Today i am bottling my own "gas station/grocery store" style salsa (ie tostitos brand) to see if it's cost effective...

today i am bottling my own "gas station/grocery store" style salsa (ie tostitos brand) to see if it's cost effective even with imported out of season ingredients

the steps, with pictures and a cost breakdown will follow

first i stemmed, cored and seeded 4 lbs of fleshy tomatoes

chop them all up put them in a pot

same with 2 medium white onions...

5 (?) scotch bonnets, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

chop up a few cilantro sprigs

8 oz lemon juice

crucial for proper ph

stir it all up, salt to taste, bring to a boil, and simmer for 3 minutes

forgot pic

pack into hot jars, remove air bubbles with a wooden spoon, leave 2 cm head space

apply lids and bands, put them on a rack inside a large pot and bring to a rolling boil

boil for 15 minutes (sea level)

what the fuck is a scotch bonnet

did you even look at the pictures/do a two second web search

>even with imported out of season ingredients

Honestly, man, I would have just used canned tomatoes, rather than out of season ones.

Looks good af desu senpai

they need to be fresh, canning already canned tomatoes will not yield a desirable result

allow the pot to rest for 5 minutes and then remove the jars to cool for 24 hours

price breakdown

$4 - tomatoes @ $0.99/lb
$1 - onions @ 2/$1
$1 - peppers
$0.50 cilantro (i mostly buy it for my pet rabbit)
$0.02 water
$0.36 electricity
$0.83 canning lids

= $7.71 / 2500 ml

= $0.31 / 100 ml

compared to tostitos at walmart.ca $0.65 / 100ml

woo! i'm still ahead!

Salsa has lime juice, not lemon

omg gross blue board gif

you're right but i had lemon juice so w/e

i also forgot to add it into my price breakdown

I once bought myself a one month subscription to her site cause of that vid and one other.

It was worth it, downloaded almost everything from her members download section

pls stop infecting my wholesome salsa thread w/ degeneracy

No.

PLS?

NO

...

...

is it that bad??

he looks like a shell of himself without the glasses

Tbh, I wouldn't can something that wasn't fresh and in season. I can 60 quarts of tomatoes in the summer every year and when we want salsa in the winter we make it from a jar of those tomatoes. With tomato being the primary ingredient, it most certainly won't be as good as using tomatoes home canned at the peak of freshness.

How does it compare tastewise though?

Looks good, OP. Every time I try salsa outside of homemade or from this one particular restaurant, I always get a bitter/sour taste that just ruins the whole thing.

there is literally nothing wrong with Tostitos salsa, it's all natural, no sugar, works as a basic sofrito as well

it tastes similar actually. a little fresher and the vegetables are firmer. it's quite nice

my only complaint is the yield

would definitely at least double it next time

If you want it to taste closer to gas station shit add a little sugar and vinegar, and maybe some cumin.

Nice work though. I haven't bough cooked salsa in a decade since I realized how easy and cheap it is to make.