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One of the bestselling condiments in the United States is ketchup. Personally, I love ketchup on certain foods like French fries, it gives them a little pizazz. If you’re anything like me, you can’t go to the grocery store without reading the labels on the foods you’re considering purchasing. If you’ve ever read a ketchup label, it’s nothing but concentrated tomatoes, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and a few spices. Since I won’t eat anything containing HFCS’s, I was faced with a ketchup dilemma, so I started to make my own.
First, I’d like to explain my issues with HFCS and corn syrup in general.
Made from GMO corn, the cornstarch undergoes an industrial process where genetically modified enzymes of alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added and improve their heat stability for the production of HFCS. Bottom line, HFCS is a toxic goo of genetically modified chemicals that aren’t natural and have been proven bad for human consumption.
Science has found that ingesting HFCS can cause the following problems:
Increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
HFCS can cause leaky gut syndrome.
HFCS contains up to 570 micrograms of health-hazardous mercury per gram.
HFCS has been shown to promote cancer.
Fatty Liver and Liver Stress
Increased Cholesterol Levels
HFCS can be found in many foods that we eat: Soda, candy, Agave, cereals, highly processed foods, etc. While corn syrup isn’t fructose, it’s still a highly processed form of glucose made from GMO corn, blech. HFCS is cheap and will continue to be used by food manufacturers but consumers have a voice and you can vote with your buying dollar.
Anyway, onto making ketchup.
I will say that once you start making your own ketchup, you won’t go back to store-bought, there is NO comparison. You can customize your ketchup flavor to suit your individual palate, I love garlic so I tend to go a little heavy on it, and I like a little heat so I add a chile or two and some cayenne pepper.
My basic recipe can be found below, I tend to triple it so that I only have to make it every few years. When doing a large batch, I use a crockpot and let it cook on low for 24 hours. I then ladle it into pint-sized canning jars and hot water process it for 30 minutes. If you’re making the recipe below, cook it low and slow on the stove top to mix the ingredients, bottle it and throw it in the refrigerator, it should make about 2 pints.
2 (6 ounces cans of Organic tomato paste ½ C white vinegar 4 TBLS brown sugar 1 TBLS garlic powder 1TBLS onion powder ¼ tsp allspice 1 TSP salt 2 TSP blackstrap molasses
Variations -
As I previously mentioned, I make a triple batch using my crockpot so I add 4 -5 cloves of fresh garlic on top of the garlic powder. And I reduce the onion powder by half and add a whole diced onion. After 24 hours in crockpot, both items disintegrate.
I also like a hint of heat in my ketchup so when I make a triple batch I might add a diced jalapeno or Hatch chile. I also add a ¼ - ½ tsp of cayenne.
Let your imagination go wild!
Bon a petit!