Salsa/Sauces

[Jkinzer4]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

I always pressure can my salsa. Pressure canning is much safer for salsa recipes that contain a fair amount of low acid vegetables and no vinegar. I am still using up my 2010 vintage (I tend to make more than I eat and I like to keep some reserve in case of a crop failure).

TomNJ/VA

Do you cook salsa before pressure canning? Every recipe I have found says to cook first.

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by Jkinzer4

Do you cook salsa before pressure canning? Every recipe I have found says to cook first.

Yes I boil down my salsa to about 2/3 of the original volume before canning.

TomNJ/VA

[lavanta]

This is a very flavorful tomato sauce that is great for meat balls (turkey or beef). Not very good for pasta. It came from a TV show. I make a bunch of these and freeze for winter.
-----------------------------

GRANDMA LOUISE’S TOMATO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS
• 6 lb Beef or Heirloom tomatoes
• 4 Star anise
• 1 Vanilla pod
• Sea salt & cracked black pepper to season
• White sugar
• 2 Sprig fresh thyme
• 1-2 Bay leaves
INFUSION
• Fresh garlic
• 28gm bunch fresh basil ( a big bunch)
• Extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Place a heavy cast pan to heat up.
2. Wash the tomatoes and halve roughly.
3. Place into the hot pan and season with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar.
4. Add the bay leaves, thyme, anise and vanilla.
5. Allow the tomatoes to start to cook then press them gently with a masher to help them to release their juice.
6. Reduce the heat down to just simmering and continue for about 2 - 3 hours until a thickened. This slow evaporation of the moisture from the tomatoes will produce a deep color concentrated flavor without any bitterness.
7. Add the garlic and after 3-4 minutes turn off the heat.
8. Add basil to the warm paste and finish with a good amount of olive oil to finish the infusion. Allow to cool and remove basil, bay leaves, star anise, and vanilla bean before storing.

NOTES
• If you have added too much sugar to start this can be balanced out with a touch of vinegar.
• Always taste the tomatoes uncooked to determine their natural sweetness before you add the sugar.
• The amount of garlic to infuse with greatly depends on its strength; again make your own judgment.
• Additional seasoning such as cumin, fennel seeds, chili etc can be added this is of course personal taste again.

[Isabelle]

Bumping this thread to ask a question. It's already been asked, but I still have some hesitancy.

I like the taste of canned salsa better if it's not boiled down before canning it. Most every recipe that I've seen says to cook it for a certain amount of time. Is this just a preference thing, or is it really unsafe to not cook it first.

Also, I prefer lime juice to vinegar in salsa. Would one use the same amount of lime juice as the amount of vinegar listed in the recipe? Or more or less?

Thanks in advance!

[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.

[Worth1]

I'm going to step in here if I may?
Not to distract from anything Barb said but I have yet to use a "recipe" to make salsa.
Mostly because I dont like cooked salsa.
Here is my unapproved USDA method of doing it but please bear with me.
Not only do I not use vinegar and use bottled lemon or lime just I also put in some citric acid.
Now here is the kicker all if this stuff goes in a refrigerator to stop what is called fermentation.

To get a jar to seal you have to heat op the salsa on a kettle and put it in jars.
This industry just does this and let the jars seal.
The have equipment to do this and the jars and lids are steamed to kill bacteria ans spores that otherwise are hard to kill in the home.
This is why we are asked to then put our jars in a hot water bath to make sure they are sealed.
You wont find fresh salsa in a jar or any other container that isn't refrigerated.

There is another method I have used called fermentation once it get to the level I want I then put this stuff in the refrigerator.
On final note.

I feel there should be more testing but there isn't.

And there is a fool born every minute of the day.
These goof balls are the reason why the Safe food folks have things set up the way they do.
They simply cannot take responsibility for these so called fools and or variances in processing conditions in the average home.

My advice make the fresh salsa go over kill on the acid the way I do and put it in a dedicated refrigerator.
You can also visit the pH of food thread I have posted here to get an idea of the acidity of foods.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=38672
Worth

[coronabarb]

Worth, if you are not going to can the salsa, you can make it any way you want. Also, the point of water bath canning is not just to seal the jars. I read every day how people put hot good in jars, flip them to get them to seal and all is well. Nope. Sealing the jar by flipping as opposed to water bathing just seals in any mold spores or other microorganisms. JUST sealing the jar is not the goal. Destroying microorganisms, then sealing the jar is. Processing brings the food up to temp inside to kill any *thingies* floating around in your kitchen that get into the food while you put it in the jars. I'm quite sure you know this. NCHFP and Ball spend lots of dinero testing recipes so that anyone can make them and know they are safe. Yes, they have a big margin of error built in. NCHFP just released several new salsa recipes a little over a year ago.

[Worth1]

Barb I think I skimmed through the part about the environment and water bath a little bit.
The big canneries have this controlled environment we dont.
Plus everything goes on inside machines and or equipment.

They really need to have more information on canning cured meats and they dont.

Worth

[coronabarb]

Cured meats...this is true. While my MFP instructor, food safety specialist who developed the MFP course in Oregon 35 yrs ago says she does can ham, NCHFP says that the curing process changes density and moisture content (which it does). Hoping they can get the funding to do some testing. It always comes down to money. Maybe they could find some if enough people demand it.

[Worth1]

I have done a lot of reading on it and one of the problems is the way it is cured.
If it is brine cured or dry salt cured.
It is beyond me why anyone would want to can a dry cured ham.
Thew information is out there, they just dont want to stick their necks out and I done blame them.
Way too many variables to consider.
Where as large canning companies have their own lab experts that test their products and the way they do it.
Plus the canning process is way different than how we do it at home.
Something you simply cant do on a stove with a pressure canner.

The food in the plastic pouches on a shelf still creeps me out.

Worth

[coronabarb]

My MFP instructor said that all commercial canning processing is done at least 260 degrees, and much quicker than what we do. Not duplicable in home kitchens. I'm not a fan of food in pouches either. The pouch is actually like canning in a jar but people think it is like vacuum sealing. I had a gal call me on our state food safety hotline once wanting to transport canned tuna (she had removed it from the jars) which she then vacuum sealed in bags. She was flying from Portland Oregon to NYC! She was more than irritated with me when I tried to explain how that was very unsafe (actually a botulism risk) taking it at room temp for so many hours sealed w/o oxygen. Common sense and thinking ability is a rare and beautiful thing!

[Worth1]

I spent a whole day reading about the equipment and how they do it.
Including technical manuals on steam pressures how to trouble shoot repair and the works.
The steam pressure on a high pressure steam locomotive is around 200 to 250 PSI.
I cant remember what it was in these big processors but it isn't anything you would want in the house.

Worth

[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!

[Worth1]

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!

No kidding brother.
I looked on line for a pictuer of the molder I use to run and they had so many safety guards on it I couldn't find the molder.
This all to keep some idiot from cutting his finger off.
Because I can assure you that if one of those 1/2 pound knives comes loose spinning at 7000 RPM no guard it going to stop it.
Before I die I want to buy a brand new All American canner and blow it up with steam pressure with a remote gauge just to see what the puppy will really take.

Worth

[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.