Crap. The word "spicy" somehow vanished from my subject. Grrrr...

The word Spicy can mean any of these things.

The most helpful approach in these cases is to look at the ingredients of the product you hope to emulate and then to look for a recipe which comes close.

So Manwich sauce includes tomato puree, vinegar, lots of sugar and corn syrup (more sugar), dehydrated onions, dehydrated red and green bell peppers, chile pepper, dehydrated garlic and unspecified "spices."

Which of the canning recipes you were looking at contains some or all of those ingredients? It's basically a seasoned tomato sauce with the zing of vinegar (which is always safe to add) and dehydrated vegetable flakes, which can also be added pretty freely. Spices are apparently a minor element and could be anything from pepper to a bit of cinnamon or allspice. But if it doesn't stand out in the commercial product, it would have to be present in pretty minimal amounts.

Carol

I guess I'm just not that good Carol! :)

The unspecified spices is what easily throws me off. In the commercial product, it's hard telling what's in there )spice wise) including possibly a secret ingredient of some kind (spice wise). Not only that, but I anticipate all recipes to taste differently after processing and being stored for a while than for how it tasted prior to processing it. I suppose it takes an experienced canner, and cook in general, to anticipate what a recipe will taste like.

Don't get me wrong, the sauce was good, but no way could I pass it off as a sloppy joe sauce. My kids have been troopers in trying all the different things Mom is doing. Mostly because they are helping me with absolutely everything. All of you who love canning would be amazed and pleased with how these two 8 year olds (I have boy/girl twins) participate in the preparation from start to finish. They blanch, peel, chop, weigh, measure, stir, and ask a zillion questions about cooking, food, recipes, healthiness. I am so touched by their participation in this. They understand fully that something we make won't taste exactly like what they are used to and eagerly sample everything we've done. This sauce, in particular, was very very sweet. I thinkI must've put an entire tablespoon of bottled hot sauce in it before serving in order to neutralize the sweetness with more flavor. I'm thinking the "hot chili sauce" is probably more what I'm looking for.

Experience will definitely help me improve. I'm just curious what others expect when a particular recipe is entitled "spicy".

Cut back on the sugar.

Carol

To me "spicy" in a recipe name relates to the flavor, the blend of the ingredients and spices, not the heat. It means a complex flavor.

I assume you are tasting the foods before you put them in the jars? That is when you can make adjustments if needed. With the exception of pickled foods, if it doesn't appeal to you before it goes into the jar it probably won't taste any better coming out of the jar.

Dave

Dave and Carol, you both have me way too terrified to adjust ANYTHING! Lol!

Lesson learned: "spicy" means "containing spice". For our taste, recipes containing allspice and cloves may not be what we are after.

Thanks again!

Dave and Carol, you both have me way too terrified to adjust ANYTHING! Lol!

Certainly not our intention. Salt, sugar, dried spices (not fresh) can always be adjusted to taste except when fermenting when the salt is crucial. Those are the flavor adjustments I'm talking about.

In some recipes, like can be substituted for like. IE hot peppers can't be substituted for tomatoes or onions but hot peppers can be subbed for sweet peppers or vice versa. The key is that the total amounts must remain the same.

Bottled lemon or lime juice can be substituted for vinegar as they are more acidic. But vinegar cannot be substituted for lemon or lime juice.

So with your copycat Manwich sauce a taste before jarring would tell you if it is hot enough. If not you can always add more dried hot pepper flakes. Also keep in mind that they are using canned tomatoes to manufacture it so citric acid has already been added to it although not listed. It also contains some unlisted amounts of mustard powder, chili powder, and celery seed so you might try some of those too.

Dave

Remember also you're talking about a commercial product designed to be seductive to the consumer at minimal expense. So the Manwich sauce has a good amount of corn syrup and unspecified "artificial flavors".

It's not necessarily a bad thing that you can't precisely replicate a product like that. Tastebuds can be retrained to appreciate something more natural.

Carol

This is great to know. As I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm backing off on the saucy recipes, and more "advanced" recipes. I think I need to concentrate on the basics first. Canning basic produce and such. I'm currently elbow deep in green beans. I had ordered 60 pounds from a produce supplier and it's so incredibly time consuming (start to finish) I wish I had only ordered 30 pounds and more at a later time. The price was fantastic, and I'm so enthusiastic, but I still can't get everything done in a days time. If only to have about 3 more stoves, 3 more canners, 3 more refrigerators, and 3 more Ellen's available....

After I'm more comfortable, and done lots more reading from the recommended sources, and a fresh season of produce (that I grew myself and not purchasing), I will play again with mixed ingredient recipes. I WANT to do all of this RIGHT. And safe.

Absolutely Carol!!! That is precisely what I am after. Natural products and not having to run to the grocery store with $30 everyday is absolutely my intention. What a "side benefit" that the home canned food TASTE is/can be so much better!

You cannot put a price on the reward I get seeing my children partake in gardening, cooking and canning. They put on swimming eye goggles to chop onions. They pick worms out of corn and then make worm farms. And so many other silly things they come up with. They had a slumber party a month ago and I was working in the kitchen. Low and behold, their friends wanted to help me. I had a whole assembly line of 8 year olds in my kitchen doing things they've never done before. I took pictures and text them to their parents. I was just beaming with pride. :-)

Keep copious notes during the season. (One of the kids could be "secretary" for your canning team - or rotate for writing practice.) How many pounds, how long it took, how much is too much, sources of favorite recipes, etc. yields with your size jars. Alterations you made - reducing sugar, adding dried pepper flakes, whatever.

It's a long time to the next canning season. Good notes and a personal canning notebook help keep you from re-inventing the wheel.

Carol

Absolutely Carol! I sure will do exactly as you advised here. I learned already from last year that I may "think" I'll remember everything next year. There's a whole lot of information here to process. Because I desire to make safety the number one priority. I feel terribly foolish for what my mode of thinking was prior. I thought I WAS safe with all canning recipes from the sources I had. And all my notes from last year have been.....uh hem....tossed out.

I think Carol will agree with me that the older we get the more we 'think' we will remember but the less we actually do remember. Just wait till the "what on earth did I come to the refrigerator to get?" episodes begin. :)

Marginal notes on the recipe instructions soon outnumber the instructions themselves in many cases.

Dave

I'm not sure how old you both are. But I'm 38, and I walk into the bathroom to USE the bathroom, and forget why I'm in there. Yep. I better get a 5 subject notebook for all my notes. ;-)