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Deidzoeb Deidzoeb is offline
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Default Canning recipe specifies jar size - dangerous to change?

On Jul 16, 3:40*am, "Ted Mittelstaedt" > wrote:
> "Deidzoeb" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > I've done some canning with pint and half pint jars. Haven't killed or
> > sickened anyone yet. Recently a friend gave me a dozen quart size jars
> > and I'd like to can some salsa in them. Is the jar size one of those
> > aspects of canning recipes that can be unsafe to change?

>
> Without adjusting the process time, yes.
>
> > Should I look
> > for a different salsa recipe that specifies quart jars in the end
> > step? I really don't want to give anyone botulism for Xmas.

>
> Your going to have to correct me if your favorite salsa recipie is
> different, but most of them I've seen spec tomato chunks. *In short,
> the finished product has significantly sized chunks of tomato in
> it. *ANY of these recipies should be pressure canned regardless
> of any acidification that the recipie may specify or regardless of
> any boiling water canning that is specified. *Tomatos are
> now known to be borderline low-acid, and the problem is that
> in a recipie where they survive intact, you can have regions within
> the tomato chunk that the acidification hasn't penetrated.


I've been using a boiling water canning recipe for tomato salsa tested
and published by the USDA:
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_sal..._tomatoes.html

I guess I'll have to look in to buying a pressure cooker finally.
That'll be the next question I post on here.

> The more important issue, though, is convenience of the
> recipient. *You may like eating salsa a lot and could maybe
> eat up a quart jar in a week, around here we use salsa only
> for dipping potato chips into, and a pint is a 6 month supply
> for us.
>
> This is why I do most of my jam canning in 1/2
> pint jars. *I have several jam varieties I can. *If I put them in
> pints, I would get tired of that variety before finishing off the
> jar, so I would end up with multiple open jam jars in the
> refrigerator.


Good point. Maybe I'll continuing canning them as pints and keep the
quart jars for some other project.