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Pressure canning salsa #768131

Asked August 19, 2021, 12:10 PM EDT

Hello! I’m Cristy from Pinedale and I’ve been working to develop a large batch salsa recipe to can that’s based on a friend’s small batch fresh recipe. Because I don’t know the acid content and do not want to alter the flavor I have opted to pressure can the salsa. I want to check with a canning expert regarding the safety of my procedure. I’m blanching and peeling tomatoes, roasting peppers, onions, garlic and tomatillos on the pellet grill, running all ingredients through a meat grinder and bringing to a boil on the stove top. Next adding salt and citric acid to taste and hot packing and pressure canning at 15 lbs for 20 min pints, 25 for quarts. Is this a safe process? My friend does not peel her tomatoes in the fresh recipe, and I’m curious if there is a safe way to dispense of that step in my canning recipe as well. Thanks for your time.

Sublette County Wyoming

Expert Response

If it helps, this is the working recipe.  I may reduce the serannos, increase the jalapeños and increase the tomatillos in subsequent batches. 

The Question Asker Replied August 19, 2021, 12:38 PM EDT

Don't attempt to can a recipe that hasn't been tested for safety, because food spoilage or a foodborne illness may result. Please use a recipe from below.

Books:
• Ball:
o Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, 37th edition, 2020.
o Ball Canning Back to Basics, 2017.
o The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, 2016.
• Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2015 revision, USDA Bulletin No. 539.
o Download PDF at http://nchfp.uga.edu/index.html
• So Easy to Preserve, 6th Edition, 2020. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
Websites:
• Ball at http://www.freshpreserving.com
• National Center for Home Food Preservation at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp
• University of Wyoming Extension Food & Nutrition Website at http://www.uwyo.edu/foods/food-preservation.html

The recipes may be doubled, tripled, etc. to make large batches. Do not alter the recipe ingredient amounts.

We know to add acid in the form of lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar to tomato products but we do not have any reliable testing to indicate the amount that would be necessary if the seeds and skins were incorporated into the final product nor if an extended processing time would be required.

Credible and standardized salsa recipes will instruct you to use pint jars and give processing times for only pint jars. There are no current research-tested guidelines for processing salsa in quart jars. There are no formulas for extending the processing time for a larger jar.

Thank you.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied October 22, 2021, 12:54 PM EDT

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