Homemade Tomato Ketchup

Ingredients

Instructions

1. 1Wash 6 half-pint jars, bands, and new lids in hot soapy water and keep the jars hot until ready to fill.
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 and onion.
4. 4Simmer the tomatoes and onion together in a large pot for about 20 minutes until soft, then run the mixture through a food mill to remove skins and seeds.
5. 5Return the smooth pulp to the pot and boil it down over medium heat, stirring often to prevent scorching, until the volume is reduced by about half and it becomes thick, about 45 to 60 minutes.
6. 6Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, spice bag, celery seed, and cayenne, and continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the ketchup mounds on a spoon and no longer separates, another 15 to 20 minutes; remove the spice bag.
7. 7Add the required bottled lemon juice or citric acid directly to each hot, empty jar before filling, as extra insurance alongside the vinegar already in the recipe: 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid per half-pint or pint jar.
8. 8Ladle the hot ketchup into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
9. 9Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic tool, wipe the rims clean of any sticky residue, center the lids, and screw the bands on fingertip tight.
10. 10Process in a boiling-water canner, jars covered by 1 to 2 inches of water, timing from a full rolling boil: 15 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, or 15 minutes above 6,000 ft.
11. 11Turn 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.
12. 12Press each lid to confirm sealing, label with contents, acid added, and date, and refrigerate any jar that did not seal.
13. 13Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place up to about 1 year; refrigerate after opening and use within about a week.
14. 14Keep the vinegar and onion at the amounts specified and still add the full bottled lemon juice or citric acid to each jar; do not rely on flavor alone to judge whether the ketchup is acidic enough.