Remember our parents and grandparents used 15% Vinegar for pickling! Now it’s only 5% Vinegar and you are cutting it 3:1!! Not a good idea! You have 2.5% Vinegar just using a 1:1 ratio! Your canning salt ratio needs to be 1 measuring cup per gallon of brine (vinegar + water combined). i don’t know if you are boiling them on a low boil for a minimum of 12-14 minutes for ”low-temperature pasturization” and making certain they ”set up properly” or stay sealed prior to storing them on the shelves to cure for 30 days, or if you are planning on refrigerating them once you finish canning and allow them to cool down! if you fail to boil them and place them on the shelf, they will develop a botulism that can be fatal! Just my thoughts! Been putting up pickles for over 40 years and two of my proteges have used my recipe and won the Blue in the Minnesota State Fair 2007 & 2014

Hello Dave (or anyone else) you seem pretty knowledgeble in the area of canning and wanted your advice. I wanted to try this recipe, but wanted to make more changes taking into consideration what you have said and suggested. I have a ball caning book and can't find that recipe in it or anywhere else on line. The one I did find that resembles this recipe calls for 6 lbs of tomatoes (or 10 cups), not 12 lbs. 12 lbs seems like alot of tomatoes. Was that an error? I mean, did you really mean 6 lbs and not 12 lbs? I have some questions and would appreciate your help. 1.) Is there any reason that you can't just chop up the tomatoes leaving the skins & seeds in the salsa? I never take off the skin or remove the seeds--seems like such a waste of tomato to me. 2.) I also leave the seeds in my hot peppers because I want HOT HOT HOT salsa. Is this okay as long as the measurements include the seeds? 3.) Recipes always say not to change the amount of peppers or onions but you can change the types of onions or peppers. I'm wondering if you can reduce the amount of peppers or onions or garlic as long as you keep the vinegar or lemon juice the same? Since I like HOT HOT HOT salsa...I like to use hot peppers so I need fewer of them. I really don't like recipes that call for lbs. or a number of vegetables such as this recipe. Since the size of a pepper or tomato or onion ranges in size...I prefer an exact measured amount to be listed in a recipe. I do like it if they give an approximate number of the veggie in perentheses next to the measured number so you have an idea of how much you need...that's always nice :) In my opinion, this recipe calls for too little vinegar for the amount of stuff in it--as you pointed out to the poster of the recipe. I changed up the recipe and put it in exact measurements and wanted your advice on it. The changes I made are... 1.) I omitted the jalepeno peppers. 2.) I decreased the amount of garlic...since 1 clove of garlic is approximately 1/2 tsp...and the 15 cloves in the recipe = approximately 7.5 tsps and there are 3 tsps. to 1 TBSP...I just made it 2 TBSPS. 3.) I added one more cup of pineapple to make it a total of 4 Cups. 4.) I went with 10 cups of tomatoes (6 lbs.--not 12 lbs.) 5.) I omitted the option of chili flakes since I use hot peppers with their seeds. 6.) I doubled the amount of vinegar...and instead of vinegar used equal portions of lemon and lime juice) 7.) I used hot peppers chopped with seeds included (8 of them, plus two habeneros and they totaled 1 cup and I did not soak them in hot water and puree them) Here is my changed version of the recipe: 10 Cups chopped tomatoes (I use the whole tomato--skin and seeds) 3 Cups chopped onions 2 TBSP chopped garlic 1 Cup chopped hot peppers (I use a mix of red/green sorreno/chili peppers and habenero's including the seeds) 4 Cups chopped pineapple 1/4 Cup fresh cilantro 1 TBSP salt 1 1/2 Cups lemon and lime juice (3/4 cup each) What do you think of the changes? Carol, from Idaho :)

Here's my notes for the Multi-Use sauce. I made it once with peppers, but we didn't like it, so it kinda fell off my radar. * Exported from MasterCook * Multi-Use Tomato Sauce Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 10 plum tomatoes -- (about 2 1/2 lbs./1 kg) 10 large tomatoes -- peeled and chopped (about 4 lbs./2 kg) 4 large garlic cloves -- minced [1 garlic clove minced = 1 teaspoon] 2 large stalks celery -- chopped [1 stalk celery = 1/2 cup diced per PPG (Ball's Produce Purchase Guide] 2 medium carrots -- chopped [6 medium = 1 lb. = 3 cups sliced or 2-1/2 cups shredded per PPG, so I weigh the carrots and usually average 1 scant cup chopped] 1 large onion -- chopped [3 to 4 medium onions = 1 lb. onions = 2-1/2 cups chopped per PPG. weigh the onions. 1 medium should be 3/4 cup - I use 1 cup chopped for "large"] 1 large zucchini -- chopped [3 medium = 1 lb = 3 cups sliced. 1 medium = 1 cup sliced. I use 1 "large" = 1 cup chopped] 1 large sweet green pepper -- chopped [1 large = 6 to 8 ozs. = 1-1/4 cups chopped] 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes -- (125 mL) 2/3 cup dry red wine -- (150 mL) 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (5% strength or more) -- (125 mL) 2 bay leaves 1 tablespoon pickling salt -- (15 mL) 2 teaspoons dried oregano -- (10 mL) 2 teaspoons dried basil -- (10 mL) 1 teaspoon granulated sugar -- (5 mL) (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon -- (2 mL) (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper -- (2 mL) 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley -- (50 mL) Combine tomatoes, celery, garlic, onion, zucchini and green pepper in a very large non-reactive pan. Add 1 cup (250 mL) water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, covered, for 25 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Soak sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water until softened. Drain and dice. Add to sauce with wine, vinegar, bay leaves, salt, oregano, basil, sugar, cinamon and pepper. Continue to boil gently until desired consistency, stirring frequently. Discard bay leaves and stir in parsley. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Process in a BWB 35 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars and 40 minutes for quart (1 L) jars. Yield: "12 cups" Basically, it ended up with one cup of each of the vegetables. Yes, you can use your own sun-dried tomatoes. Even though reconstituted, they add a much richer flavor and much better texture than just adding additional fresh tomatoes. I guess you could use cooking wine. I never buy the stuff and I have no idea if the pH is significantly different than a dry red wine. You might not need any salt. Taste it BEFORE you add any. Did you know that different salts weigh out differently? 1 cup table or pickling salt = 10 ounces 1 cup Morton's Salt = 7.5 ounces 1 cup of Diamond Crystal = 5 ounces Plus the others on the very nice blog post I refer to. I do a lot of brining and corning of meat, and the brine % is uber important in making a safe product. That's when I learned all salt is not created equal (in weight :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Salt by Weight

Sigh -- it won't grow in NC even in the mountains. It is just too humid in this State and doesn't get or stay cold long enough or ground frozen deep enough as it does in the Northern States, which is what it needs, and it gets too warm in the summer for them. In my research, here and there are a few old plants growing in NC but they are always spindly and bitter rather than sour. Having been raised in Ohio I remember that everybody seemed to have a pass-a-long heritage rhubarb plant and I thought it would grow anywhere. Not so. Sigh -- Sure would be nice to trade some rhubarb stems from zone 4 or 5 for our native Muscadine or Scuppernog grapes zone 6, 7 (best), 8 and 9. I know those grapes can't be grown in the North! Nancy