Relish Help, please

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I made Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish (Ball Canning) this morning. I've never made any pickle or relish before, so this is a first. (I've done lots of tomato things and jams.) After I boiled the veggies and the juice for an hour it seemed awfully dry. It was supposed to make 6 pints, but only barely made 4. I was hesitant to put it in the BWB so dry, so I boiled some water and poured that on top to fill the spaces. I'm a little concerned about how that will affect the flavor. The left over bits in the pot are quite tasty. I still have more green tomatoes, so I could make more, but I'd like to get these issues cleared up before I do that. Pointers?

Green
Tomato Hot Dog relish (Ball)

Ingredients

6 cups finely chopped green tomatoes

2 large onions, minced

2 green peppers, seeded,chopped

1 red pepper, seeded chopped

1/4 cup pickling salt

2 cups vinegar

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon whole cloves

4 inches cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon celery seed

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine green tomatoes, onions
and pickling salt.

2. Cover and let stand overnight.

3. Sterilize 6 pint jars.

4. Rinse tomatoes & onions well, drain and
rinse out excess moisture.

5. In a large saucepan combine vinegar, garlic,
brown sugar, mustard, salt & ginger.

6. Tie cloves, cinnamon stick & celery seed in
a square of cheese cloth, add to the pickling liquid.

7. Bring to a boil, add tomatoes, onions,&
peppers simmer for 1 hour stirring frequently.

8. Ladle relish into hot sterilized jars to within
1/2" of top, release air bubbles by running a spatula around the inside of
the jar, cover with heated snap lid, screw on band.

9. Bring water in a large pot (use the pot &
water that you used to sterilize the jars) to a boil, place jars in and water
process for 10 minutes.

Featured Answer

digdirt2

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

For future reference anytime you run into a mix that appears overly dry add additional liquid (in this case it would be vinegar or 1/2 and 1/2 vinegar and water) to the mix and heat it all the way thru before filling the jars.

In this particular case it is a problem with the recipe - too little liquid for the amount of dry ingredients. We have talked about it here before and even contacted Ball about it so you aren't alone - it is too dry for good heat penetration. Ball's response was that the amount of liquid all depends on the type of tomatoes used ie: undrained beefsteaks vs. romas. But even that doesn't make enough difference IMO. They still should at least include a note with the recipe to add more vinegar when needed.

Since it is still within the safe time period, I suggest you reprocess it all - all back into the pot with sufficient liquid added, heat well and then fill at least 5 jars with the mix. You want it to be soupy in the jars before processing and then if too soupy you can drain it a bit after opening the jars.

Hope this helps.

Dave

PS: also for future ref - anything that will be processed for 10 min or longer does not require the jars be sterilized first, just hot.

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Comments (9)

suzanne_sl
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, Dave!! Off the couch and back to the kitchen.

As for what type of tomatoes, they're green for goodness sake. It's not like truly green tomatoes have much in the way of moisture variation.
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digdirt2
10 years ago
True they aren't as juicy as they would be when ripe but the beefsteak types will be slightly more moist. There is more water in their cellular structure. ;-)

Dave
suzanne_sl thanked digdirt2
canfan
10 years ago
Timely post... picked a 5 gal bucket of green tomatoes night before the big frost... think I'll give this a go... with the added note about more vinegar/water if needed.
suzanne_sl
Original Author
10 years ago
canfan - if you're using this recipe, think double the liquid it calls for from the get-go. I did as Dave suggested (I wrote the query when the jars were in the BWB) and added more water and vinegar and reprocessed, but doing it again I'd just double the vinegar, sugar, etc. from the beginning. It really is tasty though.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
10 years ago
So I'm looking at the recipe and there is no water called for initially. Dave says "in this case it would be vinegar or 1/2 and 1/2 vinegar and water" . To adjust the recipe would it now be either:

4 cups of vinegar - or - 3 cups of vinegar plus one cup of water?

Thanks for clarifying. I'm saving the recipe.
digdirt2
10 years ago
The recipe as written is a straight vinegar recipe. That vinegar plus whatever water is in the fruit is the only liquid. So you have options to make it more soupy.

(1) doubling the amount of the brine ingredients to begin with to insure you have enough liquid. Doubling brine recipes from the beginning is a safe and common practice in pickling.

(2) diluting the vinegar a bit with water as long as you do not drop the ratio of vinegar to water below 2:1 and definitely not below 1:1.

(3) just adding more vinegar as needed,

I can't give you specific amounts as the consistency of even the basic recipe will vary from person to person for several reasons - the tomatoes used, the way you measure ingredients, the particle size you use, etc.

It is your choice but the goal is to end up with close to 6 jars of soupy, sloshy relish.

Dave
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
10 years ago
Thanks Dave.
canfan
10 years ago
I just put a batch of Green tomato hot dog relish in the caner. I used green roma's which I anticipated to be on the dry side so I went ahead and added more liquid up front: 3 1/2 cups vinegar and to cut the tang of the vinegar I added 1 C water. Also I cut back on the sugar to 5/8 cup. I ended up with 9.5 half pints. I think I should have run the tomato's through the food processor another pulse or two but I didn't want it to be cut too fine. Next time I'll probably go ahead and chop them a bit finer. The flavor is great. I used ground clove and cinnamon (1/2 tsp) each.
suzanne_sl thanked canfan