Help needed for canning spaghetti sauce

[TMB]

Never canned anything before, I always used a vacuum sealer for most stuff but found a need for canned spaghetti sauce.

Now, watched a  few videos on You-Tube but got more confused then before I watched them.  Plan is to can/bottle about 8 qt's or so and this way when I get my back or knee surgeries Ill have homemade sauce ready (can't stand the store stuff)  :P :P :P   

Plan is to water bath type canning.  Has anyone done this?  Any helpful hints and or resources you know of?

Thanks,

Tommy

[RedJada]

Cant help with the canning thing. But sure would be interested in your sauce recipe if you dont mind sharing.

[oldsmoker]

GO to a local store and get the ball canning book. great book and tells every thing you need to know

[TMB]

Cant help with the canning thing. But sure would be interested in your sauce recipe if you dont mind sharing.

Sure, but one thing you need to know I don't follow recipes well and do my cooking off the cuff as it were but here it is...
matI use Hunts bits and pieces and paste because my Dad taught me that way but you can use what ever kind you want

One pound 73/27 ground meat (fat for flavor) then you skim to fat off later
1.   24 oz can of bits and pieces or crushed tomatoes
1.    16 oz tomato paste (no flavor added)
Enough garlic to cover the bottom of a dutch oven (minced)
A large white onion chopped to small pieces
Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pot (not to deep just cover)
Salt and Pepper to taste
About a Tbl of sugar to take the bite out of the tomato acid
2  Tb's  of a good Basil  (I don't use fresh)
Water.  Add water to the paste can to clean out whats left (you can very that part

MOST IMPORTANT PART So follow step by step or the sauce will not turn out right (Not kidding)

Use a large pot, cover bottom of pot with a good olive oil bring up heat and add garlic DO NOT BROWN garlic just enough heat to simmer
After 15 mins or until the garlic has simmered then add the onion AGAIN DO NOT BROWN simmer til the onion is translucent about 15 more mins

Now when the garlic and onions are cooked turn the heat up to med high then brown the ground beef keep stirring til the meat is browned.
Now add the tomato past and crushed tomato stir in then add the salt, pepper and basil.   After all is mixed in add the sugar and test taste very the sugar to your taste buds. 

Simmer at a very low heat, just enough to bubble to fat up so it can be skimmed once an hour for three hrs or so, continue to simmer for 5 hrs then turn off heat let it set for an hour skim one more time then cool off set in fridge for 2 days before enjoying your new sauce

I promise it is very good, hardy and meaty!   If you dont want meat don't use it, but I love meat sauce

Hope to hear back from folks that try this. My great grand mother taught my dad this recipe 50 or 60 years ago and he taught it to me before he passed back in 2000.  :'( :'(   I miss him so much

 
   

[TMB]

GO to a local store and get the ball canning book. great book and tells every thing you need to know

Will do thanks!

[Orion]

I've done  an awful lot of canning. You should know that any product with meat in it requires processing in a pressure canner. I won't go into all the reasons why but trust me, a pressure canner is mandatory for any meat or seafood products.

You are smart to prep ahead for when you are laid up due to surgery. If it was me I would make my sauce and simply freeze it in quality zip lock bags or Tupperware containers. Spaghetti sauce freezes  well and you will not see any loss in quality. Pressure canning is a big process and takes a lot of work. If done incorrectly you run the risk of serious food poisoning. Ideally done when a product has to be stored for over a year or taken into an area where there is no refrigeration. You would have a much less labour intensive job by simply freezing and thawing as required.

I would also suggest you make sure the ground meat is well cooked and then any vegetable's you add just allow it to cook about 75%. This enhances freezabilty and the cooking can be completed prior to serving. Freezing is an option for this product so why not use it. JMHO.

[BC Smoker]

You know I agree with Orion. We often make large batches of tomato sauce and simply cool it down as fast as possible then toss your pre-measured portion in some zip lock freezer bags.Then pull out what you need as required ..... Really is a lot less labor intensive. But having said all that if your into having some "fun" then can.

[GusRobin]

I guess I have a different definition of "a lot of work".
I do a lot of pressure canning and after you do it once or twice it goes pretty smoothly.
Personally I think canned sauce is easier to store then putting in the freezer.

[Orion]

The way I see it is there are two options...can or freeze.

Canning requires jars, lids and rings. The jars have to be washed well and the lids have to be boiled. If someone is new to pressure canning it takes some practise to be able to get the canner up to the correct pressure and maintain that pressure by modulating the heat  for the time required. Over shoot the pressure by 5 lbs and you will have problems. So you have to can for about 100 minutes for quarts and then there is the 45 minutes to cool down and relieve the pressure naturally so as not to cause the product to evacuate the jars. If it does you have a nasty mess inside the canner and on the surface of the jars. So you get them out of the canner and on to the counter to finish cooling and cross your fingers that each and every jars seals properly. If it doesn't, you are back to square one.

