Sweet and Sour Sauce for Canning

I got down to my last jar of tomatillo salsa for the enchiladas and realized it wouldn't be quite enough.  As long as I was making another batch, I looked for other things to put in the canner.  Sweet and sour meatballs were on the menu plan, so I searched for a sauce recipe that was canning-safe.

I actually wasn't thrilled with the Ball book's version.  It had you purée everything and was thickened by reduction, reducing the yield.  I found one on SB Canning that is thickened with Clearjel and leaves chunks in the sauce.  The main differences between it and my non-canning Sweet & Sour Sauce is using actual tomatoes instead of ketchup, ClearJel instead of cornstarch, and way more vinegar.

One thing about canning a sauce that's mostly tomato, bell pepper, and onion is that you're basically going to have to turn it into a sweet pickle.  That's the only way to get the acidity high enough for safety.  If you're making this to serve fresh or to freeze, you can cut down on the vinegar.  The recipe does allow you to increase the sugar to suit your taste, and I do recommend tasting it before putting it in a jar.

I tried a new method I saw for peeling tomatoes.  You core them, freeze until solid, then defrost.  The peel comes right off.  This should only be done if you're going to cook the tomatoes into a sauce, because it destroys the texture for anything else.  It also makes it very hard to remove the seeds, so I gave up and left them in.  For this sauce, it doesn't matter, but you might want to de-seed them before freezing if doing something smooth like marinara.  It was so much easier than blanching them in order to peel.

*4 C tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 C onions, cut in chunks
2 C (about 2 medium) green bell peppers, seeded and cut in chunks
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks, drained & juice reserved
2 C sugar, or more to taste
*1/4 C soy sauce
2 C white or rice vinegar (5% acidity for canning)
1/2 C sugar
*1/2 C ClearJel

1.  Prepare jars and water bath canner for 5-6 pint yield.  I did 3 pints and the rest in half-pints, with a little left over, for a total of almost 6 pints.  Your yield may vary based on variety of tomatoes.

2.  Place tomatoes, onions, peppers, and drained pineapple in a large soup pot and bring to a boil, stirring often.  I actually gave my tomatoes a 10 minute head start because they were still a little frozen and I wanted the liquids to redistribute.  At this point, you're basically making a salsa with pineapple, and could probably can it as such with a bit of citric acid in a pressure canner.  I'm sure there are recipes out there.

3.  Add 2 C sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar and return to a boil.  While that is going on, stir together other 1/2 C sugar, ClearJel, and reserved pineapple juice into a slurry.

4.  Once the sauce is cooked and reduced to what you want, taste and decide if it needs more sugar, bearing in mind you have 1/2 C in the thickening slurry.  I found 2 cups sufficient, but you can add up to 3 more cups if you want it extra sweet.  I did find the taste a tiny bit flat and added about 1/4 tsp ground ginger to perk it up.  For a spicy sauce, half a teaspoon of red chili flakes would be a good addition.  Dry spices do not affect the canning math.

5.  While the pot is boiling, stir in the ClearJel slurry and keep stirring.  The thickening effect is subtle.  You're not making pie goo.  It will turn the liquid from thin to something that will stick to the spoon a little.  Remove the pot from the heat and get your jars out of wherever you were keeping them hot.

6.  Fill jars to 1/2" headspace.  I only debubbled the pints, because the sauce is still pretty fluid.  Wipe the rims well with vinegar.  Center lids, screw on rings finger-tight, and place in canner.  Bring to a boil, then process for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and remove lid.  Let jars sit in canner 5 minutes, then remove to a towel to cool for 12-24 hours before removing rings and storing.  Any failed seals can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for longer storage.

Makes about 6 pints

Difficulty rating :-0