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Highbush Cranberry Ketchup

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Highbush cranberries look beautiful. They are easy to pick, easy to clean, and smell like dirty gym socks. It took me years to get past that musty smell. I had seen recipes for highbush cranberry ketchup, but why bother with something that really didn’t smell like anything I would want to eat?

Highbush cranberry bush ( Viburnum edule)

Highbush cranberry bush (Viburnum edule)

One day a friend told me that she had been given a jar of highbush cranberry ketchup. We both wrinkled our noses. Then we got curious. Obviously that person wouldn’t give something that tasted like sour laundry to their friend, so we got out two spoons and popped the lid off of the jar. We each dipped the tip of a spoon into the red sauce and gingerly took a taste. It was…sort of ketchup-y, but different; more robust, more alive. Our eyebrows went up, then down. Our eyes narrowed. We started mentally staking out highbush cranberry patches. We would go together, pick buckets full, make gallons of ketchup. Little did I know then that making ketchup is a lot of work.

I am a berry picker, but the processing end is just a wee tad sketchier for me. My husband, however, has the patience and discipline to make jam and ketchup, go methodically through each step, and even write down what he did so that it is repeatable if it is good. So far it is all good. The highbush cranberry ketchup took some experimenting to get the consistency and flavor to where we like it, but we valiantly ate through all of the steps along the way. And we are going to share the recipe with you!

First pick and clean enough highbush cranberries to fill one gallon Ziploc bag. Cleaning is simply removing stems and rinsing the berries in a colander. The berries freeze well. We often freeze them and process them in the winter when we have a little more time. They seem to give up their juice better if they have been frozen.

Thawing highbush cranberries to make ketchup.

Thawing highbush cranberries to make ketchup.

This is a long process, so set aside at least four hours. This article assumes that you have some experience with canning. If you have not canned before then please take a class from your cooperative extension service, educate yourself by reading their publications, or study a good book that covers home canning such as the Ball Blue Book. Don’t take shortcuts! In Alaska the cooperative extension service publication catalog has some very good articles that you can download free here:

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/pubs/catalog/detail/index.xml?subtopic=Food,%20Nutrition%20and%20Health

Read all through the following, gather up all of your canning supplies, and here we go…

 

Alaska Beachcomber Highbush Cranberry Ketchup

  • 1 gallon Ziploc bag of highbush cranberries (makes 4 ½ to 5 cups of pulpy juice)
  • 3 tsp. Pomona’s pectin (we tried several brands, and this one gave consistently good results)
  • 4 tsp. Pomona’s calcium water (the powder to mix comes in the package with the pectin)
  • 2 large onions, coarsely chopped
  • 1.5 teaspoons celery salt
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 1.5 teaspoons allspice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¾ to one cup white vinegar (adjust to your taste)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 ½ cups water

Cook the onions in a small amount of the water (about ½ cup) until translucent. Put them in the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Pour one gallon bag of cranberries into a large stock pot. Put just enough water in to prevent scorching (just a cup or two), and turn the heat on low to get the berries started. When the berries have made enough juice that they won’t scorch turn the heat up to medium. A potato masher helps to pop the berries after they get hot. Cook the cranberries until they are soft, then put through a sieve to remove seeds and skins. A chinois works very well for this, but if you don’t have one then push small batches through a mesh sieve with a large spoon, setting the seeds and skins aside. Don’t throw out the seed mash yet, tomorrow I will post a bonus recipe that uses that.

 

Separating seeds and skins from the berry pulp.

Separating seeds and skins from the berry pulp.

Put berry pulp and pureed onion back into the stock pot. Add spices, sugars, and vinegar. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally until color begins to darken and the flavor is right. The simmering can take one to two hours. We taste test occasionally to check if the flavors have blended.

While the ketchup is simmering, wash 5 pint jars and one half-pint jar and put them in oven at 260 degrees or put them into a pot of simmering water.

Wash the lids and put them in a small pot of water on small burner, bring to a simmer.

The ketchup will darken in color as it cooks. The batch on the right is just starting. The one on the left is almost ready.

The ketchup will darken in color as it cooks. The batch on the right is just starting. The one on the left is almost ready.

Fill the canner or a large canning pot ½ full of water and put on the big burner, bring to a simmer.

On the counter assemble jar grabber, jar rings, towel, ladle, jar funnel, lid magnet, and hot pads, along with a clean, damp cotton cloth to wipe jar rims.

Once the ketchup is the proper flavor then add the calcium water and pectin: The best way we have found to prevent the pectin from clumping is to ladle about two cups of the hot ketchup into the blender, add the calcium water and pectin, and blend it for about 30 seconds. Pour that back into the stock pot immediately and stir it in.

The rolling boil after the pectin is put in continues boiling when stirred.

The rolling boil after the pectin is put in continues boiling when stirred.

Bring to a full rolling boil for one minute stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, ladle into hot jars leaving ¼ inch headspace, wipe rims with the cotton cloth, and cover with lids. Screw the rings on.

Ladling hot ketchup into hot jar.

Ladling hot ketchup into hot jar.

Placing a jar into the simmering water bath.

Placing a jar into the simmering water bath.

Place in simmering water bath using the jar grabber. Bring to a gentle boil and process for 10 minutes.

Remove the jars from the water bath with the jar grabber and set them about an inch or two apart on a folded towel away from drafts. The lids should seal (with a “TINK!” sound) within a few minutes, but this may take up to several hours. Refrigerate any jars that don’t seal and eat the contents up within a few weeks.

Write the contents and date on the lids or affix a label to the jars.

The flavor gets better if left unopened for one month.

Tomorrow I will post a little bonus recipe using the leftover seed and skin mash.

Pints of highbush cranberry ketchup ready for labeling.

Pints of highbush cranberry ketchup ready for labeling.