canning

[simple life]

I was planning on making some salsa today. I have a pressure canner and planned on using that.
I checked my Ball recipe book and it gave the recipe and stated that it should be in a water bath.
I know that we are suppose to do pretty much everything in the pressure canner these days, so I got the recipe book out that came with the canner.
It had a recipe for salsa and it said not to do the pressure canning method for this recipe either or the taste will be unacceptable.
So I went online to a link that I found in one of our threads on canning.It had another salsa recipe and it also said to use a hot water bath.
I know that tomatoes are suppose to be acidic enough to do the hot water bath, but not all are. I had some romas today that I planned to do bruschetta with and they were not very acidic.
The vinegar in the bruschetta recipe may be enough to handle the water bath but I still don't know what to do about the salsa. I know I could go ahead and base the amount of pressure for the salsa off some other type of tomato recipe, but I am conerned that they say tomatoes will have an unacceptable taste if they are pressure canned.I don't want to go through all of this work if its going to taste lousy.
Any ideas?

 

[Cassandra]

This may not be an option for you, but could you freeze it? I have read that, for freshest taste, freezing is best.

I have been freezing tomatoes this year. I haven't yet got enough at one time to drag out the canning supplies for it. I did "hot water bath" one jar of salsa while I was doing some pickles. My husband opened it two days later, though. :/ So botulism (where is that botulism smiley?!) wasn't a concern.

I guess if you eat it all right away (like he does) you don't have to worry about it!

Cassandra

 

[Beekissed]

We've been canning tomatoes and tomato recipes in hot water bath for about 50 years and never had a problem. Its also much easier! Why would you want to do this in a pressure canner, if you don't mind me asking? I hadn't heard that we were supposed to do pretty much everything in the pressure canner these days!!!

 

[blurose]

I agree with Beekissed. I haven't heard any such a thing either and have been processing my tomatos and salsa in a waterbath canner for....well, we won't go into just how old I am, but suffice it to say a long time, just the way my mom, grandma and great grandma did it before me. Now, green beans I would pressure can. I can't remember if I canned the blackberries using the water canner or the pressure canner, but I've still got one jar left after 5 years and I figure they are either just fine or have fermented into blackberry brandy or something similar. I'll let you know when I get the nerve to open them, although I'm not stupid enough to actually taste them. I figure a good whiff will tell the tale.

 

[rockytopsis]

I use Ball Blue Book for all canning and if it says water bath, that is what I do, if it says pressure can, that is what I do.

JMO I think pressureing tomatoes would turn them to mush.

 

[patandchickens]

This is probably my fault, from my comment on the other thread, so I will reply here to say:

It depends what is in the salsa.

If it is virtually all tomatoes, no issue at all. If it has vinegar or anything else acidic added, probably no issue. If it comes from the Ball book or from a modern extension service or something like that AND IS DATED POST -1995 OR SO, then I would not worry either (as the recipe is likely to have been tested for acidity level).

The only problem is if you are diluting out the acid of the tomatoes with less-acid foods to the point where the result is insufficiently acid to prevent Clostridium from growing.

(edited to add: and my original comment on the other thread was in response to a salsa recipe that did not seem to have any acid added. FWIW, I took a quick scan thru my good canning books here and ALL of the salsas that are being recommended for waterbath canning have either vinegar or citrus juices added.)

Botulism from canned food is pretty rare so plenty of people have eaten PLENTy of jars of not-so-safely waterbath-canned produce and lived to tell. The thing is, it really only takes one bad jar to put you six feet under, and while massive spoilage will be noticeable (seal popped; or jar foaming when opened if you had unwisely left the screwband on; or food seriously discolored), you can have enough Clostridium growth to put a toxic load of botulinum in there without necessarily seeing or tasting anything much wrong with the jar.

I realize that everyone has different risk-tolerance preference, and that's as it should be I just wanted to make sure the topic was raised, is all.

Pat

 

[blurose]

Thank you Pat. We all know that you are just trying to look out for us.

 

[simple life]

Pat mentioned it but it was the second time I had heard it on this forum so I thought I was out of date with my methods. When we were discussing canning in a different thread a while back someone mentioned that she took a canning class that her extension service offered and they told her that everything you make should be pressure canned these days.
I have been doing hot water bath for all the jams and jellies but then questioned myself when it came to the tomatoes.
Especially since there have been all those cases of people getting sick from tomatoes in general anyways, I am nervous about tomatoes in general.
Mine aren't ready to pick yet so I bought some, since they brought them back into the supermarkets after being pulled from the shelve the last couple of weeks.
Then I am in the doctor's office waiting room today and the news was on and they came on and said there was two more confirmed cases of salmonella in the last month.
I know they are questioning now if it is even the tomatoes and not another vegetable but I am still leery, so I didn't want to add to my risks if I screwed up the canning.
This is exactly the reason I like to grow my own food.

 

[patandchickens]

I am nervous about tomatoes in general.
Mine aren't ready to pick yet so I bought some, since they brought them back into the supermarkets after being pulled from the shelve the last couple of weeks.

But you know what, salmonella is not a big concern in canned goods AFAIK unless you are a world-class nincompoop It is quite easily killed by heating, and for heaven's sake you are BOILING your canned stuff. If you still worry, make sure to bring the canned tomatoes to a boil before putting in the jars, and make sure the waterbath returns to a boil before you start counting processing time. You will be FINE

Pat

 

[simple life]

Oh Pat, you made me feel so much better. Seriously, I have been so worried over this tomato scare that I wasn't even thinking about the fact that you boil them anyway.
I was thinking that with the salsa you just put the raw stuff in the jars and I wasn't sure that canning would kill it but you are right. Thanks a bunch.