FOOD PRESERVATION 101

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1 September 8th, 2014 FOOD PRESERVATION 101 Searcy Co. Extension Service Food Preservation Newsletter Canning Salsa Safely Easy to make and simple to can in a boiling water canner, salsas are very popular for home canning. One of the most common requests that the National Center for Home Food Preservation receives is Can I can my salsa recipe? The answer is not what people usually want to hear but the trouble with canning your own salsa recipes is that most recipes contain low-acid ingredients, and low-acid foods need to either be pressure canned or properly acidified by the addition of a strong acid (like lemon juice or vinegar) for boiling water canning. Either way, a process time needs to be determined for any particular recipe to ensure that spoilage or sicknesscausing microorganisms will be destroyed (this time varies based on qualities like ph, solid-to-liquid ratio, size and shape of jar, etc.). So then, canning just any homemade salsa recipe is not recommended. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) offers a variety of salsas recipes to choose from. Safety first, but also quality, were given priority in developing these recipes, so hopefully, there is at least a few you will enjoy. See pages 2 4 for safe recipes for canning salsa from the NCHFP. Congratulations to fair winners! Thank you for bringing entries and supporting the fair. The far right picture is a jar of corn relish that was featured in a previous newsletter. Good job, Mrs. Shirley!

2 Your Choice Salsa 6 cups peeled, cored, seeded and chopped ripe tomatoes 9 cups diced onions and/or peppers of any variety (See Notes below) 1 and ½ cups commercially bottled lemon or lime juice 3 teaspoons canning or pickling salt Yield: About 6 pint jars CAUTION: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes. Procedure: 1. Wash and rinse pint or half-pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to fill. Prepare lids and ring bands according to manufacturer s directions. 2. To prepare tomatoes: Dip washed tomatoes in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until the skins split. Submerge immediately in cold water. Peel off loosened skins and remove cores. Remove seeds and chop (¼- to ½-inch pieces). To prepare onions: Peel, wash, core and dice onions (¼-inch pieces). To prepare bell peppers: Wash and core bell peppers. Remove the seeds and membranes before dicing (¼-inch pieces). To prepare hot peppers: Wash and remove stems of hot peppers. Keep or remove as much of the seeds and membranes as you wish, depending on the pepper heat of the salsa that you desire. Dice peppers (¼-inch pieces). 3. Combine prepared ingredients in a large pot; add lemon juice and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer salsa for an additional 3 minutes, stirring as needed to prevent scorching. 4. Fill the hot salsa into prepared hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. If needed, remove air bubbles and re-adjust headspace to ½-inch. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and bands. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes for half-pint or pint jars. For elevations over 1,000 ft, process for 20 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals. Notes: This is a fairly acidic salsa, but was tested with a wide variety of tomatoes, peppers and onions to ensure the necessary acidification for boiling water canning and still allow for some consumer choice in the ingredients. The peppers used may be sweet bell peppers (of any color) and/or hot peppers. The purpose of the commercially bottled lemon or lime juice is to standardize a minimum level of acidity in the recipe. For the purposes of our testing, we used lemon juice as it was deemed the most acceptable flavor for the proportions in this particular recipe. For safety reasons, do not substitute vinegar for the lemon or lime juice. Do not use bottled key lime juice. Do not alter the proportions of tomatoes, vegetables and acid because that might make the salsa unsafe when this canning process is used. The chopped tomatoes and diced peppers and/or onions are to be measured level in dry measuring cups; the lemon or lime juice is measured in a liquid measuring cup. We did not test other vegetables for flavor or acidity.

3 Peach Apple Salsa 6 cups (2¼ pounds) chopped Roma tomatoes (about 3 pounds tomatoes as purchased) 2½ cups diced yellow onions (about 1 pound or 2 large as purchased) 2 cups chopped green bell peppers (about 1½ large peppers as purchased) 10 cups (3½ pounds) chopped hard, unripe peaches (about 9 medium peaches or 4½ pounds as purchased peaches) 2 cups chopped Granny Smith apples (about 2 large apples as purchased) 4 tablespoons mixed pickling spice 1 tablespoon canning salt 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes 3¾ cups (1¼ pound) packed light brown sugar 2¼ cups cider vinegar (5%) Yield: About 7 pint jars Procedure: Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions. Place pickling spice on a clean, double-layered, 6-inch-square piece of 100% cheesecloth. Bring corners together and tie with a clean string. (Or use a purchased muslin spice bag). Wash and peel tomatoes (place washed tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, immediately place in cold water, and slip off skins). Chop into ½-inch pieces. Peel, wash and dice onions into ¼-inch pieces. Wash, core, and seed bell peppers; chop into ¼-inch pieces. Combine chopped tomatoes, onions and peppers in an 8- or 10- quart Dutch oven or saucepot. Wash, peel and pit peaches; cut into halves and soak for 10 minutes in an ascorbic acid solution (1500 mg in half gallon water). Wash, peel and core apples; cut into halves and soak for 10 minutes in ascorbic acid solution. Quickly chop peaches and apples into ½-inch cubes to prevent browning. Add chopped peaches and apples to the saucepot with the vegetables. Add the pickling spice bag to the saucepot; stir in the salt, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and vinegar. Bring to boiling, stirring gently to mix ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove spice bag from pan and discard. With a slotted spoon, fill salsa solids into hot, clean pint jars, leaving 1¼-inch headspace (about ¾ pound solids in each jar). Cover with cooking liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. For elevations over 1,000 ft, process for 20 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals. Serving Suggestion: Serve as a side with or spooned on top of grilled pork chops or any grilled

