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I might just try the tomato jam one of these days; my favorite jam which I haven't made this year and it might be too late is 7 fruit marmalade made with tomatoes as well as peaches, a orange, lime, lemon, and a couple other fruits. I expanded the original recipe which I believe called for just 4 or 5 fruits, mainly the peaches, orange and tomatoes.
This coming week we are doing a 3 generation canning adventure: My 2 granddaughters, my daughter and myself are getting together and doing salsa. This will be one granddaughters attempt at canning.
We finished our salsa for the season yesterday and today I did 3 pints and 3 1/2 pints of tomato/orange marmalade with peaches, apples, limes and lemons added: it is awesome. I would imagine it tastes a bit like tomato jam but probably more tart. I am putting the canning supplies away for the winter. I have way more than we can ever use and I can give just so much away.
So how much canning have you all done this season?
Well, I got over a hundred pint jars of salsa put up, plus a couple dozen jars of "diced green chiles" made with jalapenos which I use in my homemade refried beans. I currently have 40 more pounds of jalapenos sitting in my kitchen waiting for processing. I think I'll do up some more of the diced peppers and then put up a dozen jars of "nacho peppers" (the thin slices), and I'll use the red ripened peppers to make hot sauce. I won't need to grow peppers for 2 or 3 years!
Well, I got over a hundred pint jars of salsa put up, plus a couple dozen jars of "diced green chiles" made with jalapenos which I use in my homemade refried beans. I currently have 40 more pounds of jalapenos sitting in my kitchen waiting for processing. I think I'll do up some more of the diced peppers and then put up a dozen jars of "nacho peppers" (the thin slices), and I'll use the red ripened peppers to make hot sauce. I won't need to grow peppers for 2 or 3 years!
Holy Moly!! 100 pint jars of Salsa? Wow
Good for you!!
I make zucchini relish and canned about 10 pint jars.....it is SO Good!!! Gave a few away and they were begging me for more!
I put down 25 quarts of tomatoes, 10 pints of salsa, 5 pints of "faux pineapple" (made with zucchini)
and now I am going to make applesauce this weekend and tomato jam. I just love doing this!!
Sounds interesting! I'll have to find a recipe for Tomato Jam and try that out!
I was going to reply to the thread you started but then I saw that they had redirected you here so I'll just respond to this post. I highly recommend the "Ball Blue Book of Preserving". It has tons of canning recipes and preservation techniques--not just for canning, but also for freezing and dehydrating. There's a tomato jelly recipe in there, and a "red tomato jam" recipe. I bought mine years ago at our local hardware/farm store. I use the recipes as bases and tweak them to suit my tastes, but I *never* reduce the amount of vinegar or sugar used since that may not be safe. I based my organic salsa recipe on the one titled "Zesty Salsa". I made it by the book the first time but it's watery and kinda bland so I've changed it a bit over the years while still maintaining the same amounts of vinegar and salt. I keep the number of pounds of produce roughly the same, but then I change the peppers used and add in more spices. I like the recipe very much and everyone who tastes it has said it's better than any organic brand they've had from the store. One friend of mine eats it straight out of the jar with a fork. Lol. It took a few years of making it to find the right combination of ingredients, though. I think I can stop tweaking the recipe now. Maybe.
The two main keys to making good salsa are to drain the tomatoes after chopping them, and also to add tomato paste to help thicken it further. This wouldn't be necessary for someone who likes really thin watery salsa, but we don't like it that way so I drain the toms and add a couple cans of tomato paste. It speeds up the cook time a lot for me since I don't have to cook it as long (though it still goes for at least an hour for depth of flavor).
I actually do reduce the amount of peppers and just use hotter ones, so I think that balances out the vinegar needs when adding the tomato paste. I've never had any go bad, so I'm guessing it's fine since the tomato paste is so acidic compared to peppers. I do increase the vinegar when I feel it's needed. I've also used different vinegars in the recipe with good results. As long as the acidity of the vinegar remains the same (5%), it's fine to use different ones.
If you want low-sugar jams, you can look into Pomona pectin and the recipe books written specifically for using that type of pectin. You shouldn't reduce the amount of sugar in the Ball recipes since they are designed and tested for safety with a certain amount. However, there is a low-sugar section in the book which calls for the no-sugar-needed pectin in the jam/jelly recipes (which is different than Pomona's).
