In an effort to waste as few of my plethora of tomatoes as possible this year i have canned about 20 pints of sauce and am now moving on to salsa.  My question is anyone have a recipe that does not require vinegar?

 

I tried one straight from the Ball canning site and the vinegar taste was all i could taste.  I know there are rules around acidity levels and the like in regards to tomatoes and i don't want to get anyone sick around here so just wondering if there are any people with more experience than me that can share their recipes.

 

I know for my sauce they said to add in lemon juice to keep the acidity level high enough and not change the flavor, can i do the same with the salsa and use lime juice instead or is there something i am missing here....

 

 

Is the vinegar being used to preserve the salsa?

yes, unless you use a pressure canner you need to maintain a certain acidity level to prevent organism growth and tomatoes are right on the border so most recipes add in vinegar or other acid to bring the level to where it should be.  

 

I did do a little research and it said you can replace vinegar with bottled lemon or lime juice in a recipe but not the reverse

I think the acidity is overall about even between lemons and limes, but I know my mother has always used bottled lemon juice (yuck) for consistency's sake; fresh citrus can vary in acidity quite a bit, she says.

 

You might try crystalline citric acid, which will bump up the acidity without amping up that awesome vinegar flavor. Personally, I'm planning on gutting and freezing our extra tomatoes. I'll let you know come February if they make acceptable salsa or not. 

 

Good luck!

I read the same thing about fresh citrus and all the recipes advise using bottled stuff.  I was skeptical when using it in my tomato sauce but i couldn't taste a difference when we uncorked a jar the other night.  

 

I opened a jar and cooked it a little more and added some sugar to see if that can help cut the vinegar flavor so if that works, i will at least not have to throw out all the salsa i already made and just add sugar to it when we open it up.

My wife cans all the time and she says that tomatoes already have the right pH so there is no need to add vinegar or lemon juice.  She said if you feel the need, then use the lemon juice in the bottle.  You get a consistent pH with that and no variation.  Doesn't take more than about a teaspoon she says.  Just her 2 cents.

My wife cans all the time and she says that tomatoes already have the right pH so there is no need to add vinegar or lemon juice.  She said if you feel the need, then use the lemon juice in the bottle.  You get a consistent pH with that and no variation.  Doesn't take more than about a teaspoon she says.  Just her 2 cents.

So i was reading about that and apparently tomatoes over the past 20 years or so have less acidity than before and they are right on the border of the right acidity level.  For salsa you are adding other ingredients which could bring the level down to levels that aren't safe for botulism i believe that water bath canning won't kill.  Like i said i am new to all this so this is just from my own research lol  All the spaghetti sauce canning recipes i saw did say to add a teaspoon of lemon juice for each pint.

 

I am gonna try it with adding lime or lemon juice because i like that flavor in my salsa anyways.....

The vinegar helps in the preservation of the salsa over time.  You can try without it but I don't think it would last as long.  All depends on how long you intend to keep it around.  If it goes fast I wouldn't worry about it.

So i was reading about that and apparently tomatoes over the past 20 years or so have less acidity than before and they are right on the border of the right acidity level.  For salsa you are adding other ingredients which could bring the level down to levels that aren't safe for botulism i believe that water bath canning won't kill.  Like i said i am new to all this so this is just from my own research lol  All the spaghetti sauce canning recipes i saw did say to add a teaspoon of lemon juice for each pint.

 

I am gonna try it with adding lime or lemon juice because i like that flavor in my salsa anyways.....

I have read the same thing, but there is way more into it than just the tomatoes.  The soil type, the water, the growing season and many more factors play into the acidity of a tomato.  Would be impossible to make a general statement that the tomatoes themselves were less acidic.  I am sure they have crossbread some to be less acidic, but I doubt the tomatoes as whole have changed.  I also grow using heirloom seeds so that can make a difference as well.  When in doubt just use the lemon juice or pressure can.  My wife has been doing it this way for a while now and only ever had one jar of Salsa go bad...we knew it the moment we grabbed the jar and the top wasn't sealed any longer.