4 Tomato/Tomato Paste Salsa (Yields 7 to 9 pints) 3 quarts peeled, cored, chopped slicing tomatoes 3 cups chopped onions 6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped 4 long green chiles, seeded, chopped 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 12-ounce cans tomato paste 2 cups bottled lemon or lime juice 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional) 2 tablespoons oregano leaves (optional) 1 teaspoon black pepper Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes. Prepare peppers as directed below. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and heat, stirring frequently, until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot into clean, hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. For elevations about 1,000 ft, process for 20 minutes. MPORTANT: The only change you can safely make in this salsa recipe is to change the amount of spices and herbs. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe. Do not substitute vinegar for the lemon juice. Preparing Peppers: The jalapeño peppers do not need to be peeled. The skin of long green chiles may be tough and can be removed by heating the peppers. Usually when peppers are finely chopped, they do not need to be peeled. If you choose to peel chiles, slit each pepper along the side to allow steam to escape. Peel using one of these two methods: Oven or broiler method to blister skins - Place chiles in a hot oven (400 F) or broiler for 6 to 8 minutes until skins blister. Range-top method to blister skins - Cover hot burner (either gas or electric) with heavy wire mesh. Place peppers on burner for several minutes until skins blister. To peel, after blistering skins, place peppers in a pan and cover with a damp cloth. (This will make peeling the peppers easier.) Cool several minutes; slip off skins. Discard seeds and chop.

5 Use only high quality peppers. Do not increase the total number of peppers in any recipe. But you may substitute on type of pepper for another or use canned chilies in place of fresh. Peppers range from mild to fiery in taste. Mild peppers are usually big 4 to 10 inches long. Choose a mild pepper when the recipe calls for long green chilies, or substitute bell peppers for some or all. See chart below for a description of peppers used in salsa. There are many different types of peppers grown in the United States. Peppers can be classified based on their relative hotness. The Scoville heath unit (SHU) is a measure of pepper pungency. The chemical substance that make some peppers hot is capsaicin. Pure capsaicin is approximately 16,000,000 Scoville units. Habanero type peppers are the hottest with up to 300,000 Scoville units. The units will vary for each type of pepper based on variety, maturity, and whether the pepper is fresh or dried. Typically, pungent peppers require hot, dry conditions to fully develop their flavor and may not produce a suitable harvest in cool, wet summers. Very hot peppers are usually small 1 to 3 inches long except for Hungarian Yellow Wax. They provide a distinct taste to salsas. Jalapeno is the most popular. Other varieties that grow in Wisconsin include: Super Cayenne, Super Chili, Habanero, Anaheim College, and Ancho 101. Hot peppers usually need longer growing seasons than mild varieties, and thus do not usually need to be skinned. Descriptions of various pepper types used in salsas Type Size Shape Color at Maturity Scoville Heat Units Bell 3-4 W x 4 L Blocky shaped Red, yellow, orange, brown Cherry 1-1 1/2 in diameter Round Red Poblano 2-3 W x 3-6 L Elongated Almost black 1,000-5,000 Jalapeno 1 W x 3 L Blunt and tapered Red 2,500-5,000 Serrano 1/2 W x 1-4 L Tapered Green or red 10,000-20,000 Cayenne 1 W x 10 L Thin and tapered, slightly curved Source: Canning Salsa Safely, University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Red 30,000-50,000 Habanero 1-2 W x 1-2 L Irregularly spherical Orange 150, ,000 0

6 Use the following chart to guide you in mixing different peppers. The hotness of salsa depends on the kind and amount of peppers used. For a very mild salsa, substitute bell peppers for hot peppers. The ;mix of peppers can be varied as long as the total amount stays the same. Remember: Always measure the amount of chopped pepper listed in the recipe. This chart is only a guide. Amount Whole Bell pepper, 1 medium Bell pepper, 1 large Jalapeno, 1 medium Long green chili, 1 pepper Amount Chopped About 1 cup chopped About 2 cups chopped About 1/4 cup About 1/3 cup chopped When substituting canned peppers for fresh, first drain the canned peppers, then chop and measure the desired amount. U of A Cooperative Extension Service Searcy County 511 Zack Rd Marshall, AR jblair@uaex.edu