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Canning Homemade Ketchup

Yield: approximately 6 to 7 pints
Print Recipe
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 24 pounds ripe tomatoes
  • 3 cups chopped onions
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 3 cups apple cider vinegar 5% acidity
  • 4 teaspoons whole cloves
  • 3 cinnamon sticks crushed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice
  • 3 tablespoons celery seeds
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup salt

Equipment

  • Large Stockpot
  • Water Bath Canner
  • Pint Canning Jars
  • Food Mill or Sieve
  • Spice Bag or Cheesecloth
  • Jar Lifter
  • Canning Funnel

Method
 

. Prepare the Tomatoes
  1. Wash the tomatoes thoroughly.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a bowl or sink of cold water.
  3. Lower the tomatoes into boiling water for about 30 to 60 seconds, or just until the skins begin to split. Transfer them immediately to the cold water.
  4. The skins should slip off easily.
  5. Remove the cores, peel the tomatoes, and cut them into quarters.
Cook the Tomatoes and Onions
  1. Place the prepared tomatoes in a large stockpot.
  2. Add the chopped onions and cayenne pepper.
  3. Bring everything to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
  4. Cover the pot, turn off the heat, and allow the mixture to stand for another 20 minutes.
Prepare the Spiced Vinegar
  1. While the tomatoes are resting, place the cloves, crushed cinnamon sticks, allspice, and celery seeds into a spice bag or tie them securely in cheesecloth.
  2. Pour the 5% apple cider vinegar into a saucepan and add the spice bag.
  3. Bring the vinegar to a boil.
  4. Remove the spice bag and discard the spices.
  5. Now you have all that warm spice flavor infused into the vinegar without little pieces of clove and celery seed floating around in your ketchup.
Combine and Cook
  1. Pour the seasoned vinegar into the tomato mixture.
  2. Bring it back to a boil and cook for approximately 30 minutes.
  3. At this point, the tomatoes should be very soft.
Run the Ketchup Through a Food Mill
  1. Run the hot tomato mixture through a food mill or fine sieve.
  2. This removes seeds and any remaining bits of skin while creating the smooth texture we want in ketchup.
  3. Return the tomato mixture to your stockpot.
Add the Sugar and Salt
  1. Stir in the sugar and salt.
  2. Bring the ketchup to a gentle boil and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the volume has reduced by approximately half.
  3. Don't rush this part.
  4. As the ketchup gets thicker, it can scorch surprisingly quickly. Turn the heat down if necessary and stir more often toward the end.
Canning Homemade Ketchup
  1. Prepare your water bath canner and clean pint jars according to current safe home-canning practices.
  2. Ladle the hot ketchup into hot pint jars, leaving 1/8 inch headspace.
  3. Remove any trapped air bubbles and adjust the headspace if necessary.
  4. Wipe the jar rims clean, center the lids, and apply the bands until fingertip tight.
  5. Place the jars into the boiling water bath canner and process according to your elevation.

Notes

How Do You Know When Homemade Ketchup Is Thick Enough?

This is probably the part of ketchup making that requires the most patience.
You're looking for a thick sauce that mounds or rounds up slightly on a spoon without watery liquid separating from the tomato mixture.
Depending on the tomatoes you started with, reducing the ketchup can take a while.
Watery slicing tomatoes will naturally take longer than meaty paste tomatoes.
Don't try to shortcut the process by adding flour, cornstarch, or another thickener. Let evaporation do the work.
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