Salsa/Sauces

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by coronabarb

That's an expensive proposition Worth! And sometimes they don't survive, Hellmanns. We know now what is going on inside the jars so why not use tested recipes? It doesn't cost much for the extra peace of mind. Up to the individual if they want to take the risk. Just don't give it to others, like the gal who didn't process her potatoes correctly and killed one, sickened a couple dozen last year at a church picnic.

Not really when you consider it costs around $50,000 dollars to make one run with a top fuel dragster.

I used to make steam explosions all of the time growing up.
A spectacular event.
I miss those old heavy metal brake fluid cans.
This is why I am so respectful of the pressure cookers and canners today.
Worth

[stevenkh1]

Originally Posted by Hellmanns

It's a wonder the human race has survived.. My 92 year old grandmother fed her 8 children canned sausage, and vegatables for decades without processing it in a pressure canner. Although, she once pitched a jar of green beans back in the 60's "because they weren't quite right" that gave the chickens the limber neck!

My parents were raised before the advent of home pressure canners. In West Virginia, they'd can by placing their canned goods in a big copper oval tub set over a fire, and boiled the jars for 4 hours to kill of bacteria and seal them. Everything from tomatoes to meat was boiled for 4 hours in those canning jars then put in the root cellar.

Looking back at that practice: Mom said everyone had done it that way since the first jars came on the market and she never knew anyone who got sick and noone died from that method of canning. She believes the old way is safe now as it was then. Her view is the advantage of a pressure canner is it cuts canning time down considerably.

[Isabelle]

Originally Posted by stevenkh1

My parents were raised before the advent of home pressure canners. In West Virginia, they'd can by placing their canned goods in a big copper oval tub set over a fire, and boiled the jars for 4 hours to kill of bacteria and seal them. Everything from tomatoes to meat was boiled for 4 hours in those canning jars then put in the root cellar.

Looking back at that practice: Mom said everyone had done it that way since the first jars came on the market and she never knew anyone who got sick and noone died from that method of canning. She believes the old way is safe now as it was then. Her view is the advantage of a pressure canner is it cuts canning time down considerably.

I tend to think like your parents- if it didn't kill them it won't kill me. It all changed after having kids. There's always this thought it my mind, that if one of my children were to get severely ill or die from my canning, I would live in guilt forever, thinking "if I would have just followed the instructions..."

I've become much more careful. Sometimes I sacrafice safety for taste, but oh well I guess.

[Isabelle]

Originally Posted by coronabarb

Isabelle, when canning salsa, it is best to follow the directions of a tested recipe as written. That is how it is tested for safety. Criteria includes acidity, density, how long to process, etc. If you don't cook it, the density changes. As far as lime juice, yes you can substitute it for vinegar but you need to use bottled lime juice (guaranteed acidity level) and you need to use the same amount. If you guess at how much to use, then the acidity level might not be high enough to insure there is no chance of botulism. You can always freeze it if you want something different than the recipe calls for.

Check out the NCHFP (USDA at Univ of Georgia) site as they have approved several new salsa recipes in the last year or so.

Ok, thankyou!

[Isabelle]

Worth, I'm so glad you mentioned fermentation. I have recently started fermenting a lot of veggies, I should try fermenting some salsa. I'm sure it would be absolutely delicious.
How long do you suppose it would last in the fridge? 6 months or so?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Isabelle

Worth, I'm so glad you mentioned fermentation. I have recently started fermenting a lot of veggies, I should try fermenting some salsa. I'm sure it would be absolutely delicious.
How long do you suppose it would last in the fridge? 6 months or so?

I would ferment individually peppers tomatoes and what ever so as I would have a variety to chose from.
A year at least l have sauerkraut in the fridge for some time now that just keeps getting better.

I am sure that are ways to do it with salsa also.
I think it is safer than canning and better for you.

Worth

[Isabelle]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I think it is.... better for you.

Worth

Indeed. The fresh taste of veggies with all the wonderful enzymes intact AS WELL as all of the probiotics.

[Hellmanns]

Originally Posted by stevenkh1

My parents were raised before the advent of home pressure canners. In West Virginia, they'd can by placing their canned goods in a big copper oval tub set over a fire, and boiled the jars for 4 hours to kill of bacteria and seal them. Everything from tomatoes to meat was boiled for 4 hours in those canning jars then put in the root cellar.

