It's been a while and ketchup questions

12 years ago

Hi Folks,

It's been a while since I last posted. I pop in now and then just to see what's new but haven't had much to add. I have directed a couple of folks over from the Hot Pepper Forum when they start asking about pickling and canning using recipes that are not safe. I tell them what I know and direct them to the experts. ajsmama has become an active member over there so now there are two of us jumping on unsafe canning ;-))

Anyhow, I find myself in need of your sage advice. I've canned a lot of tomato sauce over the past few years but this year is my first attempt at ketchup. I've done a search but have come up blank. Believing there is no such thing as a stupid question (well, ok, I've asked a few myself) here I go.

Paraphrasing the NCHFP recipe (link below):

The procedure calls for:

- Skinning; peeling; coring; adding ground red pepper and onions and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

- Add spiced vinegar and boil 30 more minutes.

- Put boiled mixture through a food mill or sieve.

- Add sugar and salt, boil gently, and stir frequently until volume is reduced by...

My questions are:

1) can I safely quarter the recipe (my gut tells me yes)?

2) I have the KitchenAid fruit and vegetable strainer which removes skin and seed and puts out a thin sauce. Can I cut the first boil and simmer time out, boil 30 minutes with onion and pepper powder, add sugar and salt and finish off gentling boiling down? Will I be introducing an unknown risk by not initially simmering down the chopped onions?

I know I'm asking about modifying a tested safe recipe. Am I asking stupid questions?

Do I need to put the training wheels back on my boiling water and pressure caners?

Thanks,

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP ketchup recipe

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Comments (3)

digdirt2
12 years ago
Hi Bill and welcome back. No dumb questions when it comes to canning safety! :) The first cooking is for acidification and flavoring - getting the flavors to blend - so you don't want to skip it. It takes time to absorb the acid and the flavors and for the water in the ingredients to steam off.

But yes you can halve or quarter the recipe. I'd go for cutting it in half since trying to 1/4 all the complex measurements can lead to mistakes and even some taste changes.

Hope this helps.

Dave
macybaby
12 years ago
I'd skip the "skinning, peeling and coring" part as the KA will take care of that.

Just wash them good, cut in half and put in pan. When you cut the tomatoe, you activate an enzyme that causes the liquid to seperate. Heating them with little cutting before that minimizes this. Otherwise you can cut them all up and later let the puree sit to seperate out, and drain off the watery part before boiling down.

When I make ketchup, I wash the tomaotes, heat them up until they are soft, run them through the KA (goes much better this way) then dump them back in the pot and add seasonings.

Some recipies add other raw veggies (like you mention) and then run through the seive, so in that case you would want to add them to the tomatoes at the start, and maybe cook longer so the flavor mixes. Then run through the KA to get rid of all chunks.

I only have two people to can for, so I make much smaller batches of all kinds of condements and then process them in 1/2 pint jars.

I make sure to write down the new measures before I start, so I don't get confused in my head. Though if you mess up on dried seasonings, it affects flavor but not safety.

When I made ketchup, I started out with a tomato/onion base and made a sauce. Then I divided it up and made ketchup, pizza sauce, cocktail sauce and a few types of BBQ sauce. I think I ended up with 5 jars of ketchup and coctail sauce, about 10 of BBQ sauce and about 30 jars of pizza sauce.
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Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the feedback Dave and macybaby, great information.

Dave, I had a Doh! moment after I posted. I think I came really close to, if not past, the stupid question point, why would I waist members time by asking about canning such a small batch when three half pints could be easily be accommodated in a freezer. I appreciate the responses though!

I am planning to convert the measurements from imperial to metric to facilitate more accurate measures. I'll give it a shot and freeze two of the half pints and put the third in the fridge for more immediate use.

Thanks again,

Bill