Tomato Chili Sauce

Ingredients

Instructions

1. 1Wash 8 half-pint jars, bands, and new lids in hot soapy water and keep the jars hot until filling time.
2. 2Simmer the new lids in hot water per the manufacturer's instructions.
3. 3Wash the tomatoes, score an X on the bottom, blanch 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water, cool in ice water, slip off the skins, cut out the cores, and chop the tomatoes.
4. 4Combine the chopped tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper in a large pot, keeping the onion and pepper within the amounts listed above, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. 5Add the vinegar, brown sugar, salt, spice bag, cinnamon, and cloves, and continue simmering, stirring often to prevent scorching, for 45 to 60 minutes until thick enough to mound on a spoon; remove the spice bag.
6. 6Add the required bottled lemon juice or citric acid directly to each hot, empty jar before filling, in addition to the vinegar already in the sauce: 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid per half-pint or pint jar.
7. 7Ladle the hot chili sauce into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
8. 8Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic tool, wipe the rims clean, center the lids, and screw the bands on fingertip tight.
9. 9Process in a boiling-water canner, jars covered by 1 to 2 inches of water, timing from a full rolling boil: 20 minutes for half-pints and pints at 0-1,000 ft, adding 5 minutes at 1,001-3,000 ft, 10 minutes at 3,001-6,000 ft, 15 minutes at 6,001-8,000 ft, or 20 minutes above 8,000 ft.
10. 10Turn off the heat, wait 5 minutes, then move the jars with a jar lifter to a towel-lined counter and let cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
11. 11Press each lid to confirm sealing, label with contents, acid added, and date, and refrigerate any jar that did not seal.
12. 12Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place up to about 1 year; refrigerate after opening and use within about a week.
13. 13Do not increase the onion or pepper beyond the amounts given and do not skip the bottled lemon juice or citric acid, since both the vinegar and the added acid are needed to keep this low-acid-vegetable-rich sauce safe.