Looking back at that practice: Mom said everyone had done it that way since the first jars came on the market and she never knew anyone who got sick and noone died from that method of canning. She believes the old way is safe now as it was then. Her view is the advantage of a pressure canner is it cuts canning time down considerably.

I knew families that would layer the jars up in old oil drums, and build a fire under it to process them.

[greenthumbomaha]

Looks like a cool recipe! I'd like to try this for a change of pace from red, at the appropriate fall time frame. I usually just let the green tomatoes ripen in the garage. Does the skin on a green tomato possibly contribute to the sour taste, or is there any flavor to it at all. Do you peel green tomatoes the same way as ripened tomatoes, which to me is a minute in boiling water?

- Lisa

Originally Posted by clkeiper

I just cleaned out my greenhouse this week and I picked almost a bushel of mostly green tomatoes. So, I looked for green tomato recipes in the internet and ran across a "Green Tomato Salsa" one. It was excellent I ended up making 33 pints this week. So I don't know why you can't substitute green toms for red ones, but I would use fresh peaches if I was doing the recipe. They may not have the right consistency after being canned twice. (maybe like syrup)

Here is a great green tomato salsa recipe and I am sure you could adapt it to use the peaches in it, too.

http://www.food.com/recipe/green-un-...canning-393491

I changed it a little bit. I put no onions in, my husband can't eat them, no oregano, I don't like it, no pepper, no cayenne pepper, and a little more sugar (just enough to take the sour out of it) nor did I follow the quantites to the "T"..I winged it with the ingredients I had or was too cheap to buy all of, like the red bell peppers. Here, they are $1.50 a piece right now.
Then I canned it in my pressure canner at 5lbs. pressure for 10 minutes.

[clkeiper]

no peeling of the tomatoes. Just dice or chop.

[Durgan]

http://durgan.org/2017/July%202017/11%20July%202017%20Garden%20Vegetables/HTML/ 11 July 2017 Garden Vegetables
Some garden vegetables were prepared for the evening meal. Four Yukon gold potato plants were dug yielding about four pounds, a few beets about four pounds and a basket of edible pod peas, along with the last Romaine lettuce for a salad. The potatoes were cooked in a Dutch Oven in the stove oven at 400F for an hour. The beets were separated from the green part and boiled in water on top of the stove for on hour. The roots were not cut to prevent bleeding. The tops were steamed separately. About two pounds of peas were steamed. A salad was made from the Romaine lettuce. The combination made a pleasant meal served with butter for four adults and two children. Canned cherry juice was served as for a beverage.

[b54red]

I don't know if this has been discussed or not. After years of freezing our homemade salsa we decided it just wasn't good enough. When it thawed out it was always very watery even though it was thick when frozen so we would have to strain in in order to enjoy it.

We decided to go back to canning it with one big change. We no longer put the cilantro in the salsa before canning it. We found that after opening a jar and adding fresh chopped cilantro that the flavor was so much better. We use another trick that keeps the flavor more fresh and that is after cooking the tomatoes a bit we strain them and put all that tomato water in a shallow wide pan and boil it down til it is about the consistency of tomato soup then add it back into the tomatoes before canning it. This makes the salsa much thicker and richer without overcooking the tomatoes.

Our salsa ingredients are:
Tomatoes
onions
garlic
jalapeno peppers
bell peppers
fresh lime juice
salt
sugar
cumin
cilantro- added when a new jar is opened not before canning

Pretty much each batch is done to taste so it is always a bit different but it is such a treat from December til June when the fresh tomatoes start bearing heavily.

Bill

Bill

[imp]

A good salsa is wonderful for many things as well as with chips. Thank you for posting that and the technique, will give it a try.

[Worth1]

I tried to freeze salsa--------once.

[oakley]

I freeze a couple dozen pints, some1/2 pints, and some flat-packed in
zip-locks every year. I suppose it depends how you like it. We prefer
a thinner salsa, not a thick tomato style like in the shelf stable grocery jars.

I do add fresh cilantro with the stems, fresh lime, and sometimes a grocery kumato or two.
Some fresh green onion available year round pretty cheap helps.

I do roast in the oven, low and slow, or in the smoker. That does remove some liquid
in evaporation. Then freeze.