Canning Homemade Ketchup (or catsup)

October 31, 2015 by Jason Snell

Ketchup is a widely used condiment and tastes great on a hot dog or fries. The downside to store bought ketchup, or catsup, is that it often contains ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. My wife and I received several extra pounds of tomatoes and decided to make ketchup.

The great thing about this recipe is that it was easy to make and tastes amazing. We used the recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Things you will need

Tomatoes
Chopped onions
Spices
Sugar
Vinegar
Coffee Filter
Canning/Pickling salt
Kitchen Aid Mixer with Fruit/Vegetable Strainer or a Food Mill

The nice thing about this recipe is that the tomatoes are sent through a strainer or food mill. This means the tomatoes only need to have the ends trimmed and the cores removed. The skins will be removed through the straining process.

To start off place the cut and cored tomatoes into a steel pot along with the chopped onion. Aluminum will react with the tomatoes and should not be used.

Heating tomatoes for ketchup in a stainless steel pot

Getting ready to start infusing the vinegar

While the tomatoes are cooking add your spices to a spice bag. If you don’t have a spice bag, as in my case, add the spices directly to the pot and filter out later with a coffee filter.

Filtering out the spices from the infused vinegar.

Add in the cider vinegar to the pot. In the case of this batch of ketchup we used celery seeds, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, and whole allspice.

Spices infusing in apple cider vinegar

Let the vinegar boil, and then remove from heat. Allow the spices to sit in the vinegar for at least 25 minutes. The spices can be discarded afterward.

Once the tomatoes have come to a boil reduce the heat and let them boil gently for about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar at this point and let it boil gently until it thickens.

Reducing the tomatoes

After this has completed allow the tomatoes to cool. Next is when we ran the tomatoes through our kitchen aid attachment. The fruit/vegetable strainer makes life a lot easier. If you don’t have a kitchen aid mixer, or the attachment, you can use a food mill.

Straining the tomato mixure

Tomato pulp left over after straining through a kitchen aid attachment

After the ketchup has been strained return to the pot and add in salt and sugar. The book suggests letting it boil gently for about 45 minutes or until the volume is reduce by half. It took a bit longer for this batch. It all depends on how much water the tomatoes contain.

Ketchup thickening on the stove

After the ketchup has thickened to the level you like prepare your jars for canning. Ladle in the hot ketchup and leave a 1/2 inch headspace. Boil the jars for 15 minutes, or adjusted for altitude.

After the ketchup has sealed stand back and enjoy your handy work.

Canned homemade ketchup

Better yet, enjoy some of that ketchup on an all beef hotdog.

Homemade ketchup with mustard on an all beef hotdog and whole wheat bun

Now you’ve got the ketchup down, on to making homemade relish and mustard… but that’s a post for another time.

– Jason Snell

Zesty Roasted Hatch Chili Pepper Salsa

September 8, 2015 by Jason Snell

One of my favorite times of the year has finally arrived. Hatch Chili Pepper season!. In Hatch, New Mexico the Hatch Chili Pepper is grown and around August/September time they become available in the store. I really enjoy the flavor of the peppers, and I find that they’re best after they’ve been roasted.

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving book has a great Zesty Salsa Recipe. I use Hatch Chili Peppers in place of the the jalapeno or other spicy peppers.

Things you will need:

Tomatoes: Peeled, cored and seeded.
Hatch Chili Peppers
Onions
Bell Peppers
Apple Cider Vinegar
Sea Salt
Garlic
Cilantro

And of course: clean jars, lids and rings

As with any canning recipe the size of the batch can be adjusted as long as you keep the proportions the same. Peppers and onions are low acid vegetables and too many of them will increase the risk of botulism occurring in the salsa. One of the most important ingredients is the vinegar to keep the acidity up to a safe level.

Now Hatch Chili Peppers have an outer skin that is tougher than most peppers. To get the great roasted flavor, and to remove the skin the peppers need to be charred a bit. I normally rinse my peppers and place them on my gas grill for several minutes until the outer skin has started to turn dark and blistered. I like to keep a little heat in my peppers so I throw them on whole without removing the seeds.

Another way to char the peppers is to use the broiler in an oven or to even heat them on a skillet on the stove. The primary goal is to loosen the pepper’s skin.

Salsa Tip: The heat from the peppers comes from the seeds and the veins inside the pepper. To adjust the heat level of your salsa to a lower level just remove some or all of the seeds and scrape the inside of the peppers. It’s very important to wear gloves if you are handling peppers to reduce getting burned. And as always wash with plenty of soap and water if you do get pepper juice on your skin.

To remove the skin from tomatoes bring a pot of water to a boil and then gently drop the tomatoes into the boiling water. After 15-60 seconds most tomatoes will start to show cracks in the skin. At that point remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place them in a large bowl full of ice water. Leave the tomatoes for a minute or two to cool down and then use your fingers to slip the skins off. At this point you can also use your fingers to remove the core and seeds.

Don’t forget to check on your peppers and turn them as needed. I have forgotten and ended up with some very blackened peppers.

Dice up the garlic, onions, and bell peppers.

Dice up the cored tomatoes, and combine all the ingredients.

