This was a project from last weekend and it turned out good.  The motivation was to make this Buffalo Chicken Pasta dinner….YUM!

This recipe is adapted slightly from the Ball Blue Book canning guide.  I swapped out honey for sugar.  I was looking around online for a guide to canning with honey and found this.  Take a look at this if you would prefer to can with honey – sometimes you need to decrease liquid in some circumstances and it isn’t a “cup for cup” thing.

Red Hot Sauce (GAPS, GF)

2 quarts chopped, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 12 large)

1 1/2 cups chopped and seeded hot red peppers (about 24)

1 quart vinegar, divided (I used apple cider vinegar.  I will note that you should label read because on my first trip to the store, I ended up with apple cider flavored vinegar with lots of extra unwanted stuff in it.  Hence, the second trip back to the store.)

7/8 c. honey

1 T. salt

2 T. mixed pickling spices

Combine tomatoes, peppers and 2 cups vinegar in a large sauce pan.  Cook until tomatoes are soft.  Press through a sieve or food mill.  Add honey and salt, Tie spices in a spice bag and add to tomato mixture.  Cook about 30 minutes or until thick.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Add remaining 2 cups vinegar.  Cook until as thick as desired, about 30 minutes. Remove spice bag.  Ladel hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.  Yield:  4 half pints.

If you’ve never canned before, I’d recommend that you get the Ball Blue Book.  It has a lot of good tips.  Just a couple of notes if you don’t have it on hand would be to boil your lids before use.  I have a magnet stick that I got with a canning kit to fish them out of the boiling water, and I wipe them dry.  Make sure you wipe the rim of the jars clean before putting the lids on.  I don’t have a fancy pan for canning, or even a canning rack.  I have a cheapy $5 Kmart enameled stock pot that works great.  Another tip – if you don’t have enough jars in it to safely pack it so stuff isn’t banging around – add pint jars filled with water to take up that room.  And make sure you hear the little “ding” from your jars sealing.  A sealed jar will have an indentation in the top.  If you don’t hear the “ding” or see the indentation, either put it in the fridge for more immediate use, or reprocess it for the recommended time.

I will add that I neither peeled nor seeded the tomatoes (I did seed the peppers), nor pressed it all through a sieve.  I had a lot of different projects going on at the same time, so I just cooked it down some (for awhile, like 30-45 minutes), took out the spice bag and used my immersion blender on it, and cooked it down some more.  Seeds do not bother us but if they bother you, take them out.  It also seemed like it took longer to cook than their directions say, but perhaps it’s because I made the recipe slightly bigger.   Just watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn, and stir often.

*****Just a reminder that it is always a good idea to wear rubber gloves when dealing with hot peppers, to avoid burning your hands (or eyes, lips, or whatever else you happen to touch!)*****

This post was shared at Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday;