I'm sorry to disagree, but I don't think there's enough acid there for a water bath version of salsa. My recipe, which was tested as safe to water bath, has only 4 pounds of tomatoes and 2 pounds of peppers and calls for 1 cup of vinegar. Limes are more acidic than vinegar, but still, that's a lot of vegetables.

The problem with salsa is that, unlike other products, it isn't heated before using. A 10 minute boiling period will "deactivate" the botulism spores that can kill you, so tomatoes in chili, or spaghetti sauce, etc., will probably get the 10 minute boil, just by the nature of them. Salsa is eaten straight from the jar, and so I'm extremely careful with it.

Now, you could, in theory, pressure can the stuff. I'd go for 35 minutes for pints, that's what NCHFP requires for peppers. There's no way to assure the safety, of course, since you are canning an untested recipe, but that's as close as I could get to a guess. Leave out the tomato paste, etc. and I'd stick to pints, just to make sure I got good heat penetration all the way through.

As for the "European method", that's just scary. Jams and jellies, OK, they aren't going to kill you. Even tomatoes are acidic enough and pickles have sufficient vinegar that it's not terrifying, even though it's "not recommended" by the USDA et. al. I do find I get a lot of bad seals and have quite a bit of spoilage with the open kettle, i.e. "European" method. I just don't want to waste all that good stuff, plus time and energy, so I give 'em a dunk in the boiling water, even Chase's pickles, although I used to do otherwise for Dad. Salsa, though, has those low acid vegetables and not all that much acid, I'd never consider it. You may do as you wish, of course.

Good luck!

Annie

I'll just forget the issue...I thought more tomato was acidic. More tomato than pepper than what you have. I don't think anything is about disagreeing at all. I thought more tomato to the pepper would help the acid.

I just all the sudden have the time but now am feeling ambivalent having done fine with the freezer method for so long...

Well, tomato is more acidic than pepper, but there's no way of telling how acidic, it's an "unknown factor". Acidity of tomatoes can be affected by weather, soil, variety, lots of things, including the time of season when they are harvested and whether they are affected by blight, disease, etc.

Some tomatoes no longer test high enough in acidity to can safely in a water bath, and NCHFP suggests adding lemon juice (which I dislike) or citric acid (which I use) to make sure the acidity is high enough for safe water bath canning.

As I said, I'm just super careful with something like salsa, meant to be eaten right out of the jar.

Annie

I've pressure canned salsa for 45 min. which was the recommended time on my pressure canning chart for green peppers, which were the longest item on the ingredient list. It came out blah, so definitely won't hold that fresh taste you like. Frozen salsa is not bad, I was surprised how good my "mexican style tomatoes" turned out from last year in the freezer. I wasn't initially going to freeze the stuff but I had the tomatoes to use up so I went with it and it was so good it inspired me to do it again this year. But I digress, that's not salsa. For salsa, the Boiling Water Bath ones are more "tart" than the fresh stuff you make, but still taste pretty good. Ball's recipe for "Zesty Salsa" is pretty good. You can use lemon or lime juice for some or all of the cider vinegar. Here's the linkBall's Zesty Salsa.

Also Nat'l Center for Home Food Preservation has a Mexican style tomato sauce recipe that sounds similar to what you are referring to. That sounds good, but not like a pico de gallo salsa by any means. Mexican tomato sauce

I would look at more recipes. Annie's also as 16 oz of tomato sauce and 16 oz of tomato paste, and I don't know what impact that has. I have canned tomato basil sauce (no peppers or onions) with just 1 T of lemon juice per quart and that processes in a water bath. It is typically heated through before serving, but not 10 min. I'm not sure how much vinegar is for flavor and how much is needed for safe water bath canning

This is the picante sauce recipe I got some 20+ years ago (adapted slightly over the years). I didn't can at the time, so I froze it. The tomatoes break down and you get a more watery end product. I'd drain off some liquid off the top if it was too much. The flaor was always great. Your total might not be that faar off.

Anyway -- for the sake of your comparisons:

Canned Picante Sauce

10 cups fresh tomatoes -- peeled and chopped
1 large onion -- chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic -- minced
1/2 cup vinegar
2 fresh jalepeno peppers -- minced
2 fresh anaheim peppers -- minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 Tablespoons chili powder
cilantro (optional)

Combine all ingredients in Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until you reach
the desired consistency, about 45-60 minutes. Cooking longer will break down
the tomatoes and thin the sauce.

Ladle into sterilized 1 pint canning jars. Fill to bottom ring (about 1/2 inch
head space). Wipe rims and seal.

Process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

If you're really lucky, you'll only get 5-1/2 pints and have to eat the 1/2.
You can mix the margaritas while the other jars process.

Yield: 6 pints

lascatx, I only added the tomato paste and sauce for texture, I couldn't get the product "thick" enough for my taste, but not too dense for safe water bath canning, so that was my solution.

Annie

I get that -- I just don't know what it does, if anything, to the acidity level. Probably not much since it is all tomatoes. After I saw your recipe and about a illion raves or it, we tried a hybrid recipe. I think we used a 6 oz can of tomato paste to a batch of our standard recipe and adjusted the seasoning. We made a lot of good salsa last summer. WIsh we'd gotten some in this year (no tomatoes and moving teo boys home for the summer and then to new apartments).

lascatx, I don't think it actually does much of anything to the acidity level, the amount added in a batch isn't that significant. I did test with ph papers (thanks, KatieC!), both before and after adding the sauce and paste and got nearly identical results both times. If I remember correctly, one batch was at 3.8 (with) and the other was 3.9 (without), and I made sure to put the paper up against a big ole' chunk of green pepper too. Now, is that failsafe? Of course not, it's "at home testing" without controls, but my ph papers showed little difference in the same batch before and after adding those ingredients, if that makes you feel any safer. I was more worried about the density of the final product than I was the change in acidity, as it can't be too thick, it must allow proper heat distribution.

No guarantees, of course, as the recipe was tested using those ingredients and not tested by the extension service without them.

Annie