The other option is to put the large pot of sauce in a sink of cold water or outdoors to cool and then ladle the sauce into zip lock bags and place on a cookie sheet in the fridge. They make nice flat blocks for stacking once frozen. I then freeze them two at a time in the freezer and place another set on top of the frozen ones until they are all frozen. No chance of failure and less work.

I agree that canning has its benefits but to can 8 quarts sauce for short term storage  and rapid consumption when it freezes so well just does not seem logical or time efficient. As was mentioned if the OP wants to learn how to do it then it's all good and have fun learning the art. 

[TMB]

Y'all make some very good points, and I thank you for them. 

One, I didn't know meat in the sauce would cause you to need a pressure cooker for the canning I just thought you could water bath them like most other foods.  I'll look into getting a pressure cooker but right now I'm just getting back to work after being off for 4 months  :o with shoulder surgery and $$$ is tight.  Plus looking to be off work for up to six months with knees being replaced so freezing right now may be the only option for me.   

I'll go price stuff this weekend and try to decide which way to go.  Gus, I may pay you to come over and teach this old dog a new trick if I decide to can

Thanks aging guys

[Salmonsmoker]

TBM, the University of Georgia Extension Service Has all of the information on hot water bath vs. pressure canning that you'll need. They are one of the major researchers in food processing and food safety in conjunction with the FDA. The pH levels (acidity) in veggies, fruits etc. are the determining factor of which processing method you use. All of the material is free online. It would give you plenty to read while you're recuperating. I'm short of time this morning, but I can send you more info later if you'd like. lmk

[TMB]

TBM, the University of Georgia Extension Service Has all of the information on hot water bath vs. pressure canning that you'll need. They are one of the major researchers in food processing and food safety in conjunction with the FDA. The pH levels (acidity) in veggies, fruits etc. are the determining factor of which processing method you use. All of the material is free online. It would give you plenty to read while you're recuperating. I'm short of time this morning, but I can send you more info later if you'd like. lmk

Thank you, yes looking for all the info I can get!

[cathouse willy]

Here is a link to the usda guide to home canning, lots of good info


http://nchfp.uga.edu//publications/publications_usda.html

[Salmonsmoker]

Here is a link to the usda guide to home canning, lots of good info


http://nchfp.uga.edu//publications/publications_usda.html

Thanks for forwarding that to TBM cathouse. :)

[RedJada]

Cant help with the canning thing. But sure would be interested in your sauce recipe if you dont mind sharing.

Sure, but one thing you need to know I don't follow recipes well and do my cooking off the cuff as it were but here it is...
matI use Hunts bits and pieces and paste because my Dad taught me that way but you can use what ever kind you want

One pound 73/27 ground meat (fat for flavor) then you skim to fat off later
1.   24 oz can of bits and pieces or crushed tomatoes
1.    16 oz tomato paste (no flavor added)
Enough garlic to cover the bottom of a dutch oven (minced)
A large white onion chopped to small pieces
Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pot (not to deep just cover)
Salt and Pepper to taste
About a Tbl of sugar to take the bite out of the tomato acid
2  Tb's  of a good Basil  (I don't use fresh)
Water.  Add water to the paste can to clean out whats left (you can very that part

MOST IMPORTANT PART So follow step by step or the sauce will not turn out right (Not kidding)

Use a large pot, cover bottom of pot with a good olive oil bring up heat and add garlic DO NOT BROWN garlic just enough heat to simmer
After 15 mins or until the garlic has simmered then add the onion AGAIN DO NOT BROWN simmer til the onion is translucent about 15 more mins

Now when the garlic and onions are cooked turn the heat up to med high then brown the ground beef keep stirring til the meat is browned.
Now add the tomato past and crushed tomato stir in then add the salt, pepper and basil.   After all is mixed in add the sugar and test taste very the sugar to your taste buds. 

Simmer at a very low heat, just enough to bubble to fat up so it can be skimmed once an hour for three hrs or so, continue to simmer for 5 hrs then turn off heat let it set for an hour skim one more time then cool off set in fridge for 2 days before enjoying your new sauce

I promise it is very good, hardy and meaty!   If you dont want meat don't use it, but I love meat sauce

Hope to hear back from folks that try this. My great grand mother taught my dad this recipe 50 or 60 years ago and he taught it to me before he passed back in 2000.  :'( :'(   I miss him so much

 
   

Thanks TMB. Might try making some this weekend.