You need 2 T lemon juice for just 4 cups of the tomatoes (1 qt.) And that leaves the 1/4 cup of vinegar to cover all the rest of the tomatoes and all the other low acid vegetables.

Sorry no, that is not enough acid to make it safe for canning. It would need something like 1 cup or more of acid and that is just a guess based on the safe and approved salsa recipes. Which is why one can't safely can their own made up recipes.

Dave

Sorry forgot to add that you can freeze it. Just dump the jars into freezer containers or spoon some out of each jar to allow for expansion and freeze it.

Dave

However if she canned it over 24 hours ago she would need to boil it hard for 10 minutes before freezing it.

-Robin

Good point Robin! I assumed it was just done. Shouldn't have assumed that.

Dave

Sorry, it is not safe at all. If it has been a while since you canned it I would suggest you throw away the jars and all. Don't open it. If there is botulism in there you would put yourself at risk by opening it.
Sure, technically you can boil for 10 min. and eat it. However, that doesn't take into account and crosscontamination of the counter, spoon, dishcloth, etc.
It is up to you how much of a risk you want to take.
Tossing it all is just my personal suggestion and the most safe one.

I've learned, the hotter the salsa, the higher the PH (not good)
All of my delicious hot salsa with roasted heirloom chili peppers fermented after canning.
The mild peppers held up fine.
Get those inexpensive PH strips and save lots of product.

I'm sorry but some clarification is needed. Using pH litmus paper to test for food safety isn't an approved safety measure. Even pH meters aren't approved. Litmus paper and improperly calibrated meters give too many false readings which can disguise potential dangers and litmus paper is easily affected by humidity and age.

And there is no real correlation between the "heat" of a recipe and its pH. Just as added sugars can mislead us on the acid pH of a food, heat can easily be added to any recipe without changing the pH.

Some exceptionally HOT, yet safe, salsas can be made using tested recipes just as some very mild salsas can be quite hazardous.

Dave

Do not get the litumus papers and test your own ! That is not foolproof, by any means. Foods can and do change ph as they sit in the jars.
Leave the testing to scientists in the labs. I don't think you have the $10,000 to $50,000 per recipe they spend on testing in the labs.
If you want hot, add dried peppers.

Yikes, I'm glad I asked!
I plan to boil and then freeze it. Next time I'm gonna follow a recipe:)
Thanks everyone!

Use Annie's salsa recipe and I can guarantee you will be happy with the product:)

Stacie