How much did you make & fast will you go through it?
Is it possible to just store this batch in the fridge and then use bottled juice in future batches?

If not, you technically should reprocess. :-(

If it were me (and I'm NOT advising this, just MY thoughts)....
IF I had used the full cup of vinegar, I wouldn't redo them. I'd eat them up quickly.

That said, salsa is one of the riskiest items to can. That's why it's important to follow a tested recipe.

Deanna

Freeze it.

Dave

Thanks, ive decided to add the bottled lemon and lime juice. Ive also added more sugar and i will reprocess. Thanks for the help!!!

I started a similar thread because I used low-acid cider vinegar. If I put my salsa in the fridge and eat it up fast....what exactly is "fast"?

what exactly is "fast"?

In part it depends on the temperature you keep you fridge at. But listeria will grow to dangerous levels even in the fridge within 3 weeks, not to mention molds and other bacteria. If your salsa had been safely acidified then maybe 3 months. But yours wasn't and as I posted in your other post, your use of an off-brand of key lime juice (they aren't the same) is also in question along with your low acid vinegar. So I'm afraid your salsa is going to have a very short safe life.

The choice is yours but as was recommended in your other post by Linda Lou, freezing or totally reprocessing, depending on how old it is, are your only real options. If it is more than 24 hours old then pitch it.

Just to clarify for future reference, canning recipes call for 5% vinegar as the minimum acceptable and that means good brand name vinegar that is stabilized. The same goes for lemon and lime juice - bottled, not fresh, brand name because it is higher acid and stabilized, not off brands, and lime not key limes for the best results.

Dave

I just bought Nellie and Joe's Key Lime juice, called them, they said it was 7.2% acidity. Is anything over 5% OK? Or should I save that for Key lime pie and use the Realime brand?

Regular bottles of lemon and lime juice (as in ReaLemon and ReaLime) is rated as being 2x as acidic as vinegar and is concentrated and stabilized. That is why it is the recommended brand. It is the brand that was used in all the testing.

The choice is yours as long as you understand that what the instructions call for and what you bought/used aren't the same thing and aren't as acidic. And that key limes, while more acidic than regular limes, are also considered to be more bitter tasting.

Dave

So ReaLime is 10%? Does that mean you only need 1/2 C instead of 1C in Annie's if used in place of vinegar? I do have an off-brand of bottled lemon juice I've been using in jam and in the last batch of salsa (4.5 oz lime from the squeeze bottle and rest of the cup the lemon juice, all the salsa went into the fridge and we ate it all weekend - we only have 1 pint left), so maybe use half ReaLime and half the lemon? Or would 5% vinegar be better than the lemon? Never knew there was a problem with discount-brand lemon juice. Thanks.

Does that mean you only need 1/2 C instead of 1C in Annie's if used in place of vinegar?

No it doesn't. Please do not read into it any more than what is said.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of vinegar. You have a choice of the acids you can use instead of all or part of the vinegar only because we know that brand name bottled lemon or lime juice is stronger than vinegar so it can be safely substituted. NCHFP says "bottled lemon juice can be substituted for vinegar because it is more acidic but vinegar cannot be substituted for bottled lemon juice."

Which you use - vinegar or lemon or lime or a mixture of all three is up to you. It is a matter of different taste.

So that does NOT, in any way, mean that you can cut the total amount called for in the recipe.

Many discount brand bottled juices, be they apple, grape. orange, lemon, or whatever contain varying degrees of the actual juice so label reading is a must. There was a recent news story 3 or 4 months back about one of the common store/generic brands that actually contained no, none, zero juice of the of fruit on its label - just sugars and water, some rind and food colorings.

Buyer beware. ;)

Dave