I had posted this on the weekly
Food Preservation: what's cookin' this week? Aug. 9-16 thread in the Recipes and Food Preservation Forum , that as newbies you may not be reading in there. When I read through it , it looked worthy of being placed here as I see 3 or 4 times a week a question about basic water-bath canning & How to do it types of questions ... I hope this helps Newbies that have not yet ventured forth into Basic Water Bath Canning as it is very rewarding , and really completes the cycle of Gardening to the end result , something you can eat that you grew yourself, that is "custom made" to your taste. Although the recipe below is specifically tailored for a "wing-it" Salsa I made on Monday , the basic steps in canning are there in the correct sequence with basic explanations of why to do certain things. BP stands for Bell Pepper , obviously if you are NOT a pepperhead and don't like things to be hot & spicy you could eliminate the Cayenne , Serrannos and the Chili De Arbol completely ... if you wanted just a little tiny bit of "spice" to your basic stripped down BP salsa , when you are done and just about to can the sauce , start sprinkling a little cayenne at a time and stir , test and add more till you get to your threshold of heat.
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/showt...609#post332609Dans’ B.P. Salsa3 Quarts , 6 Pints and 3 half-pints of Salsa. ( ~ 7 Quarts )
3ea large Bell Peppers ( Yellow Orange Red )diced to 1/4" cubes
10 Serranno Chilis mince / pulverize in Food Processor
20 Chili De Arbol ( dried ) de-stemmed *
2 TBSP HOT Cayenne Chili Powder( raise or lower amount here for heat level )*
1 TBSP dried Basil*
1ea large bunch Cillantro ( ~ 1 cup chopped )
1ea whole set Garlic ( ~ 12 cloves ) mince / pulverize in Food Processor
1 tsp Garlic powder *
1 tsp fine ground black pepper *
1ea Large white Onion mince / pulverize in Food Processor
1ea bunch green onion scallions cut to 1/4" pieces
1.5 TBSP Coarse Kosher Salt*
2ra TBSP minced Sun Dried Tomatoes
Oil - Olive Oil or your choice
Lemon Juice
Lots of Vine Ripened Red Tomatoes / skinned / quartered to fill pot
*add all dry ingredients together in bowl & mince / pulverize in Food Processor
Pretend you're on a cooking show on TV , pre-prepare everything in Cereal bowls in advance. You'll thank me later for this tip ! Grind all dry ingredients in a small Food Processor into a powder > small bowl set aside
In a large ~8 quart Spaghetti pot
pour oil in pan to cover bottom, add garlic & White Onion ... Turn on heat / flame to pot on medium heat , stir with giant wooden spoon as bubbling / cooking begins for 1 min add Bell & Serranno chilis' , turn down to minimum flame / low low heat. Now the really messy part begins , In a hot boiling pot able to hold a dozen large > medium tomatoes at a time ( 8 Qt ) ¼ full of water , a XXL large bowl with Ice-water , a plate or pan with raised edges for skinning & a XL large bowl for “waiting” and a large FP bowl for dumping ~ 4ea tomatoes quartered into a LARGE food processor . OK here we go , drop 10 > 12 tomatoes into full hard boil water , stir with large Hole Spoon w/ long handle for less than 1 min pull ea out and drop in Ice water for 30 seconds , pull & place in “waiting “ bowl to air cool , To skin , with a fine serrated knife cut / core out top stem thingie , place upside down on plate with raised edges and place both hands on skin and squeeze & pull up skins will usually pop right off & may need a knife slice at top point to release , quarter and put in F.P Bowl. When ~4ea have been skinned & quartered drop in FP and blend fast-slow fast slow about 3 times , you want a few small chunks but not full quarters , you’ll get better at gauging this as you start pouring into the cooking pot. Keep the production line going, it helps if you have competent helpers. Tip : If the tomatoes are too hot to handle when you are trying to pop off the skins you’re either leaving them in the hot water too long or not long enough in the Ice water. I tried doing this all by myself, If I would have had a helper I would break it down to 1st person washes , de-stems and drops toms. In boiling pot , retrieves and adds to XXL Ice bowl , retrieves and adds to “waiting bowl keeping track of which ‘mater went first etc … 2nd persons cores, skins quarters, FP’s, and adds to cooking pot stirring every addition completely. Because the pot has been on low/ low the entire time being stirred it is pretty warm by finishing time .Last step , add Cillantro & stir.
Once pot is near full close down production line & clean-up the whole staging area, you’ll need a clean sterile area for the canning process now, washing out your Heat the skins pot and re-filling ¼ the way with hard rolling boiling water , this becomes your jar & lids & rings water.
I wash all jars with dishsoap and a sponge every time, even if I think they were clean , old & new get the same cleaning.
I use a set of tongs to lower & turn & remove each jar one at a time, place next to cooking pot. Drop in 1ea lid & 1ea ring in boiler pan. Place Funnel in Jar.With a large ladle I add Salsa / Sauce to the top where the threads start on the neck of the jar. Remove funnel. I pour about 1 TBSP of oil on top and add 1ea tsp of lemon juice. Check surface of glass for clean & dry, use awesome magnetic thingie from Ball canning accessory kit to PU lid & place on jar apply ring lightly, set on table.
Repeat till jars are all full, when you get to the end where there’s not enough to fill another jar, that’s your sample bowl !
Fill Water bath canner to 2/3 full of water, place lid and crank as high as you can on the heat/ flame. Tighten all rings on jars at one time to insure you didn’t miss one. When at full boil, lower jars into canner with handy dandy Ball Jar lifter gizmo, be careful, steam is really hot and you don’t want to drop a jar at this stage. Add water if needed to : canner is full of jars w/ at least 2” of water over the tops of the tallest jar, place lid on pan and when it comes back to a full rolling boil start timer. I’m above sea level so I add 5 > 10 minutes to the typical 30 for a 35 > 40 min timing. Remove jars & wipe lids dry and set in an area to slowly cool , avoid breezes, airconditioning flows and fans till cool ( couple of hours for Qts. ! ) You’ll hear the lids make a thuuuuuck ! sound when the vacuum is complete on the jars. Label with the date you made it and what it is.
Tip : I place my Ball canning “Kit” and all fresh lids in my cleaned-out dried canner, so I can find them next time I want to do some canning.
Space'
Salsa Verde' 
Basic Canning: Step-by-Step Directions ... > 
