Also, all ingredients are pureed in a food processor first.

couldn't I pressure can this at 11# pressure for 10 minutes?

You may can it at whatever pressure you wish for as long as you wish but you will still have no assurance of safety. It is strictly a do-at-your-own-risk recipe.

Not only is it a low-acid mix of vegetables with minimal acid added (when compared to most salsa recipes) but you are pureeing it first which only adds to the density issues.

Compare:

Mixed Vegetables processing time is 75-90 mins. Tomatoes with Zucchini is 30-35 mins. Mixed Vege Spaghetti sauce with no meat is 20-25 mins. Most of the approved salsa recipes call for at least 1-2 cups of added acid, not 3 T. Granted you would have some additional acidification from the citric acid added to the canned tomatoes. But is it enough?

Lastly this is a very small batch of ingredients hardly worth the time and energy expenditure to can it in such small amounts. Clearly intended as a make fresh recipe.

Trying to can your own salsa recipe is one of the things most warned against by USDA/NCHFP. The risks are just too hight. But the choice is always yours to make.

Dave

You could freeze it if you want to, but since all of the ingredients are either processed things available at the grocery store or storage vegetables, not sure why you would bother.

I multiply this recipe by 6 to can it. I could make fresh but don't have time to each time I'm I'm need of salsa and I hate store bought salsa. Is there a way to test ph levels and see if it's safe to can? Also since the only ingredients not previously canned would be onions and garlic wouldn't it be safe to pressure can it?

Commerical canning equipment is in no way equivalent to home canning equipment. Like I said, you could make a large batch and freeze it thought that would alter the texture.

Also since the only ingredients not previously canned would be onions and garlic wouldn't it be safe to pressure can it?

How does that follow? Those two ingredients are the highest risk/lowest acid ingredients. And "previously canned" isn't really a relevant point in home food preservation since processing already processed food isn't generally recommended anyway. Lastly just pressure canning something doesn't automatically make it "safe". The density remains an unknown factor and the time required is a guess at best. Look at the wide range of times I posted above that are established. How do you know where your salsa falls into the time range?

The bottom line is you are trying to force a non-canning recipe into a safe canning mode and there is simply no way anyone can assure you that is safe to do. Indeed it is strongly recommended against trying to do it by the safety guidelines. There are simply too many variables.

Your choice, your risk to take.

Dave

"1-2 cups of added acid, not 3 T."
Are these huge recipes? 1 to 2 cups of citric acid in a recipe the size of the OP's would make it incredibly inedible. Probably dangerous to ingest.

Oh, you mean a juice which is a weak solution of citric acid LOL. OK.
Agree that it's hard to figure out why the MHMom wanted to do this, given the main incredients were coming from canned sources anyhow. Why not just freeze small packets of the formula, and thaw and blend them as needed, starting with smaller cans of tomato?

"Lastly just pressure canning something doesn't automatically make it "safe".
Well, if you do it for long enough it does, but I guess that's the issue. Things lose their quality I suppose? I guess commercial packers these days have all sorts of tricks to preserve sensory quality and maintain safety that home canners don't have access to. When I was reading about this earlier this year I stumbled upon a fascinating article about the development of shelf stable dressings. Not something you can do at home.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 17:41

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans rotel
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/8 Cup pickled jalape�os
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup cilantro
3 Tbsp lime juice
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as you said, most of the ingredients have been previouslt canned (probably at higher temp/pressr.)

Adding 1/4 cup onion (= 2 oz) and a garlic to that much volume ( 128 oz + 2 cans of jalapeno ..) is so small. Plus are you acidifying it further by adding lime juice and also adding sugar. THEN on top of all that pressure canning (around 230F).
1/4 cup of onion plus a WHOLE garlic will constitute about ONE HALF OF ONE PERCENT.

That is how I put things into perspective and take a chance and go for a walk !!! I am not afraid of lightening either.

Thanks Seysonn, that's how I was looking at it too. I've read to pressure can for the amount of time which is the longest for each ingredient and with everything having been properly processed already this doesn't seem that dangerous to me. The pressure canner should kill anything that may have become contaminated during the mixing process and I've got some acid in it. Thanks for your input!

