Not HWB, BWB. HWB is Hot Water Bath, which is unsafe. Boiling Water Bath is the appropriate canning method today. Vinegar should still be used, but you can use cider vinegar, or lime juice instead, or both.

kayskats, yes, that's my final version. I use that recipe for the pressure canner, and if I want to process in a BWB I just up the vinegar to one cup. I don't think it affects the flavor of the salsa appreciably. I have cut down the salt a bit and left the sugar out altogether, but my girls don't like it without the sugar. The sweetness is very dependent on the tomatoes used, sometimes they are very sweet and then I think the additional sugar is too much. I tend to taste, then add a bit, then taste again until I get the flavor I like.

As for HWB and BWB, I use the term interchangeably, it all means 10 minutes (or whatever) in boiling water to me.

Annie

Annie wrote:

"I tend to taste, then add a bit, then taste again until I get the flavor I like."

Which is why SHE gets 6 pints and everyone else gets 7 pints!!
DARFC!!!

Deanna

so, I only need to have 6 jars ready .... thanks, all

I have to be honest with you...6 pints in my house...wouldn't last long enough to give it a HWB, BWB or to pressure can it...My husband lives on salsa and I buy the huge jars of paces just to use like most people use tomato sauce...I hope to have enoubh tomatos this summer to get some stock and I'll certainly do one or the other...but around here...it goes fast.

We don't use Annie's recipe per se, we use all fresh things, (no paste or sauce) and roast a lot of the stuff, and use some fruit in place of tomatoes, but I consult it from time to time to get a handle on the proportions of things. We no longer can salsa in pints. We use quart jars, or sometimes 24 oz. jars. Salsa is one thing I don't worry about having too much of, we eat it so fast. Plus my best friend's hubby loves it, so we keep him liking us by bringing jars over.

Marcia

There are only two people in my house, so a pint is just about right for us.

I have gotten some "mixed messages" on canning salsa in quarts. My extension service says there is no "safety rule" against it and the only reason most recipes say to can in pints is because they believe most families would only use pints of salsa. However, some of the other extension services say that it's not safe to waterbath salsa in quarts, but can't tell me why, I'm assuming it's a density issue with thick salsas. As usual, no one agrees. Sigh.

At any rate, I can all mine in pints and so it isn't an issue for me, but anyone contemplating canning my recipe in quarts should know this information and decide for themselves.

Annie

I assume it's similar to fish. Only in the last edition of "So Easy to Preserve" has the National Center for Home Food Preservation come up with recommended times for quarts as opposed to pints. Their funds are limited and I know from email correspondence they're constrained in the testing they can afford.

For example, I asked them why there's no recommended time for processing tomato paste in a pressure canner. Given its density pressure canning seems much more appropriate. I was told they don't have the original USDA testing documentation for BWB. If they had that they could extrapolate a time for pressure canning. But without the data they have to start from scratch and they simply can't afford it.

So I'm guessing it's not that canning salsa in quarts is necessarily unsafe; it's that safety hasn't been proven. Where you fall on that line in terms of your tolerance for risk is entirely personal. Some feel the NCHFP and Ball are too conservative; others want the comfort of tested formulas.

Personally, I don't think salsa, with its high proportion of low-acid vegetables, is a good product for inexperienced canners to innovate with. Anyone new to the Forum should be cognizant of the risks.

Carol

Carol, when you say
"Personally, I don't think salsa, with its high proportion of low-acid vegetables, is a good product for inexperienced canners to innovate with."

does the same caution apply to relishes, sauces, chutney, etc?

If you wanted to change the heat of a salsa, would you add dried peppers rather than ground fresh?

It would depend on the recipe. I hate to give that answer since I know it's not terribly helpful but some fruit relishes, for example, are primarily high-acid ingredients while vegetable relishes are low-acid. The same would be true of sauces and chutneys, etc.

That's why you so often see recipes posted on the Forum with questions about whether certain ingredients can be eliminated, increased, etc.

You do have some latitude to play around with things. Take your question about the heat of a salsa. Let's say the recipe called for 1 cup of sweet red pepper and 1/4 cup of hot peppers. You want it hotter and you aren't so crazy about sweet reds. The total amount of peppers is 1 1/4 cup, so you could have 3/4 cup of sweet reds and 1/2 cup of hot peppers. The total amount of low-acid veggies is the same. The important thing is you haven't changed the proportions of the recipe.

Also be sure you don't change the preparation. Safe-tested recipes allow for some variation. For example, if the recipe says "chopped peppers" not everyone will chop the pieces the same size. But if you ground those peppers up instead, then a cup of ground peppers is a lot more by weight than a cup of chopped peppers. So, again, you've altered the proportions of the recipe and increased the ratio of low-acid vegetables. That can be risky.

Or, as you suggested, you could add a good tablespoon or whatever of hot red pepper flakes. Just as you could adjust any other seasonings - less cumin, more peppercorns, etc. As long as the seasonings are dried, not fresh herbs.

Carol

So, if I wanted to change the texture of a recipe calling for 10 cups ground veggies, I could use 10 cups of the same veggies coarsely chopped. If I keep everything else the same I'd be decreasing the gross weight and density which would increase the ratio of acid to veggies. I might not like the taste, but I'd be safe??????? (Assuming the original recipe is safe, which I'm realizing isn't always the case) But I would not be safe if I ground veggies when the recipe specified chopped???

Yes.

This is also why many recipes now specify by weight or measure rather than number, i.e. old recipe says "Two medium bell peppers, chopped." New recipe says, "1 cup chopped peppers" or "8 oz. chopped peppers."

Many of us prefer to use a scales and go by weight as it's more accurate.

Carol

the recipes I hate most are the ones that mix it up

1 peck tomatoes
l lb hot peppers
2 chopped onion
1 cup sweet peppers

kay
.