Sorry you are having to fret over this. Yes, I would pop the lids and freeze the jars.
Now you understand why the guidelines say never use vinegar that is homemade or of unknown acidity. Those need to be saved for cooking.

Thanks Linda Lou. I never read that particular pointer before....about homemade vinegar.

I did get a call back from the co-op. They said it is between 1% and 2%. Dammit.

One thing I wonder is if I might pressure can it now, within the 24 hour window. Since the recipe has the required amount of lime juice for PC-ing, couldn't I theoretically do that? I wonder which would result in the better texture -- PC-ing or freezing.

I also want to apologize for starting yet another thread on Annie's Salsa. I couldn't initially find an answer to my question, but perhaps I should have tacked my question onto an existing thread. I think maybe Annie's Salsa needs its own forum, just like Bathrooms broke off from Kitchens and Bathrooms so many years ago! ;-)

Sounds to me like you lime juice was a low acid off-brand too. Stabilized ReaLemon and ReaLime is twice as strong.

Freeze this and use reputable brand names products for your canning. ;)

Dave

The choice is yours. Depends upon how much time you want to spend redoing this, or whether you have freezer space.
I don't think it is going to matter much in the texture dept. one way or another.
If you pressure can, then process the heated salsa for 35 min. You know what pressure you need to use for your altitude.
Personally, I would freeze it and not worry about it.
Boy, that is some mild vinegar. Perhaps you can get them to label it with the acidity on the bottles.

Just as an aside, Nellie and Joe's is not an off brand. It may be regional, but it is a fairly expensive brand of Key Lime juice. It is used for Key Lime pie and is sold in the gourmet section around here.

Given it's cost (way more than 2-3x more expensive) and the fact that the subtle flavors of key lime juice would be lost in salsa, I would agree with Dave about using ReaLime juice for canning.

The salsa is going to be pretty "soft" whether you PC it or freeze it. Freezing is certainly faster at this point.

Bummer when things don't turn out as planned.

Sharon

Thanks for the input, everyone. Salsa is headed for the freezer.

I don't quite understand why the Nellie & Joe's would be a "low-acid" substitute for a proper 5% vinegar specifically in this recipe, not in general if the percentage of the lime juice is above 5% . I do understand why the lower-acid Nellie & Joe's should not be substituted for Realemon in a recipe calling for lemon juice. But, if 1/2 c. of a 5% acid vinegar is called for, then why would substituting part of that with 6.5% lime juice present a problem? These two products are measured on the same scale, right?

Nellie and Joe's was actually less expensive at Stop and Shop the other day - $2.99/16 oz vs 1.89/8oz of ReaLime. I called to check acidity and they told me it was 7.2%. But Dave said on the other thread that key lime juice is more bitter than regular lime juice. How did your salsa taste? Did you use sugar?

I'm going to start making some in about 1/2 hr when the jars are out of the DW, don't know which lime juice to use, though I'm tending towards ReaLime (I bought both) since we don't use sugar in the recipe. I made some a week ago and it was great!

I've been using key limes and Nellie & Joe's for years, for other things, and bitter is not what comes to mind when I think of the flavor.

I used half the sugar called for and it was just fabulous....just enough sweet to round out the sweetness of the tomatoes.

I'm sorry about that vinegar, amysrq, I've never even seen vinegar with an acidity level that low!

I used to PC that salsa, and I like my salsa thick and chunky, and it didn't come out too soft in the PC. I've never frozen it, so I can't conjecture on what that would do.

and I concur tht Nellie & Joe's is not an "off brand". It's simply key lime as opposed to lime and with that acidity should be a viable substitute for the vinegar.

Speaking of vinegar, has everyone noticed a big price increase this year? A gallon of the Spartan store brand apple cider vinegar was over $5 here this year! And yes, I did check the label to be certain it was at least 5% acidity.

Annie

I didn't realize that when a recipe says "bottled lemon juice" it has to be a certain brand? I usually buy an organic brand, not realemon, just because that is what is sold at the store I tend to shop at.

Yes,can someone please clarify what the acidity of bottled lemon or lime juice has to be for canning purposes? I often use other brands of lemon juice too. Santa Cruz Organic or the key lime version mentioned above. I've never seen a recipe specify a brand of juice before so I've been using different brands interchangably. There is definately a difference in taste in terms of freshness or chemical-ness (if that is a word).

Thanks,
~Cindy

Do you check the acidity on your vinegar when you buy it or just buy any old brand of vinegar? As many posts here show there are several store brands or off-brands of vinegar which, when checked, are either lower than 5% or say nothing at all on their label. So would you buy a bottle of vinegar for canning that isn't 5% or one that gives no % rating on its label?

Lemon juice is the same thing. It is in the recipe for safety in most cases so isn't just a passing ingredient. Just as recipes don't stipulate the brand name of vinegar you have to use, they don't list the brand of lemon juice. However NCHFP makes it clear in its publications that all the testing was done using ReaLemon brand and that the lemon juice used needs to be properly acidified to the standardized pH and needs to be stabilized so that the pH will hold over time. That requires stabilizing additives to accomplish.

