Homemade Ketchup

The Raw Ingredients

Make it Yourself.  Is it cheaper?  Don't know.  Does it taste the same? No, but IMHO, it's better.

We've made this wonderfully fresh Ketchup once before, about a month ago in August.  We've modified the recipe to yield about 24 oz when all is said and done.

This recipe is courtesy of the Spice Barn.  You can get the Ketchup Spice and the recipe here.  These are heirloom tomatoes Jess and I picked up at Whole Foods.      Other than heirloom tomatoes, the ingredients are few... Sugar, Salt, Apple Cider Vinegar and Ketchup Spice.

      The tomatoes have been coarse cut and added to a shallow stock pot to sweat and yeild the liquids.

      This was our first time using this food mill to pulp the tomatoes after they were cooked.  This must be the best tomato soup.  We've harvested the pulp and seeds in order to recover the seeds.  We'll see if I can get any to sprout next season.   We've also got a cone-collander with wooden pestal that does a very good job here.

Update on Thursday, January 21, 2010 by Eddy Cameron

Homemade Ketchup

Modified recipe to yield 24 ounces

• 2 quartz of tomatoes (heirloom preferable) (approximately 8-9 cups)
• 1 ½  tablespoons Ketchup Spice
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• ¼ cup of sugar
• ½ cup cider vinegar

     Roughly chop and cook 8 cups of tomatoes until soft.  Strain through a sieve or food mill, pressing as much pulp as possible.  Add ketchup spice, salt, vinegar, and sugar.  Cook that mixture until reduced by half. 

 Bottle and stick in the frig and enjoy!