That's weird, I made a batch last night myslef and came up 1 1/2 pints over the expected 7 pints.

I don't think Annie ever stated how many pints the recipie was for.

I think it all depends on the size of the chunks, I made extra chunky salsa last night with some left over San Marzano paste tomatoes.

The original recipe makes about 6 pints for me, but I cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out all the goo and seeds, so it's just meaty chunks of tomato. Maybe they cook down more than the seeds and juice does?

If the low acid vegetables were properly measured and the additional volume is tomatoes or tomato paste or sauce, I'd probably worry less about the acidity. If you think you mis-measured the onions, peppers, etc., I'd be opening those jars, adding some more vinegar and processing them again.

Then again, I admit that I'm a bit paranoid about such things.

Annie

I've made 3 batches and got about 7 pints plus a tiny bowl for tasting each time.
I cut my tomatoes in half and squeeze over a bowl to remove most of the seeds and goo. Whatever comes out, comes out, not picky.
I chop toms into roughly 3/4"x 3/4" chunks and put into the measuring bowl.
My other veggies I seed (if needed), then run through my food processor. I like smaller pieces of the peppers.
Maybe that's why, when I measure these, they would pack in more densely than if they were rough chopped....but I wouldn't think a pint plus worth!

I still thinking Annie's taste testing an awful lot along the way..........
Deanna (running and ducking)

Deanna, don't give away my secrets. Shhhh. I've got everyone convinced that it's Ashley and her friends that are doing all the tasting here. (grin)

You're going to ruin my bad reputation...

Annie

Oh, yeah, sorry.

IT'S ASHLEY'S FAULT!!!!!

Just ignore that other post!! :+)
Deanna

Ben, since you used part lemon juice, it is more acidic than plain vinegar. I would not worry.
I think the volume may be due to how juicy the tomatoes were or how rapidly it cooked and evaporated liquid in the salsa.

Thanks, Linda Lou, I know there have been several times when people got more or less than I did.

Of course, somehow I never seem to get the same amount from a recipe that the recipe says either. I wonder about that, sometimes, but mostly I ignore it. LOL

Annie

I also got 14 half pints. I wondered too but since I used half vinegar and half bottled juice (more acidic) I didn't sweat it.

Thanks for all your input. I guess I should have waited till more people chimed in, but I went ahead and added more lemon juice and reprocessed right after work. Better safe than sorry I guess.

This leads me to another question. Should I have brought the salsa mixture back up to a boil before I poured it back into the jars?

After I emptied out all the jars into a stock pot, and added the juice, I just warmed it up till it was hot but not boiling. Then I reheated the jars, filled and processed them as usual. I'm assuming that the temperature of the salsa before processing isn't crucial. Right?

Ben

Ben, I only boil it so the flavors can "meld". As long as it was hot enough that the jars didn't break when you put them into the hot water bath, it's fine.

Annie

Cool, thanks Annie. Happy canning.

Over the weekend, DH and I made a batch that we split in half before adding the hot peppers in order to make some hot and some mild. We ended up with 4 pints of mild and 3.5 pints of hot. (Yes, I cheated and squeezed that extra little half pint jar in the canner. We couldn't just eat it, we were still working on the previous day's batch.)

I used roma tomatoes, and I just diced them in the food processor before measuring so I had a nice, full juicy 8 cups.

btw, thanks, Annie! Your salsa's been a hit with everyone we've shared it with. We took a pint to a church potluck, and only 3 or 4 people tried it. But they ate it all!

Julsie, some day I'm going to figure out how to make a living just canning, and that salsa is gonna be my bread and butter.

Well, except that everyone in the world will know how to make their own by then. (grin)

You are more than welcome, I'm glad you like it.

Annie