Today’s project – Finish The Ketchup! I had planned to do this on Day 3, then got started on Day 4 so today is the day this project gets finished. I doubted I could get this all done in one day so before I started, I made sure I had room in a fridge to store all this overnight.
The recipe I’m trying is one posted by Living Traditions Homestead. The ingredients are listed in her show notes. This recipe is water bath canned so you do not need a pressure canner to make this. I’ve made ketchup before and was never totally excited about it. Since I’m not a huge ketchup fan and since it’s a LOT of work, if I’m not going to be thrilled with it, I’m not making it again. Sarah, from Living Traditions Homestead, loved this recipe so I’ll try it.
This took a while because the recipe calls for 25 pounds of tomatoes. I only have a 12 quart roaster. There is an 18 quart Nesco roaster available but since I have the 12 quart and it’s rare that I would need an 18 quart, I’m sticking with the one I already have. I filled it as much as I could in the electric roaster, then put the rest in a pot on the stove. Once they both cooked down enough, I combined them all into the 12 quart electric roaster. It takes a long time to slowly cook down 25 pounds of tomatoes!
You can see how much liquid is in there! I did get it all cooked down, let it cool, put it half gallon jars and kept it in the fridge overnight. This morning, I reheated it all, did one last taste test for seasonings, and got it canned.
We now have 15 pints of ketchup on the shelf. I’ll share some with Chad and that should be all we need til next year’s tomato harvest.
Katherine says
Your idea of not a big ketchup fan and my idea must be very different. I can’t imagine using more than 1-2 pints in a year. Maybe not even 1.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Vince is a big ketchup fan and he can go through 6 or 8 pints per year. Plus Chad, Addie and Nicole like it so I’ll be surprised if we have more than a pint or two left at the end of the year. I NEVER use storebought ketchup but I will use this and, like you, one pint would be more than enough if I were the only one eating it.
Susan Nixon says
What I like is not having to look for “high fructose corn syrup” on the label! LOL
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That is one of the main reasons I’m trying to can so much and eat all our meals at home.