amy,

Welcome!

If you want to be sure your canned sauce meets tested safety standards, then alas, no, you can't throw in just anything, different every time without any type of measurement, IF your sauce includes low-acid vegetables (onions, peppers, etc. --- pretty much anything other than tomatoes. The safety of a canned recipe depends on a lot of things, including the ratio of acid to non-acid ingredients, so you can't change the ingredients (vegetable ones) as you please and be sure it'll be safe.

What you could do is look for a recipe that seems close to what you like, and then you can adapt it using certain guidelines: replace a non-acid veggie with another (e.g., 1/4 cup less onion but 1/4 cup more pepper), or add MORE tomatoes (high-acid) compared to the other ingrdients, or change the seasoning.

You shouldn't use any oil or butter in your recipe, unless it's in an approved recipe (a few such recipes call for small amounts).

If what you are talking about is a chunky-style sauce without other veggies, however, and just garlic and herbs/spices added, then there shouldn't be any reason not to can it according to the instructions for canning a similar-textured tomato product, including adding lemon juice to each jar.

If your sauce goes against any of the "don'ts" and you want to preserve it, then freeze it! Tomato sauce freezes really well and it'll be great to defrost in the depth of winter for a burst of summer flavour.

As for conflicting info, for guaranteed safe recipes and info, stick to reliable sources, which include the Ball Blue Book, county and university educational booklets and web sites, and modern books such as _The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving_ by Ellie Topp.

Hope this helps. If you read some of the threads on this site you can learn a lot --- I sure did!

Good luck,

Zabby

Here is a link that might be useful: Michigan State U extension service

Thank you for your answer....actually I throw in everything from mushrooms to carrots, celery stalk and leaves, spinich at times, zuchini...so maybe freezing it would be best...I was just afraid freezing it would destroy the texture of the sauce...but perhaps just blanching the veggies and letting them cook when I am ready to use them would do...I looked for a chunky recipe for canning and didn't come up with much...I have an older ball book...and need to update. Tomatoes always scare me...lol there has been so much conflict and still is apparently on what is safe..and with my old ball book...not so sure its right either...LOL
What got me thinking on it however was when I saw people canning soups...what if I used a pressure canner with my sauce? ya know...but perhaps freezing is the safest bet.

I am learning so much from everyone and other posts. =)thanks again!!

Another preference is to add the herbs and seasonings when the jar is opened, and heated for serving. Basil is especially odd tasting if lots of it are added to a home canned sauce when its canned. Adding the herbs at the time the jar is opened and heated makes for a fresher tasting sauce. Also, at that time, things like olive oil and fresh sauted garlic and onions are much better and safer. Even though I don't usually follow recipes per se, I still add the very necessary citric acid to each jar before its filled. Pressure canning is an option if your not wanting any added acid and wish to add low acid items like onions and peppers. Mushrooms are especially dangerous to use in a BWB canned tomato sauce as they are one of the worst carriers of botulism. When I can mushrooms, they are usually done whole, and nuked in the microwave for several minutes, drained, and nuked some more. Mushroms don't usually break down even if they have been overcooked. Then, the mushrooms get packed in jars and a full strength white vinegar is added with salt, along with a few chunks of garlic, and some dill. In this way, there is very little chance of any bacteria still remaining after BWB processing. Yes, freezing will break down most fiberous vegetables, so the only option you have is to add these at heating/serving time.

found this....hummmm it's close...

Spaghetti Sauce Without Meat

30 pounds tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped celery or green pepper
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
4 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons oregano
4 Tablespoons minced parsley
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Yields 9 pints

Do not increase the proportion of onions, celery, peppers, or mushrooms. Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Dip in cold water and slip off skins. Remove cores and quarter tomatoes.

Boil 20 minutes, uncovered, in large saucepan. Put through food mill or sieve. If desired, saute onions, garlic, celery, pepper, and mushrooms in vegetable oil until tender.

Combine sauteed vegetables and tomatoes and add remainder of spices, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until thick enough for serving. At this time, the initial volume will have been reduced by nearly one-half. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process jars as described in Table 1.

this is a pressure can method...

got it from here: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5337.html

I have canned on and off through the years...and alto this is not quite my sauce it's closer than what I have come across...its the Ohio state University page...so I am gonna give this one a try...Thanks guys for your input...I am sure I will have many more questions as APPLE season gets here...*thinks about apples and canning....and starts day dreaming* ;)

You really do need to stick with a tested safe recipe and method. Chunky things take longer to process because they take longer to heat all the way through the product than a sauce does.
Everyone has given you good advice. If you want to make up your own recipe, then freeze it.
Soups you have a little more room for adding things you like, but still have to follow guidelines. No thickeners, rice, pasta, milk, butter, etc. Half the jar is filled with the solids, the other half of the jar is then broth.
With tomatoes, the main thing is adding the proper amount of bottle lemon juice or citric acid, then canning for the required time.
Get a current Ball Blue book. Older books may contain outdated information. The university websites are great, too. Free information there, and you can print it out.

