratios are important if it's going to be pressure canned rather than water bathed. The recipe I'm thinking of is a salsa verde, which is made with roasted tomatillos, and the ingredients are sort of pureed anyway, so I think "mush" would be okay. I guess it's more of a sauce than a salsa.

 

[moolie]

If you're going more for a sauce consistency, then you should be fine with pressure canning it The acid ratio only applies to water-bath canning.

Just process it for the amount of time that the ingredient with the longest processing time takes (that was difficult to write, hope that makes sense!)

I pressure can all sorts of regular recipes this way (especially different kinds of soups) and they've all turned out just fine!

 

[txcanoegirl]

Salsa is a risky food to play around with your own recipe because it has low acid ingredients and is usually consumed right out the jar without cooking. Regardless of whether you are BWB or Pressure Canning, the acidity (or lack of) is still of importance.

Personally, I don't use cooking recipes for canning, either pressure canning or BWB (boiling water bath). I use recipes only from sources that I trust and know have been tested for safety, such as Ball Blue Book, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, University of Georgia's So Easy to Preserve, or the National Center for Home Food Preservation. These aren't the only ones, but it's a start.

I know that there are many people who play with the safety guidelines, or use old family recipes, but I don't find the risk to my food safety acceptable. I know that I can differently than my grandmother did. She was a wonderful cook and preserved many things. I don't know of anyone who ever became ill from anything she canned, even though some of the guidelines have changed since her day. But...even though I'm a rule-breaker in a lot of things, food preservation isn't one of them.

I realize that many folks can a lot of things they see recipes for on the internet that don't make the list of safe practices, such as canning butter, cheese, milk, or including dairy products, thickeners, oil (there are some exceptions to oil in canning recipes), bacon, eggs, etc., but this is an area where I don't take risks. What good is having a large supply of food to feed your family if there is an increased risk of botulism? There are a few websites that are very popular that promote a lot of canning practices that I find scary.

One of the best forums for knowledgeable information about canning, preserving the harvest, safety guidelines, etc. is gardenweb's harvest forum. I'm not linking to it because I don't want to be controversial or cause any conflict with the great forum here. You can run your recipe for salsa by those folks and get some feedback.

My suggestion is to use one of accepted canning books and find a Canning recipe for salsa that is closest to what your home recipe is, and use one that has been tested for safety.

Safe Canning, everyone!

Jill

 

[moolie]

Regardless of whether you are BWB or Pressure Canning, the acidity (or lack of) is still of importance.

Hi Jill, you're still fairly new here and not necessarily aware of the hornet's nest you've just opened so I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but your statement quoted above is incorrect. Please check your canning books, all of the ones you've listed will say the same thing--that pressure canning is for low-acid foods.

Acidity does not matter if you follow the correct processing time for the food in question, and use the correct pressure level for your altitude.

Safety should, of course, be of utmost importance in canning, but acidity in pressure canning is not a safety issue.

By all means, follow the recipes that you personally feel most comfy with--you'll find that there is a huge range of opinions on this forum as to what is safe and what isn't--and thank you for being concerned about safety when it comes to advice asked for and given, but please don't spread mis-information.

 

[Wannabefree]

Hey, don't tell her about our nitpicky squabbling dark side until she's been here longer, and won't run off! I think we had her fooled till this post. Sheesh, scrub the shine off a new truck why dontcha

 

[txcanoegirl]

Not trying to open a hornet's nest or start canning debates! Every person will ultimately choose for themselves what level of risk is acceptable to them. I highly recommend that everyone that cans should read the recommended canning books and then make their choices. I never start a canning session without reviewing the books and the recipes, then I never have to worry about making an error.

I had already noticed that there are others, who I have already developed respect for in the short time I've been here, can things I don't, and I was trying to stay away from those topics...

Peace...

Jill

 

[txcanoegirl]

Hey, don't tell her about our nitpicky squabbling dark side until she's been here longer, and won't run off! I think we had her fooled till this post. Sheesh, scrub the shine off a new truck why dontcha

Nah...you're already like family. I don't agree with them all the time, either.

 

[Wannabefree]

Aw But we really are nuts sometimes. These canning threads...whew...sometimes jars pans and lids go flying all over the place in here