I was going to reply to the thread you started but then I saw that they had redirected you here so I'll just respond to this post. I highly recommend the "Ball Blue Book of Preserving". It has tons of canning recipes and preservation techniques--not just for canning, but also for freezing and dehydrating. There's a tomato jelly recipe in there, and a "red tomato jam" recipe. I bought mine years ago at our local hardware/farm store. I use the recipes as bases and tweak them to suit my tastes, but I *never* reduce the amount of vinegar or sugar used since that may not be safe. I based my organic salsa recipe on the one titled "Zesty Salsa". I made it by the book the first time but it's watery and kinda bland so I've changed it a bit over the years while still maintaining the same amounts of vinegar and salt. I keep the number of pounds of produce roughly the same, but then I change the peppers used and add in more spices. I like the recipe very much and everyone who tastes it has said it's better than any organic brand they've had from the store. One friend of mine eats it straight out of the jar with a fork. Lol. It took a few years of making it to find the right combination of ingredients, though. I think I can stop tweaking the recipe now. Maybe.
The two main keys to making good salsa are to drain the tomatoes after chopping them, and also to add tomato paste to help thicken it further. This wouldn't be necessary for someone who likes really thin watery salsa, but we don't like it that way so I drain the toms and add a couple cans of tomato paste. It speeds up the cook time a lot for me since I don't have to cook it as long (though it still goes for at least an hour for depth of flavor).
I actually do reduce the amount of peppers and just use hotter ones, so I think that balances out the vinegar needs when adding the tomato paste. I've never had any go bad, so I'm guessing it's fine since the tomato paste is so acidic compared to peppers. I do increase the vinegar when I feel it's needed. I've also used different vinegars in the recipe with good results. As long as the acidity of the vinegar remains the same (5%), it's fine to use different ones.
If you want low-sugar jams, you can look into Pomona pectin and the recipe books written specifically for using that type of pectin. You shouldn't reduce the amount of sugar in the Ball recipes since they are designed and tested for safety with a certain amount. However, there is a low-sugar section in the book which calls for the no-sugar-needed pectin in the jam/jelly recipes (which is different than Pomona's).
Thank you for all of your advice!! Really do appreciate it!
I am going to make tomato jam this weekend so I will see how that goes. I really get into canning and trying new recipes as well. I made some zucchini relish that my friends just raved over when I gave them each a 1/2 pint. One ladies brother tried it and ended up eating it straight out of the jar with a fork and ate the whole thing LOLOL
Holy Moly!! 100 pint jars of Salsa? Wow
Good for you!!
Thank you. I'm pretty happy with that amount.
Quote:
I make zucchini relish and canned about 10 pint jars.....it is SO Good!!! Gave a few away and they were begging me for more!
I put down 25 quarts of tomatoes, 10 pints of salsa, 5 pints of "faux pineapple" (made with zucchini)
and now I am going to make applesauce this weekend and tomato jam. I just love doing this!!
That's a lot of tomatoes! Nice. It's a bit tiring to me because of my decade-long illness that I'm coming out of, but I do still like to can a lot. I'm so spoiled on my salsa that I don't have much of a choice since the storebought kind doesn't come remotely close and I cringe if/when I have to buy it. Lol. I'm kinda hoping that this year's haul will last for 2 years so I can take a break next year or can something else besides salsa and peppers. I did pickles one year and ended up throwing them all out because they were limp. I absolutely hate mushy pickles. I might try them again next year, except I would be adding calcium chloride to keep them crisp. I'm going to add it to my remaining peppers this year since I don't really like mushy peppers either.
Thank you for all of your advice!! Really do appreciate it!
I am going to make tomato jam this weekend so I will see how that goes. I really get into canning and trying new recipes as well. I made some zucchini relish that my friends just raved over when I gave them each a 1/2 pint. One ladies brother tried it and ended up eating it straight out of the jar with a fork and ate the whole thing LOLOL
You're very welcome. Your zuke relish sounds good.
I haven't made any jam in several years so I'm thinking of doing some of that next year if all goes well. It's hard to get my hands on large quantities of fresh organic fruits, so I sometimes have to use frozen. I don't like doing that because it seems that it doesn't want to set up well. One year, I essentially made strawberry ice-cream topping because it was so loose. Still tasted good, and I did use it on ice cream.
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I think I'll do up some more of the diced peppers and then put up a dozen jars of "nacho peppers" (the thin slices), and I'll use the red ripened peppers to make hot sauce. I won't need to grow peppers for 2 or 3 years!
