Chili Sauce 3
Submitted by terrys
Homemade chili sauce for canning with 50 fresh tomatoes, onions, red peppers, celery, vinegar, brown sugar, and whole allspice. A big-batch preserve that yields 5 quarts.
YIELD
5 quartsPREP
60 minCOOK
2 hrsREADY
3 hrsThis is old-school, big-batch canning at its finest. Fifty fresh tomatoes get scalded, peeled, and seeded, then cooked down with a full quart of apple cider vinegar, three cups of brown sugar, a dozen chopped onions, red bell peppers, a whole bunch of celery, and crushed garlic. It’s a full afternoon project that fills five quarts of jars.
The key technique is skimming off the watery liquid that rises to the top as the tomatoes cook. Fresh tomatoes are mostly water, and if you don’t remove that excess, the finished sauce will be thin and runny instead of thick and spoonable. Ladle off as much clear liquid as you can before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Whole allspice berries tied in cheesecloth infuse the sauce for the first 30 minutes, then come out so the flavor doesn’t overpower everything. Dry mustard blended into a paste with vinegar adds a sharp kick that balances the sweetness of all that brown sugar.
Pro Tips
- Use ripe, peak-season tomatoes. Under-ripe ones lack the flavor and sugar needed for a balanced sauce.
- Sterilize your jars before filling and seal while everything is still hot. Proper canning technique prevents spoilage.
- Cook gently, not at a hard boil. Low heat concentrates flavor without scorching the sugars on the bottom.
- Taste before jarring and adjust the salt, pepper, or vinegar. Every batch of tomatoes is different in acidity and sweetness.
Variations
- Add a few hot peppers along with the sweet red ones for a spicier version.
- Stir in a tablespoon of smoked paprika for a smoky depth.
- Use this as a base for cocktail sauce by adding prepared horseradish before serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Scald and peel the tomatoes, cut into pieces and remove the seeds.
Put them to cook in a large kettle.
Bring to a rolling boil, lower heat and continue to cook.
As they cook, the solids will settle and almost clear water will rise to the top.
Remove as much of this as you can, so the sauce will be thick and not runny.
When the tomatoes are fairly thick, add the onions, red peppers, celery and garlic.
Blend the mustard with a little vinegar and add the mustard paste, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper and the allspice which has been tied in cheesecloth.
Cook gently 1½ hours. Remove the spice bag after the first half hour.
Taste and add seasoning if needed.
Pack into hot sterilized jars and seal at once.
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