It should have a specific % of actual lemon juice in it, not diluted with 98% water, not dried lemon zest, not powdered lemonade, not artificial lemon flavoring, etc. and yet that is what many of the cheapo bottled lemon juices are made of.

So while it may not be necessary to use the specific brand ReaLemon, there are other quality brands out there although it is by far the most common and most well known and nationally available. But at the very least wouldn't you would want to know what the acidity of the lemon juice you use is? What it's ingredients are? What is listed on its label? Or if it actually contains any juice from real lemons?

And if none of that information is on the label then that alone should raise a red flag shouldn't it? 3-4 years back there was a shortage of bottled lemon juice all over the country and we discussed it in detail here. We were all having to resort to whatever we could get our hands on and we compared ingredients on different brands. You would be amazed at what some so-called lemon juices contain and how widely the acidity levels in them vary. And someone also posted in that discussion a letter from ReaLemon listing all of their stats: brix, % of lemon juice, pH, etc. Any company should be willing to provide that info.

So just as with vinegar, read the label. Pick up a bottle of a name brand and compare the two labels. Make sure that what you are buying is actually lemon juice and what it's level of acidity is.

Dave

To return to an earlier question, if you are subbing lemon or lime juice for vinegar called for in a recipe, then any pure lemon or lime juice of equal (5%) or higher acidity is fine. So a lemon or lime juice that's 6-7% is certainly not a problem.

However, there are recipes like peppers marinated in an oil and bottled lemon juice "vinaigrette" and then canned. In that case using ReaLemon with an assured strength and acidity is crucial because the recipe was developed using that product. The recipe was meant to call for an acid stronger than vinegar.

I will say, mentioning the earlier discussion about the acidity level of ReaLemon, that getting a specific answer from the company about acid % was devilishly difficult. They by no means made it easy and seemed constitutionally unable (or unwilling) to answer the question.

Carol

FWIW, from ReaLime bottle:

"100% LIME JUICE (smaller font) FROM CONCENTRATE" also "NATURAL STRENGTH" on front. Ingredients: Lime juice from concentrate (Water, Concentrated Lime Juice), Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Lime Oil, Sodium Metasulfite (Preservative)" Acidity level isn't stated.

Discount brand (Sunshine) lemon juice:

"LEMON JUICE from concentrate"
"Ingredients: Water, Citric Acid, Less than %1 Lemon Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Lemon Oil"

I don't know if Sodium Benzoate that they both have in common is the "stabilizer", and no number to call to ask about acidity. Depends on how strong the concentrate was, I guess. I only used this in jam and in a batch of refrigerated salsa. Didn't trust it yesterday for 2nd batch of salsa, though I found the flavor with all lime to be missing something (though I also forgot the garlic!).

Thank you Carol, for that clarification on subbing lime for vinegar. I understand clearly the need to not make that substitution in reverse.

I have since been reading more about low-acid preserving and noticing that some of my books are not reliable (Putting Foods By, for instance). I also signed up for the on-line course offered by NCHFP.

At 3am, I woke up worried that the dilly beans I made last week were made using the "bad" vinegar. I can't remember what I used. Couldn't get back to sleep.... This morning, in daylight, I am virtually certain I used the last of the white vinegar, given how much of the cider vinegar is still in the bottle, as well as the relatively clear nature of the bean brine.

Who knew I'd be losing sleep over canning.

I have never checked lemon juice acidity, because the recipes just say "bottled lemon juice", with no mention on needed acidity, while the vinegar nearly always seems to say, "5%". I need to get out the BBB and see what it says. I really thought I had seen posts here saying that all bottled lemon juice was a standardized acidity, so I never worried about it.

The stuff I had bought brags that is is 100% lemon juice, nothing added, which is backed up by the ingredients.

If it's made from concentrate, I guess it depends how strong the concentrate is, and how much water they add back in.

I used Santa Cruz organic lemon juice last year when I canned tomatoes. Never thought to check acidity. And my ReaLemon doesn't have an acidity level on the bottle. I, too, thought lemon juice was lemon juice. BBB (2009 edition) just says bottled lemon juice (no acidity given) but does mention 5% for vinegar.

Hi,

I found this thread by doing a google search to find out what the acidity level is of Nellie & Joe's lime juice. I joined the forum so I can correct a dangerous misunderstanding.

The higher PH the lower the acidity level. So, Nellie & Joe's is not a good substitution for 5% vinegar. It's 6.5% PH makes it less acidic than a 5% PH vinegar.

The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is a great resource to make sure you can safely.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

I guess it is I who am confused. I'm confusing PH level with percentage of acidity. Never mind! I am now trying to find out how to calculate the percentage of acidity if you know the PH.

sarasf said:
" I am now trying to find out how to calculate the percentage of acidity if you know the PH."

I don't think you can.....It doesn't work that way.

pollock

Can anyone tell me if Nellie & Joe’s lime juice has the presumably obvious vitamin C (citric acid) being a citrus juice? It doesn’t mention on the ingredients vitamin C at all. You’d think it would be obvious.

I would’ve figured all citrus juices are full of vitamin C. can anyone explain this?

Vitamin C isn't citric acid. Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.

Some info about various citrus... https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/IND43969026/PDF