Have homemade picante salsa all year long by canning your own special recipe.
Fresh ripe tomatoes, onions and peppers from a farmers' market or a garden make the best picante salsa but the summer growing season doesn't last long. Home canning picante salsa gives you a supply that can last the whole winter. Home canning is simple and relatively inexpensive. Purchasing the canner, jars, lids bands, canning jar funnel and jar lifter costs about $50 to $75, but it is worth the expense. After the first year only the lids and bands need replacing because you recycle the jars--and you get healthy, safe food the whole family can enjoy.
Instructions
1. Make the salsa, according to your favorite recipe. Do it a day ahead of time or right before canning--but refrigerate the salsa if you make it in advance.
2. Purchase your canning equipment. The water bath canner is easier for beginners and is less dangerous. Some people choose a pressure canner for canning, but it's not necessary.
3. Wash the canner and the wire rack inside the canner in warm soapy water, and let them dry. Wash all of the jars in the same water, rinse thoroughly and let them dry.
4. Place the towel across the counter, and layer the other two towels on top of the first towel. Fill the canner half-full of water and bring to a boil. Dip the jars into the boiling water one at a time using the jar lifter; submerge each jar completely, pour the water out of the jar back into the pot, and place each one on the towel for drying. Dip each band and jar lid in the hot water and place on the towel with the gold side facing down. Empty the water out of the canner.
5. Fill the jars with picante salsa, but leave an inch of empty jar at the top. You'll need that room when the contents of the jar start boiling. Wipe the top of the jar opening so there isn't any residue on the opening that prevents the jar from sealing properly.
6. Place the lid on top of the jar with the white part facing down. Make sure the edges are lined up with the jar neatly, and screw the band on the jar. Do not put it on tightly. Turn the band until it stops moving, but no tighter.
7. Pull the rack out of the canner and sit the canner on the stove. Do not turn on the eye yet.
8. Place the jars into the rack all the way around the outer edge of the pot. The rack keeps the jars from breaking.
9. Fill the pot with cold water two inches above the tops of the jars using the water pitcher. It is easier to fill the pot with a pitcher than by carrying the heavy pot to the stove.
10. Turn the eye on high, and let the water start boiling. Boil the jars for 20 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the lid.
11. Lift the jars out with the jar lifter and place them on the towels. Use a dish towel in each hand and tighten the jar. Once the jar is tight, flip the jar upside down and place it on the towel. Leave it overnight. If the jar wasn't completely sealed, the heat of the contents of the jar on the lid makes it seal. Don't be surprised if you hear a popping sound as a lid seals.
12. Check all of the jars. If the lid isn't slightly dented downward towards the inside of the can, reprocess the jar in the canner the same way you did the day before with a new lid on the jar.
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