Next take the peppers off the grill or out from under broiler once they are done.

Here comes the fun part, removing the outer skin. I have found laying the peppers on a cutting board and using a knife and fork is the easiest way to peel the skins off. I use the dull side of the knife to hold the top of the pepper and then use the tines on the fork to gently remove the charred peeling.

At this point you can also remove or keep the seeds to modify how hot your salsa will turn out.

I kept about half of the seeds for this batch.

Once the peppers are all ready dice them up and add them with the rest of your ingredients in a large pot. Bring the salsa to a full boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. At that point it’s ready to go into the jars if you want to can it.

Ladle the salsa into each jar with 1/2 inch head space. This will allow enough room for the salsa to vent during the canning process.

Make sure to wipe the rims if any salsa splashes on to the jars.

Place the jars into a water bath canner for 15 minutes at a full boil for half pint jars. Adjust for altitude if needed.

Once 15 minutes have passed turn the heat off and remove the lid. Wait 5 minutes and remove the jars from the water bath canner.

Now yummy delicious hatch chili pepper salsa all year long! This salsa works great with chips, tacos, nachos, or even as a topping on burgers.

Canning Green Beans

August 22, 2015 by Jason Snell

When your parents end up with far more green beans then they expected what do you do? Why pressure can them of course. This year’s harvest has been quite abundant and so it has resulted in large amounts of green beans almost every week since they came in. Since green beans are a low acid vegetable they have to be pressure canned. So out comes the good old Presto Pressure Canner.

Now I use a 23 quart pressure canner with an extra canning rack to allow for double stacking. In fact I had so many green beans I completely filled the pressure canner. Double stacking pints means 19 pints and 6 quarts of green beans!

So here is what you’ll need if you want to pressure can your own green beans

A Pressure Canner

Canning Jars – make sure to only use jars designed for canning, that spaghetti sauce jar will not work, and will most likely break

Canning Equipment – I like to use the funnel and a measuring stick

Canning/Pickling Salt

Pots and pans

Lots and lots of green beans

A good canning recipe. I like to use the Green Beans recipe found in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. All the canning recipes in that book have been tested as being safe to use as long as the directions are followed.

First up you want to read the manual for your pressure canner. Each pressure canner model can be different.

Next sort through your green beans. You’ll want to snap them into a size that you like to eat and that will fit into the jars. Make sure to discard any discolored/rusted or diseased looking green beans. Only the best for you. Give them one final rinse and they’re ready to go.

After sorting the green beans add them to a large pot with water. Make sure you include enough water for your jars as well. The water in the pot is what fills the jars with the green beans.

Turn the stove on and let the beans come up to a boil. The goal here is to have them boil for about five minutes and then pack them into the jars.

Wait, you haven’t got your jars ready yet? Better do that quick while the water and beans are heating up. Whew, there done just in time.

I like to use a canning funnel, a canning measuring stick, and ladles.

Canning Tip: I like to lay a dish towel out on the counter to put my jars and tools on. It’s very helpful when whatever you canning can stain as well. Nothing like scrubbing up blackberry juice from the counter.

Now that the green beans have boiled at least five minutes it’s time to put them in the jars. If you are adding salt to your green beans put 1/2 tsp per pint or 1 tsp per quart. Leave a one inch head space to allow for expansion. If you are using Tattler Lids only tighten the metal band finger tight.

Time to load up the pressure canner. Make sure enough water has been added to the pressure canner for the model you’re using. In the case of my pressure canner that’s three quarts.

Canning Tip: Add a tablespoon or so of vinegar to your water when canning. Aluminum pots can react to certain foods and discolor. Also, the vinegar helps prevent mineral build up on the jars and lids.

Once the pressure canner is loaded and the lid is on bring the temperature up and start the venting process. Air needs to be vented from the canner to allow room for the steam. Vent for at least 10 minutes. Again, check the manual for your pressure canner as the process may be different.

After the canner has vented it’s time to bring the pressure up. With my model I place a weight on the venting tube to allow pressure to increase. At sea level you want to bring the pressure up to at 10lbs. For higher elevations consult your manual to adjust for the pressure difference.

At full pressure start the timer. For pints 20 minutes and for quarts 25 minutes.

Now that the timer has beeped, you did set a timer right? It’s time to allow the pressure canner to cool. Opening the canner at this point would be very dangerous, and in fact, depending on the design, may be impossible if it has a pressure lock. Let the canner cool and once cooled pop the lid open.

Canning Tip: I use a pair of silicon gloves to open the canner since they are water proof and won’t get soaked by the steam. Also, open the lid away from you to allow steam to vent safely in the opposite direction.

Use a jar lifter and lift the jars out one at a time. Place each jar on a kitchen towel to allow it to cool. If tattler lids are being used remember to tighten the metal bands fully on each jar to ensure a proper seal.

Now you have home canned green beans that are far tastier then the cans of green beans from the store. Remember to save at least some for that green bean casserole at Thanksgiving!

– Jason Snell

Jason Snell

Life in Boise , Idaho

Tag Archives: canning

Canning Homemade Ketchup (or catsup)

Zesty Roasted Hatch Chili Pepper Salsa

Canning Green Beans