The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home - Janet Chadwick [52]
Cook, uncovered, in the oven for 10 hours. Do not stir.
One hour before cooking time is up, fill the canner with hot tap water and preheat water and jars in canner. Prepare lids.
When cooking time is up, ladle the hot ketchup into the hot pint jars. Leave ½-inch headspace.
Process pints for 15 minutes once water has returned to a boil.
Cool jars. Check seals. Remove screw bands. Label. Store.
tip Spaghetti sauce and ketchup can be reduced on top of the stove by cooking for 3 hours, but you must stir often to avoid boiling over or sticking. Sauces cooked in the oven take longer to reduce; they do not need to be stirred. They will not boil over, nor will they stick to the pot. To hurry the process toward the end, you can quickly reduce the sauce by cooking it for a very short period of time on top of the stove.
Kate’s Fresh Salsa
Makes 2 cups
2 large tomatoes, chopped and seeded
1 medium Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice (2 limes)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped green chilies
2 drops Tabasco sauce
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes to blend the flavors.
If you make the salsa ahead of time, leave out the chilies until just before serving.
Ten Commonly Asked Questions About Pickling
Must I process pickles and relishes?
Yes. The USDA now recommends processing all pickles and relishes to ensure destruction of harmful bacteria.
Must I sterilize jars when I process pickles and relishes?
To process pickles and relishes, it is not necessary to sterilize jars, if you process for 10 minutes or more in a boiling-water bath.
What causes soft or slippery pickles?
Not using freshly picked cucumbers, too little salt in the brine, acidity of vinegar is less than 5 percent, reducing the acid strength of the vinegar by adding more water than the recipe called for, not removing scum regularly, vegetables not covered with brine, hard water, not removing blossom ends from cucumbers, processing too long, or storing pickles where it is too warm.
What causes hollow pickles?
Growing conditions (long dry spells followed by heavy rains), cucumbers stored too long before pickling, brine not strong enough, or high fermentation temperatures.
What causes shriveled pickles?
Cucumbers stored too long before pickling, pickling solution too sweet or vinegar too strong, not enough salt in the brine, cooking too long, or processing too long.
Why do my pickles become dull or faded?
Poor quality cucumbers, sunburned or overmature cucumbers, or poor growing conditions.
What causes dark pickles?
Using too much spice, not removing whole spices from brine before packing pickles, minerals in the water (hard water), overcooking, cooking in an iron kettle, using iodized salt, or low nitrogen content of cucumbers.
What causes the white sediment that collects in the bottom of my jars of pickles?
Bacteria caused by fermentation, fluctuations in storage temperatures, or not using pure canning salt. It is usually not harmful unless the pickles are spoiled. If the pickles are spoiled, the jars frequently will spurt liquid when opened.
What causes pickles to spoil?
Not following directions carefully for packing and processing, using ingredients that are too old, or weakening the vinegar solution by adding more water than the recipe called for.
When I add whole garlic to my dills the garlic turns blue. Why?
This is not unusual. Hard water, which is high in minerals, is usually the cause. Garlic naturally contains sulfur compounds. When these compounds come in contact with copper, even a small amount of copper, they react to form copper sulfate, which is blue or blue-green. The color will not affect the taste.
CHAPTER 8
Jams, Jellies, Preserves, and Marmalades
MANY JAM-MAKING