Quitting the Salsa Game

I had about 19 salsa tomatoes, 2 smaller green peppers, an onion and a few hot peppers. All of which were going to spoil if I didn't use them. So I spent the better part of an hour chopping and dicing and cutting. Grabbed a recipe online and threw it all into a pot to simmer and got my big pot of boiling water to do the jars.

One, i threw too much vinegar in the batch and I knew it right away so I drained it out. i put some more sugar in and a bit of baking soda as read online. Doesn't matter it smells funny anyways.

Two, all of that made maybe one jar. One lousy jar.

How many garbage bags full of tomatoes would you need to make a a batch of salsa? Ridiculous.

I still enjoyed making little pico's all summer but I am done with canning.

I was alarmed by how many tomatoes are needed for tomato paste. I always wondered by tomato paste cost that much for a tiny can. Now I know! There's like one plant's worth of tomatoes in there.

LOL, canning is a lot of work! So is freezing a garden's harvest and canning 6 jars of pickled red beets. And then, you need a gigantic bowl full of spinach leaves to make one lousy meal, but oh, it tastes so good, especially with a boiled egg on top :).

Yup, the joys of being a gardener and reaping the harvest!

What kind of tomatoes do you use for the salsa and how do you prepare them? I use romas for one sauce, like a spaghetti sauce, and all I do is halve them and roast them. But for a chili sauce I use eating tomatoes, peel, core and seed them and then cook them down. The first recipe is far quicker and more productive than the second but they both taste good.

Like anything worth doing, it takes some practice. I came to understand this with Salsa, never plan on the first batch, or second, or third being perfect. Yet never give up because the rewards of fresh salsa is so worth it. I still have issues with it and luckily my sister has this mastered after years of practice so I give her fair warning, "Hey Sis, coming by for a visit, sure would be awesome to have some of your home made salsa." It is pure heaven. The last batch she made me, which was huge, maybe half a gallon, didn't make it 24 hours.

So don't give up after a set back, try again, practice in the off season too with some canned tomatoes, we never good them though just put them all in the blender. It never lasts long enough to stay canned. Practice Practice Practice because good home made salsa is worth it.

I love canning salsa! I've been picking and freezing tomatoes all summer - once everything is done I'll spend a day making salsa. I have four gallon freezer bags full so far and probably another 2 gallons still ripening in the greenhouse.

I took a food preservation class last year and am so paranoid about canning safety (botulism is no joke) so I only use proven recipe sources. That limits my options, but salsa is one place you can play a bit. As long as you keep the ratios the same, you can alter the types of peppers and spices. I've grown some tasty tomatoes this year so I'm looking forward to a big batch of salsa to keep through the winter.

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Originally Posted by MightyThor

I love canning salsa! I've been picking and freezing tomatoes all summer - once everything is done I'll spend a day making salsa. I have four gallon freezer bags full so far and probably another 2 gallons still ripening in the greenhouse.

I took a food preservation class last year and am so paranoid about canning safety (botulism is no joke) so I only use proven recipe sources. That limits my options, but salsa is one place you can play a bit. As long as you keep the ratios the same, you can alter the types of peppers and spices. I've grown some tasty tomatoes this year so I'm looking forward to a big batch of salsa to keep through the winter.

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4 gallon = 4 days worth

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I don't think I could ever grow enough tomatoes to make it worth my while.

I canned some green beans and jalapenos which I was happy with. And I still enjoyed making my little pico's all summer.