If you are pressure canning your sauce, you should be able to use your own recipe or lack there-of. I would look up the individual ingredients in a BBB and decide what would have the longest amount of processing time. Again, if you are pressure-canning, there's no need to add any additional acid.

It's perfectly safe to can crushed tomatoes so I don't think a "chunky" sauce would be inherently unsafe. I would make sure that there is a 50/50 mixture of chunky and liquid.

malonanddonna- this was what I was thinking to begin with. To find the longest processing time for whatever veggie it is and process it at that time and pressure...I just hated to do it without getting some advise first...it would keep me up nights...lol As long as it is being pressure cooked for the right amount of time and at the right pressure..I couldn't see the harm...but like I said just wasn't sure. I found the recipe above and felt a bit better about it..."chunky sauce" would be the same consistancy as a salsa...and the veggies are not huge but chopped...and cooked before they are even canned making them softer and more acceptable to the high temps needed to obtain safety.

I have always been a very "to the book" when it comes to canning...but thought it was such a shame I couldn't do my own sauce. What I have found from the Ohio state university...helps a great deal in understanding how a chunky sauce can be done.

Thank you guys again... I have become addicted to this site!!! LOL been here for most of the day reading and what not....lol you guys are GREAT!!!

amy,

The Ohio university site should be totally reliable, so that sounds like a good recipe to try! And you can change the seasonings --- herbs, etc. --- and vary the particular veggies if you keep the same total amount of the non-tomato ones, so hopefully you can get something close to what your own real thing is!

Do try the freezing, though; fresh tomatoes lose their texture, of course, if you freeze them, becoming soft and having some of the water separate from the meaty part. But once they've been cooked, that will have happened already, and I think you'll find that the chunks remain nicely. Everything will be a little softer than when freshly cooked, and nothing tastes QUITE as good, but in the dead of winter it sure beats opening a commercial jar!

I just put a couple of gallons of pasta sauce in the freezer myself from my garden tomatoes, half with meat and half with extra veggies, whatever I had fresh... I've been very pleased with the results of freezing it in the past.

Oh, I am looking forward to apple season, too! We get dozens of kinds here, fresh from the farmer. Mmmm.

Keep us posted about your adventures! Remember to add what you put up to our "what have you put up" thread! ;-)

Zabby

LOL I am ashamed to put up what I "have put up" My small amount makes me seem so tiny...lol but I have put up lots of jams so far with wild blueberry jam being the star this year...(we ran into rattle snakes while picking)There is something about wild blue berries...lol I did 16 pint jars of that...and 14 1/2 qts of strawberry...and 18 1/2 qts of black berry...and ketchup...did that last night...

I have been pondering this subject all day...and I am going to be making some phone calls in the morning...just to see if my theory is right...I'll let you know the answers and the question once I find out...

I don't have a whole lot of room to freeze things with venison and 1/2 a pig and beef in there...but maybe I will do a bag or two to see what it is like..

I hate buying things at the store any more with kids and being afraid of what they put in stuff...rather make it myself...I make my own mayo..mustard...ketchup..relishes..sauces..whatever I can...something reassuring about knowing what I am putting in my kids mouths...

I got away from canning for a few years when we built our house...and let me tell ya...it's like coming home again...now that I am back at it!!! Man I missed it...

*chants* Apples Apples Apples...LOL

Thanks for your help !! I apperciate it!!

Here is a link to a site that will give you some safe guidelines. This is available on several food safety sites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Major canning sins.

Hi Amy! Yes, I love this site, too. Have learned SO much both in facts and awareness. I vote with Zabby that the Ohio U site should be a most reliable source. Do you have an extension office nearby? They go hand-in-hand with the land grant colleges and are excellent free sources of info and advice at the touch of a phone button.

I pressure process everything - even jam for short periods and lower "pounds", so my spaghetti sauce is always pressured, is a bit on the chunky side, contains the onions and peppers, some grape jelly and occasionally mushrooms (though I'm becoming a bit uneasy about this lately even though the approved recipes okay it, because it's one of those "caution" things). Thirty to forty minutes at ten pounds takes care of it nicely. Rather be too long than not enough. We're very happy with the sauce. Enjoy!

This is what I was referring to when canning chunks instead of a sauce. The spaghetti sauce recipe specifies putting through a food mill. Also, it discusses about making up your own recipes, etc.
From National Center For Home Food Preservation:
If the food is thick, puréed, or mashed; if there are large pieces of food in the jar; or, if the food is packed in too tightly, heat penetration can be slower than in more liquid or loosely packed foods. If a specific heat process is not calculated for each food and style of pack, the heating may not be adequate, and the food will be underprocessed.

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home food preservation.

> LOL I am ashamed to put up what I "have put up" My small amount makes me seem so tiny...lol

Amy, don't be intimidated by the overachievers! It's all about the process (and the processING, LOL), not the quantity. Plenty of us here doing a real small scale (though if there's a half a pig in your freezer you can't be TOO small a scale! ;-) I feel totally happy just to have a small lamb in there!).

It's just me and BF here, and even though I have a canner now I often just use my pasta pot to can because my batches tend to be small & I rarely do anything bigger than a pint. But we enjoy what we do have as much as anyone!

Zabby