Salsa/Sauces

[feldon30]

Pickle Crisp is calcium chloride. It's a firming agent used by all commercial canned tomato companies. Certainly doesn't hurt to use a little bit to firm up the tomato chunks.

[Dan45761]

Wash your peppers and cut off the stems. Use a bunch. For the sake of this recipe we’re going to be using twenty.

Throw them in a saucepan and add about two cups of white vinegar, half a teaspoon of sea salt, and three chopped garlic cloves.

Bring everything to a light boil and reduce to low heat to simmer.

Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers are very soft.

Pour it all into your handy dandy food processor and blend extremely well. Super extremely well. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is basically liquid, so make sure it’s completely smooth, and very thin.

And then pass the whole thing through a fine mesh strainer. (Or if one’s not available, a homemade paper towel strainer.)

[pdxwindjammer]

Correct, newatthiskat! No need to add more acid to it if you freeze, only for canning.

[ArcherB]

I'm a bit confused. If can can green beans, chicken, fish, or anything else using a pressure canner, why can I not make my own tomato sauce with garlic, onion, oregano, basil, olive oil and whatever else I decide to put in it? I've seen recipes, scratch that, ONE recipe online that is said to be safe. You'll recognize it because it starts with "30 lbs Tomatoes".

I want to whip up my own sauce, made on the fly without a set recipe, seasoned as I go, and can it using my pressure canner. What is wrong with that? If I can safely can a whole chicken, why not a mix of veggies?

Thanx!

[recruiterg]

Good question. I'd like to know the answer, too.

[Rockporter]

http://www.foodinjars.com/2010/08/ca...-tomato-sauce/

[ArcherB]

Here is the link to the only approved recipe I can find.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html

[ContainerTed]

I, too, wondered this for a while. Then, I decided that I would can only tomato juice - very thick tomato juice. This simplified the recipe that went into the jars, and gave us so much more diversity in what we could make from the canned product.

At first, we were a bit sad that we could not make that "perfect" sauce and preserve it for whatever time period suited our fancy. But then we realized that the best sauces are those made with fresh spices and other ingredients. Half of enjoying the dish is the aromas that fill the house.

Technically, there should be no reason why you can't pressure can whatever you want. But canning everything as "juice", and then making what we want at the moment from the "juice" is the best of all worlds - at least it is for us.

[ArcherB]

Thanks, Rockporter. I saw that site in my research before asking here. Much of that page deals with a boiling water bath. I know that's out because that method of canning will not get the temps high enough to kill of botulism. But pressure canning does. Here is what the site says concerning pressure canning:

However, you should still consult recipes that have been tested using a pressure canner to determine processing time and pressure.

But why? Why would the processing time and pressure between their sauce and my own be any different? I guess I could see some slight differences due to the thickness of the sauce, maybe, but you could see the same difference when using THEIR recipe! Using their recipe on an electric stove in Miami will produce a different consistency than if using the same recipe on a gas stove in Phoenix. If in doubt, why would simply adding 5 lbs pressure and an extra five minutes not be sufficient?

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by ArcherB

Thanks, Rockporter. I saw that site in my research before asking here. Much of that page deals with a boiling water bath. I know that's out because that method of canning will not get the temps high enough to kill of botulism. But pressure canning does. Here is what the site says concerning pressure canning:


But why? Why would the processing time and pressure between their sauce and my own be any different? I guess I could see some slight differences due to the thickness of the sauce, maybe, but you could see the same difference when using THEIR recipe! Using their recipe on an electric stove in Miami will produce a different consistency than if using the same recipe on a gas stove in Phoenix. If in doubt, why would simply adding 5 lbs pressure and an extra five minutes not be sufficient?

What you are missing in the article is that when you add things to the tomatoes it changes the acidity levels and this is why you cannot safely can tomatoes in a mixed sauce.

[ArcherB]

Thanx to you too, Ted.

That sounds great for a Sunday afternoon and I certainly plan on making several jars of sauce with just tomatoes. But I'm worried about Wednesday night.

The reason I'm asking is that many times, we are pressed for time. I work late and the Mrs needs to get our daughter to... wherever... in a hurry. What we do in these situations is brown meat, open a purchased jar of spaghetti sauce, put it in the pot and boil it while we cook the pasta. BAM!!! Dinner! I want to be able to do the same thing, but with my own sauce.

If I can save $3.00/jar of purchased sauced for every "free" jar of my own, with my own tomatoes, basil, onion and garlic, then that's an extra $3.00/jar I can spend on cages, fertilizer, soil and so on. If I can make it good enough, I might even get to expand the garden!

Rockport:

The acidity is to keep botulism spores from growing. That shouldn't be a problem with pressure canning. After all, a whole chicken or the catch of the day is low acid. That's why you have to pressure can it.

[Rockporter]

What about dehydrating those herbs and onions to throw into the sauce when you are cooking? You would then have everything prepared for a quick meal.

[Hotwired]

There's nothing like fresh herbs when making sauce. I can my own sauce in a hotwater bath canner. I also can de-seeded half tomatoes the same way. I usually mix a pint of each with some cooked ground beef and chopped onions, and add herb ice cubes. If you course chop fresh herbs, such as Basil, Oregano, or Parsley, then wet it and press it into an ice cube tray, you can then toss in an herb ice cube whenever you make sauce. I vacuum seal the cubes and pull them out as I need them. It is really almost as good as fresh.

[recruiterg]

It is safe to pressure can sauce if you follow these guidelines:

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html

[feldon30]

If you've got freezer space, Suze's oven roasted tomato sauce recipe might be worth a try.