canning vs. freezing salsa..

[hildare]

so, fantastic and skilled canning experienced folks.. can you freeze salsa? why would canning it be better (and i've read a bit that canning it is a pita)..

[Arduinna]

If it's one of the pureed type ones I guess you could but if it is has any fresh herbs or chunky tomato I wouldn't freeze as the texture will not be the same. I just make it fresh when I need it, it's doesn't take that much time and it tastes the best freshly made. We don't even buy jarred salsa.

[smpayne]

Fresh unpureed salsa is called "Pico de gallo".

Canning salsa is not too hard, if there is enough vinegar in it, otherwise you have to preassure can it. I personally don't like the ones with lots of vinegar and therefore don't bother. Due to some of the ingredients other than tomato (herbs, peppers, etc) you would need to follow a specific recipe that has been tested for canning.

Freezing will change the texture of a chunky salsa, but I would go ahead and try it with a small batch and see how it turns out. It will not be the same as the fresh made version, but it probably will still taste good.

[tankgirl73]

It doesn't have to be vinegar... it just needs enough acidity. I use bottled lemon juice and lime juice. I basically follow an 'approved' recipe though I confess I've changed it a tiny bit -- nothing that would change the acidity, though.

I don't make it fresh every time because I like cooked salsa, not the fresh raw stuff. And I like to make it up in the fall with fresh local tomatoes, so it lasts all winter. That way I don't have to use store-bought tomatoes from who-knows-where, or else use icky canned tomatoes. (Although I also can a lot of plain tomatoes, so I can use those until they run out)

It's no more of a PITA than any other canning. It takes a longer water bath than jam (esp. since I usually put it into pint or liter jars), but it's soooo worth it. SO YUMMY!! I'll usually make a HUGE batch and can like 9 litres at a time...

[hildare]

thanks, y'all.. we decided to freeze it last night! It's cooked before freezing.. I'm not a big vinegar fan & we have a bumper crop of romas, so that seems like a good preservation method. we'll see how it turns out, though. I usually like it chunky but you have to make pretty juicy/blended to do it this way. It tasted good going in to the freezer, though

[smpayne]

[QUOTE=tankgirl73;15642918]It doesn't have to be vinegar... it just needs enough acidity.[QUOTE]

True! However,most of the recipes I have seen have called for vinegar. I would love to try your recipe.