Sorry for all the ?s, very new to canning and don't want to give anyone food poisoning but would love to have homemade salsa readily available.

Mold is not the issue. Generally salsas are not susceptible to molds and even if they were, mold can be detected by sight and smell and the contents discarded.

The risk is from far more significant pathogens like botulism. Sometimes botulism can be detected but most often there will be no visible sign of its presence. The low-acid ingredients in salsas (i.e. peppers, onions, fresh herbs, garlic) are all wonderful "hosts" for botulism which also loves an anaerobic environment. So a sealed jar of low acid veggies is just what botulism spores prefer.

That means the acid level has to be sufficient to assure no risk of botulism is present.

You know that you're getting the right levels of acid by using only tested recipes. Winging it and canning your own unique salsa is one of the worst ways to begin a canning career.

As far as canned tomatoes are concerned, the problem I have with that is you're re-canning an already canned product to make another canned product, which is incredibly wasteful of lids, utilities and time. It's simply not energy-efficient, not to mention the nutritional loss of double cooking. It would be better to freeze chopped peppers and onions and just make a batch off-the-cuff with the canned tomatoes during the year.

Carol

One of the most difficult things for all of us to accept when we first start out canning is that we can't can our personal recipes safely.

But sometimes recipes can be adjusted to work. If you'd care to post your recipe and all its specific ingredients and details we might be able to help adjust it. No guarantees but we are willing to try.

Dave