Tonight I decided to make my own ketchup. We are almost out, so after we finished a bottle Kurtz Ketchup, I thought I'd just make a copy-cat recipe from the ingredients on the back of the bottles minus the corn syrup. I also checked around the web for other recipes to see how people were making their ketchup. Most recipes were pretty much the same. The main ingredients are tomato paste, sugar(sweetener), vinegar, onion powder, salt, and spices. Instead of using a recipe, I just experimented with these ingredients by keeping an eye on the texture and adding spices to taste.
You certainly can make ketchup with diced tomatoes, but next time I'll wait to get some tomato paste! It's taking a long time to thicken up; I've got it cooking on low, and added some corn starch. The taste is really good, just too thin.
Here's what I can remember using for a large batch:
- Two cans of tomato sauce, one can of diced tomatoes, and one can of seasoned diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup sugar, and a big pour of dark molasses
- 3/4 - 1 cup vinegar
- A little water(a mistake, needs less liquids!)
- Various shakes and pours to taste of onion powder, Italian seasoning, cardamon, celery salt, tarragon, salt, coriander, and garlic.
- A few sprays of canola oil
- A little corn starch to thicken which got blobby on me.
I used the blender to liquefy the tomatoes and combine everything, now I'm waiting for it to thicken up on the stove. I think I may need to get some tomato paste tomorrow to fix it.
Here's a formal recipe: Hillbilly Housewife Homemade Ketchup recipe
Is it worth it? Maybe, if you use the paste, or you have a lot of tomatoes to use up. I think it takes a lot of them to make a good thick paste. The benefits are a product free of artificial ingredients and high fructose corn syrup, made to taste, adjustable for sugars and salts.
You can also just purchase organic or Kosher ketchup which is free of artificial ingredients and high fructose corn syrup. Not all organic ketchups are free from high fructose corn syrup. Ketchups like Muir Glen, Trader Joe's(spicey), Annie's, and all Kosher are sugar based.These ketchups are about $3.50 a bottle and up.
See more entries at this week's Make It From Scratch Carnival.
6 comments:
I hae made my own ketchup for years but I use my tomatoes in the garden. Roma tomatoes work best because they are more meaty and suacy. It takes tons of tomatoes to make ketchup. I always grow no less than 200 pounds. If you dont have your own tomatoes Im not sure it really pays to make your own. But hey, its nice to see people trying this! Way to go!
Thanks Mrs D...I noticed this after I made mine from mostly sauce! What was I thinking, LOL. I can see how you need a lot to get it thick.
I have trouble growing things in my garden/area - very little sun, hot and buggy marshy area. I do have one little sad one trying to grow in a partially sunny area. Herbs on the other hand do great!
I've made my own too and it came out so good we then further spiced it and used it as bbq sauce as well!
~Erin
Oh, thanks for the reminder about BBQ sauce! I'll make a bottle of that as well.
I definitely want to try your recipe as we have been trying very hard not to buy products with high fructose corn syrup. It is almost impossible to find ketchup that doesn't have it. Thanks for the tips and I must cook this up this weekend.
One of my favorite movies ever:
"As usual, Doris was superb as Beverly Boyer, a suburban housewife content to be home caring for her husband and two children and doing amazingly domestic activities such as bottling her own ketchup!! Wow!"
A review for the movie "The Thrill of it All" Doris Day and James Gardner!
http://www.amazon.ca/Thrill-All-Norman-Jewison/dp/6300184919
And now I know I can try my hand at it too!
Post a Comment