How To Make Salsa

I'm bored today and kind of wishing I had gotten the ingredients to make more salsa this week at the farmer's market, so I'll just post about making salsa instead. I've made 3 double batches so far and have 18 qts. I still have to do at least one more batch to make it through the winter, until tomatoes are ready next year. Plus, I like to have extra to give as gifts and bring to get togethers, so I'll probably make two more batches. One mild and one super hot. I've been trying to get a hot batch for Mike, but can't seem to get the right combo down yet, but I'm close...This last batch I made was a very flavorful medium, and I was very happy with it!

So, if you're interested in the process and maybe want to get into canning, I can give you a mini tutorial on how to do it. Here's a link to salsa recipe I'm using. I water bath all my produce. It's just what all my family have done, and what I've grown up with. I'm sure pressure cooking is ok, just have never done it. I'm going to gear this towards salsa, since that's what I make the most of, but you can use a lot of these techniques in most canning.

Items you will need to can salsa

 You need a few basics to get you started that make the whole process a little easier. You will need a large canner to bath your filled jars, a large non-stick pot to cook your produce, a pot to have boiling water large enough for your jars and lids, a couple of plates to keep down the mess, a jar rack keeps the jars off the direct heat and helps them not to break, a jar lifter is a big help but not totally necessary, a tongs or lid lifter to get lids out of boiling water, a canning funnel, ladle, a clean towel and dish rag, jars, lids and covers. If you're just getting started, a lot of times you can get a started kit with all of the stuff you need. I got a lot of my stuff from my mom. Before I forget, one of the most important thing she taught me was to use new lids every year. You may never get a good enough seal with them after the first time they're used.

In making salsa, there are a few things that might help you in the long run of making it. Since finding your favorite recipe is trial and error, I'll give some pointers I've figured out along the way. First of all, the type of tomatoes you choose to use can help in the amount of cooking time needed to make the salsa the consistency you like. We all love juicy tomatoes, but they aren't really the best choice in making salsa. Find a good, meaty variety. A few I use are Big Boy, Beefsteak, and Roma, but there are lots of varieties.

Next is figuring out how spicy you want your salsa to be. I'm going to come out and say right away that our family has long since killed off its taste buds from eating such hot peppers, but I do keep in mind that a lot of people like milder salsa. I will try to give a frame of reference on how we like it and what most people would probably think of its spiciness. For some of the most common peppers used, pablanos are lowest on the spicy scale, next come plain chilies, jalapenos, Serranos, Tabasco peppers, and then habaneros. Even if you're going for a milder salsa, don't be afraid to use a few of the next higher level spicy peppers to round out the flavor. The more varieties of peppers you put in, the more flavorful salsa you're going to get. You can also change the spiciness by leaving out the seeds. It's a good way to get the flavor of a pepper, but not all the heat.

This year, my first batch was only half seeded and half not seeded habaneros and I was expecting it to turn out super hot, but it ended up being somewhat boring flavorwise and pretty medium for us. My second batch, Mike got his way and we went with all jalapenos. I had small ones and used almost 50 jalapenos with seeds. I thought that would end up being my super hot batch, but it really wasn't too spicy. Probably on the top end of medium for us, but pretty spicy and closer to hot for most. This last batch I made was by far the most flavorful. I had no idea how it was going to turn out with so many different types of peppers in it. I had a lot to use up in my fridge, so it was quite the smorgasbord of peppers. I used 6-8 chilies, 10 small jalapenos, a dozen small Tabasco peppers, and 6 yellow jalapenos (not sure what their name is) all with seeds. I may have taken some seeds out as I went, the easy to take ones, but didn't take out a lot. It really did turn out very well and was a good medium with a little bit of after-burn, but it didn't last long. It only goes to show that these recipes are a lot about preference and there is a ton of room for forgiveness if you think you've made a mistake. Don't be afraid to leave some seeds in, especially in the less spicy varieties, they really give a lot of flavor.

When it comes to wiggle room, there is tons in the recipe I have listed previously. If you don't have quite enough tomatoes, don't fret, just add more of the other veggies. I've also changed the amounts of some of the ingredients like garlic (we love it, so instead of 3 cloves I usually put in 2 full small heads in a double recipe), cumin, and the amount of onions. You can change the amounts of pretty much everything in the recipe. The only ingredients I wouldn't mess around with would be the amount of vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Those are three pretty crucial ingredients for how the produce cure and will keep.

So, onto the process. In general it takes me at least 4 hours to get a full double batch done, start to finish. A double batch has pretty consistently been giving me 6 quarts of salsa. You can cut down that time by scouring your tomatoes as they become ready from your garden, and throwing them in the freezer. That way you just have to thaw them out and throw them in your cooking pot on canning day. As they become ready, you can also cut up your peppers, onions and garlic and throw them in the freezer also. All this can make things much easier on canning day. I can't do any of this because I get my veggies at the farmers market and I don't have ample enough freezer space. So I've learned to streamline the whole process as much as possible to make it as quick as possible.

Here's a quick overview of the whole process.

