The Art of Making Catsup or Give 'er a Stir

“Have you ever thought about doing canning classes?”

The question was posed to me by my friend, Ashley, the other day on my post about processing catsup, the one made with smoked paprika. I must admit, the question is intriguing because like Tom Sawyer, I know a good thing when I encounter it.

Do as I say, not as I do...

Suppose I had six interested pupils, and a hundred pounds of tomatoes I needed to have harvested. You mean, instead of having to painfully pick the tomatoes myself, my back aching with every stoop and squat, I’d have enthusiastic volunteers harvesting the tomatoes for me? 

Instead of having to examine, wash, and prepare the hundred pounds of goodness by myself, I’d have six pairs of hands to do this for me?

Instead of gathering, examining and washing the approximate number of appropriate jars for canning, I’d have it done for me?

I think you see where I’m going with this.

“It looks like fun. I wish I knew how to do stuff like this.”

The tomatoes are small and low to the ground,
and there are so many...

That was Ashley’s parting comment the other day, following mine: “It is a relaxing and enjoyable way to make use of the garden.”

Having been harvesting and canning tomatoes since 1974, I do indeed find this to be one of the most rewarding of summer experiences. The hard work is balanced by a continuous reward system, one which allows me to experience summer repeated, all year long, including-and especially-through the dead of winter.

To be able to reach into the pantry and snag a quart of cold-packed tomatoes, a pint of marinara sauce, a half-pint of pizza sauce, or a pint of catsup, “regular” or smoked paprika, is the height of luxury, the dividends paying off handsomely.

And if you believe the catsup is "regular," then I have this bridge you may very well be interested in.

These canned goods are available to everyone on-farm. I make it clear that the ongoing goal is to finish it all before the next year’s tomatoes are ready for harvest. It’s nice to have goals and objectives in your life. 

My objective right now, is to make some baked sweet potato fries, under the direction of Gluten-Free Mama, so that I can dip them in the newly created smoked paprika catsup.

Directions for making catsup, recipes:

The most recent batch, flavored with
smoked paprika.

I use the recipe that Gluten-Free Mama created, and I am not interested in losing any digits this morning, so I will tell you in advance that I cannot share that recipe. Not today, not on my deathbed, which I am trying to delay, even as I write.

That being said, I googled “homemade catsup recipes” and was able to find them without any problem. That right there tells you something significant: If I can access this information, a chimpanzee could also. It is that simple.

So I will tell you how to make the catsup, and you supply the recipe of your choice.

Tomatoes: 

I use the Heinz variety because it is a paste tomato. I have tried using Ace tomatoes, a conventionally juicy tomato, but it means having to cook them down for double the length of time that it takes with a paste tomato. I have had mixed results, from delicious to atrocious. Any paste variety will do fine. 

Diffusers:

These are diffusers.

It is hard to keep from scorching the tomatoes if they are on the oven-top for as long as 48 hours, and you are not as experienced as you might be. Also, the length of time does seem to affect the taste, but if you don’t cook them this long, then your catsup is too watery.

So I start by using diffusers, devices which sit on the burner(s), and help to prevent the burner in a gas stove from providing too much flame on the bottom of a sauce-pot. This lessons the possibility of scorching the batch. No matter how big or small the scorch, the entire batch has just become chicken feed. 

I have also processed catsup without diffusers, by being ultra-cautious, but this does require a high degree of patience. Additionally, if you are using an electric stove, I do not know if the diffusers work the same.

Preparing the tomatoes:

I wash the tomatoes, remove the external vine, and cut them small enough to fit into the mouth of the strainer, which will cull out the skins and seeds, and anything else that will not go through the tiny holes of the strainer. I do not remove the core because it will not pass through the tiny holes of the strainer.

This is the strainer, before it is assembled.

What emerges is silky smooth tomato sauce, which I transfer into a large saucepan on the stove-top. The pans I use cover two full burners, they are that huge, so I use two diffusers. Again, you can do this without the diffusers, but you need to constantly stir it, and you need to keep the burner below medium, even, it is that easy to scorch the base. You will probably be using a smaller saucepan.

If I start with six gallons of sauce, it takes from 20 to 24 hours to cook it down, the house imbued with the vinegary fragrance of fresh catsup being made. However, no matter how much you start with, your time will vary, so you just monitor it until you get to the consistency that suits your fancy. When you go to bed, leave the burner on at simmer, and if you get up in the middle of the night, give ‘er a stir.

Adding the spices:

Once I have finished straining the tomatoes, and they are on-pace to come to a rolling boil, I put in the ingredients that will transform the concoction into catsup. I use a cheesecloth bag to put the spices in that are not already powder. Such spices might include cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, or other spices that can be used in dried form. Some recipes do not call for anything other than spices in their powdered form, so you can avoid the cheesecloth approach to life.

A 12-quart pan of tomato sauce might require as much as two quarts of organic apple vinegar, so that’s a lot of moisture to add to the pot, that must now evaporate before your catsup hits the right consistency.

Preparing the jars: 

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You cannot mess around with mayonnaise jars, or other jars which allow the seals to be used. You have to use jars that are made specifically for canning, such as Mason or Ball, and you have to use new seals. If you buy the jars brand new, then you do not need to wash them before filling them with tomatoes. All research agrees, that if you are water-bathing your tomatoes for more than ten minutes (which you are), then your jars will be sterilized by that process.

You do not have to sterilize the seals and rings either, but you do need to heat the seals up so that they are warm, so you stop before the water boils and let it sit. I use a kitchen magnet to remove the seals and rings from the hot water.

If you are reusing jars, examine them closely for cracks, chips or anything that varies from the norm. Run your finger around the rim to make sure it is perfectly smooth. If there is any compromise, recycle the jar.

When filling your jars, do not fill them to the top. Leave a half-inch of airspace for good measure.

Up here on the mountain, my time for processing in a water bath is longer than for those who live at lower elevations. Again, simply google the time for your location. I must add five minutes to the 35 minutes I process pints of tomato catsup, in order to ensure that it is properly processed.

The sources I googled did not recommend a pressure cooker for catsup, though I did use one when I canned quarts of uncooked tomatoes, earlier this summer. The water bath method is one in which you cover the jars with water, adding another inch of water on top of that, and bring the whole thing to a full boil, before starting to tick off the required length of time.

Once the time is up, and you turn off the burner, you can either let the whole thing cool off, or you can carefully unload it, if you are making more than one batch.

And that’s it, except to remember to label what you are canning, not only for others’ sake, but your own, if your memory is anything like mine: That would one which resembled the aforementioned strainer, the one with all the holes.