Chili Sauce 2

This is old-fashioned chili sauce made for canning and pantry storage. Four quarts of ripe tomatoes cooked down with onions, sweet red peppers, hot chile, sugar, and a spice bag of pickling spices, celery seeds, and mustard seeds until reduced by half. Vinegar goes in near the end for preservation and tang.

Reducing by half is the critical step. It concentrates the tomato flavor into something thick, spoonable, and intensely flavored. This takes about 90 minutes of gentle cooking with frequent stirring as the sauce thickens.

The cheesecloth spice bag makes removal easy and keeps loose seeds out of the finished sauce. Pickling spices (a blend of mustard seed, dill, cinnamon, allspice, and more) give the sauce its complex, old-fashioned character.

Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes for shelf-stable jars that keep all year.

Kitchen Tips

• Use red-ripe, peak-season tomatoes for the best flavor. Off-season tomatoes produce a watery, bland sauce.
• Stir frequently as the sauce thickens. Thick tomato mixtures scorch on the bottom fast.
• The sauce is done when it mounds on a spoon without running. If it’s still loose, keep reducing.
• Leave ¼ inch headspace in the jars for proper sealing during processing.

Variations

• Smoky chili sauce: Add a chipotle pepper to the mix for a smoky, deeper heat.
• No-can version: Skip the canning and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.