1. First thing I do is start a large pot of water boiling to get the skins off the tomatoes. 
2. I core and put an X in the bottom of the tomatoes to get them ready to put in the boiling water.
3. Pull off the skins, do a rough dice and throw them in the cooking pot that is sitting next to my cutting board.
4. I start cooking the tomatoes to give them a head start.
5. I dice my remaining veggies and add to the cooking pot.
6. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer (stirring often).
7. While salsa is simmering, I get jars, lids and covers ready along with the funnel, ladle and towels I'll need. 
8. During the last half hour of cooking, I start boiling the water in my canner. About 10 minutes after that I start the water to sterilize my jars and lids.
9. With my limited space, when the salsa is finished cooking, I take the pot off and put it to the side. I have the canner on the far left and put the sterilizing pot on the right, next to the pot of salsa. Next to that I put a plate for holding the jar and one for the ladle. 
10. When ready to start, I put a jar in the water to sterilize, dry and put on a plate.
11. Next I'll fill it with salsa and clean and dry the lip of the jar with the dish rag (always using a clean part).
12. When filled, I sterilize the lid and make sure the rubber is dry, trying not to mess with the middle of the lid too much. Then I put it on the jar and put on a cover. 
13. I then set the full jar in my nearby rack.
14. When the rack is full, I set it into the canner where the water isn't boiling. Bring it to a boil and start the timer. 
15. When finished, pull out jars wrapped in a towel in an area that doesn't have a draft for about a day. Make sure all the lids have popped. If they don't, just put in the fridge and use first.

Scored tomatoes

The more you do this process, the easier it gets. Also, I do this a little different than the recipe states, but that's because I don't have a dishwasher to sterilize and heat my jars. I can't get them hot enough to self seal, so I put them in a water bath to make sure they seal. If you do use a dishwasher to heat and sterilize, you NEED to make sure everything stays steaming hot, otherwise you won't get the jars to self-seal. I never quite trust that method, so I water bath, but Mike's grandma has been doing it that way for years. I can't emphasize how much the jars NEED to stay hot though. Even if you do the jars in the dishwasher, I would still put the lids on the stove to boil, because you can't keep those hot enough in the dishwasher.

Tomatoes scouring in pot

So here's a more in depth explanation of the process, if you need a little more help. I start the day by coring my tomatoes and making an X in the bottom of them. You do this to help you get the skin off. Next they go into boiling water until the skins start coming off. The time can vary with how ripe your tomatoes are. I then pull them out and put them in a strainer on top of a plate next to my stove. When I'm all finished with that, I pull all the skins off. Then I move over to my cutting board and start halving and dicing the tomatoes. I like to leave them pretty chunky, because we like a thick, chunky salsa. When finished, I put the pot on the stove and start to simmer to get the time rolling.

Chopping tomatoes

While the tomatoes are simmering, I start to cut up the rest of my vegetables. I use the aid of a food processor to help cut down the work and time spent on doing it. First I'll usually do the peppers, then onions and finally hotter peppers. Since we do like our salsa hotter, I don't waste my time taking out a lot of the seeds in the peppers. If you will be seeding them, I do suggest wearing gloves, as you can burn your fingers and anything else you touch. I've cut enough where it doesn't bother me anymore. The thing that always gets me though, are the onions. They'll blind me sometimes, they're so strong. I should probably do those last, so I don't chop off my fingers...If you do use a processor, put in smaller amounts and  pulse it until most of your ingredients are bite size, so you don't puree your veggies. If you are using a spicier pepper, be aware you may get a coughing fit from catching a whiff. I catch myself doing it even when I'm washing the dishes from them.

Mixed and ready to simmer

When all the veggies are in the pot, I give a good stir and then put in the remaining ingredients. Make sure you stir often. If your salsa burns to the bottom of your pot, you can ruin a whole batch. Even if you do a double batch, I've found that the 1 1/2 hour cooking time is pretty accurate. I just take off a little time for the amount I've simmered the tomatoes. And then the tough part is done.

Next you get your jars ready. If you're reusing jars, you are going to want to make sure they are clean and ready to sterilize. If you have a dishwasher you can heat them up in there and avoid sterilizing them in boiling water on the stove. You want to make sure they stay hot though. If you put hot salsa in a cold jar, you will end up breaking a jar. Even if you do use the dishwasher, you will still want to sterilize your lids on the stove, they don't stay warm enough in dishwasher. Same goes for how long your jars sit out. If you have to can separate batches in hot water, you will want to wait to fill the second set of jars so they stay hot. It's easy enough to reheat the salsa if you have to wait.

Cooking in the canner

When filling the jars, I keep it as streamlined as possible to avoid a mess. I put my canner on the left, heating up the water. You can bring it to a boil, but turn it down before you put in the full jars. If it's boiling, you can easily crack and break jars if you're not careful. On the right of the canner I put my sterilizing water (as I don't have a dishwasher). Then next to that I put my two plates. Just above those I put my salsa. So then I sterilize the jar and dry it, put it on a plate, fill the jar and give about a half inch of head space, clean lip of jar, sterilize and dry lid, put on lid and use cover. You want to be careful when drying the lid, not to pop it too much. If you do, that could make it hard for the lid to seal properly. Also, you want to make sure the lip is cleaned and dried to give you a proper seal.

Ready to cool

When you're jars are closed and ready to go, you fill up your rack. If you are doing a double batch of salsa and using pint jars, you will have to put two separate batches in the canner. I personally like to get it done as quick as possible and opt for the quart jars. If you do have to do two batches, make sure you're careful with keeping everything hot before it goes into the canner.

If you're at no elevation, I would cook pints for about 20-25 minutes and quarts 25-30 minutes. Make sure you check how long you need to cook if you're at elevation. I live at about 8500 feet, and I cook mine for about 45-50 minutes and then let them sit in there for 5 minutes after the stove is turned off, for good measure. Then you pull them out and cover them with a towel in a draft free area for about a day. If the lids don't seal, put in the fridge and use those first. Always check on your areas county extension website for the best way to water bath different produce. They know best.

And voila, you have salsa! I know it's hard to wait a day, but it is much better. Let me know how your canning experiences go. I love to hear about how other people do what they do!