Musthavemom....you are guessing. This is a cooking recipe in question and not a canning recipe. You have Mom in your user name, are you serving children....I wouldn't, couldn't can this and offer it to children or my elderly mother either however the risk is yours to take.

It's nice you got someone to tell you what you wanted to hear, but there is no science behind the advice.

Is there a way to test ph levels and see if it's safe to can?
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Yes, a good reliable pH meter can do it. But, since you are PRESSURE canning, acidification is not a requirement. You would've needed that if you were processing by BWB method. Even with BWB a pH as high as 4.2 is ok, though on the edge. But again, you are not doing BWB.
So in fact you have a double edged sword as far as safety goes:
--1-- pressure canning mostly high acidic ingredients.
-- 2- acidifying, it even further by adding lime juice (not really required but won't hurt)

The bottom line is that you have to evaluate your procedure and decide what to do, based on the fundamental principles of canning.

But, since you are PRESSURE canning, acidification is not a requirement.

Since when???

That simply isn't true. The pH of the foods involved is one of the two primary factors in determining the length of the PRESSURE canning processing time required and the shelf storage life.

So, if you want to guess the pH, guess the processing time required, guess the amount of additional acid required to bring the pH down into the safe range and maintain it there during storage when pH normally rises all for the sake of some salsa recipe that is your choice.

We all make dumb choices every day and count on luck to protect us.

Dave

Somebody please answer this question:
Do you acidify beans, meats ..when pressure canning ?

If NOT, what is the reason for additional acidification for tomatos , which is already high acid. The acidity for BWB is pH of 4.6 and lower. Most tomatoes are almost there. Now we are talking about BWB, not pressure canning.
Additionally in PCing harmful bacteria, even including botulism bacteria/spores are killed.

Of course you don't acidify beans or meat. They would be unpalatable. However because they aren't acidified you do have to process them for far longer times than tomatoes. You want to process your tomatoes for 75-90 mins. in a pressure canner like meat? Go for it.

The goal is a safe AND an edible end product.

what is the reason for additional acidification for tomatos , which is already high acid.

Tomatoes are NOT high acid. For purposes of canning they are borderline low-acid.

All of the research done since the mid-1970s on tomatoes and their canning requirements is available to all in the NCHFP publications on their website. You only have to go and read it.

Additionally in PCing harmful bacteria, even including botulism bacteria/spores are killed.

Only if processed for a sufficient length of time and that amount of time varies with each food.

You want to eat a jar of chicken or beans that was only pressure canned for 10 min. and hope that all the spores were killed and that there are no cold pockets or insulated spores left in it? Good luck. The rest of us have more sense than to argue with all the research just for the sake of arguing.

Dave

Of course you don't acidify beans or meat. They would be unpalatable. However because they aren't acidified you do have to process them for far longer times than tomatoes. (Dave)
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Fine, and thanks . That is the answer I was looking for.

So if you pressure can an almost ZERO acid food WITHOUT acidifying, you can do tomatoes much much easily.
As far as processing time, it should not make a big difference if you do it say 15 minutes longer.

As far as processing time, it should not make a big difference if you do it say 15 minutes longer.

You don't have anyway of knowing whether that is enough extra time or not. It is just guessing.

Plus it would depend on if you were doing hot pack or raw pack, whole, halves, crushed, diced, etc. tomatoes. All would require different times.

But if you think your guess work is better than following lab tested instructions for some reason then feel free to guess away. You are the one who has to eat them.

Dave

If we had to wait for lab tests, the universe would have been totally unknown to us. There many other scientific methods than just testing everything in the lab.

Plus, I did not do "guess work ". It is called rationalism and empirical method. We can predict outcome without physical testing

YMMV

No one says you have to wait for lab testing but when it already exists then it is just plain foolish to ignore it.

In this particular case the scientific research has already existed for more than 40 years so need for any so-called empirical method research was eliminated long ago.

Dave

10 minutes at 10 psi will sterilize the contents, just let the pressure cooker cool slowly. I've been making batches of salsa for years (1.5 gallon batches) and usually add 1 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup lime juice and process in a pressure cooker. You should be fine.

This post was edited by DBA1954 on Fri, Oct 10, 14 at 12:55