Deidzoeb wrote:
> 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.
>
I use a number of quart jars for storing dry products, oats, bulgar, etc.