Question Regarding Canning Spaghetti Sauce

Female Indiana Jones

I know I should ask this on the "What's Cooking" board, but I really don't want to have to check a different board.  I've also tried googling and came up with nothing.  I've been canning jams lately and wanted to start doing spaghetti sauce.  All in preparation for Christmas gifts (fruits and veggies are cheaper now).  I was looking up techniques for canning spaghetti sauce and one website said not to use garlic and/or olive oil, that it doesn't keep.  However, various cooking sites (cooks.com, food.com, etc.) have olive oil and/or garlic in their recipes for canned spaghetti sauce.  Does anyone have any experience with this? 

Mere7706

I can't give experience because I freeze my sauce, but I'll look in my Ball book.

Two recipes in one of my books call for garlic cloves, no oil.
The other book I have does not have either in the recipe. 
Both books have "Italian Style Sauce" and one has "Seasoned Sauce".  There's also a recipe for Meat sauce, but that has to be pressure canned.

Hope that helps

ms nobody

we typically only can tomatoes (diced and pureed).

I've never known anyone who cooked sauce and then canned it, though. It usually pureed tomatoes, cooked down a little, and then added extras (usually just garlic) that you just in the jars. and then season and cook it a bit more before serving.

I'd assume in any fully prepared food situation pressure cooking would be the preferred method.

If you have a Ball canning book, I'd follow that. They wouldn't print it if it wasn't safe. GL

elkay

I've canned, pickled, and frozen all kinds of produce - but not spaghetti sauce!

Partly the issue is safety. While red tomatoes are usually acidic enough to can safely, and non-acid veggies such as cucumbers and peppers are covered with spiced vinegar (acidic!) to make pickles, the introduction of non-acid veggies - e.g., garlic or corn - to a tomato sauce makes the entire concoction need to be treated as "non-acidic". You can add dried herbs or scalded fresh ones and still be OK. Non-acidic foods must be pressure-canned or frozen.

 Partly the issue is taste. Garlic, oil, and fresh herbs keep, but can weaken or change flavor when canned. So what tastes perfect in the kettle may be blah or strong or unbalanced later when the jar is opened. Safe, but perhaps not the great product you envisioned. Try making and canning a small batch now, let it sit at least 3 weeks, then open it and use it. Then you'll know how it really is; it could be great or boring. Keep notes!

 You could can plain tomato sauce, include a written recipe for your spaghetti sauce with a packet of the dried herbs you use, and give that as a little "kit" for quick spaghetti sauce.

 Your County Extension Agent is a also great source of reliable free advice (brochures, educated answers) for questions like this. Check the phone book (do they exist any more?) or Internet for your county seat.

 

Female Indiana Jones

Thank you ladies.  I think I'll go ahead and can the tomatoes and then provide the ingredients and a recipe to make the sauce.