Friday, April 13, 2012

SAFELY CANNING CHOCOLATE SAUCE ~ YES YOU CAN!

                                                

Who doesn't love chocolate sauce?  I know I do!  It's so good warmed up on ice cream.  Use it on fruit, like strawberries or mixed with milk to make chocolate milk.  YUM!

I've been searching and searching for a chocolate sauce that I could make that would safe to can also.  Most recipes that has chocolate in it is not safe to can due to the milk and oils in chocolate. 

Yet, I couldn't give up my search for a yummy chocolate sauce that would be shelf stable and I could can to put in gift baskets or give as a gift with some homemade ice cream in the summer.

I was thrilled when I found a recipe (that used coco powder rather then actual chocolate) to use while I was at one of my favorite canning blogs Canning Homemade.  If you have not been there, you should go visit.  She has some wonderful recipes and makes learning how to can easy.

Well, this recipe came from one of her readers, but, I don't know if she has a blog to link back to or not.  If she does and anyone knows what it is, please let me know so I can give her credit. 

Here is her recipe with her picture that was used on the blog Canning Homemade:


Homemade Chocolate Syrup/Sauce


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Cooking:

In a small pot, on medium heat bring water and sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt, and corn syrup.
Whisk until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce for another 15 minutes until slightly thickened.


Filling the jars: On a dishtowel place your hot jars. Using your funnel in each jar ladle the mixture into the jars leaving 1/4” head space. Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper head space if necessary. Taking a clean paper towel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand to extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 15 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Makes 2- 3 half pints depending on how much you reduce the recipe.
As soon as I read the recipe I quickly ran out to my kitchen and got out all the supplies.  I had Ghiradeli coco powder, so, I used that. 
Let me tell you, when I tasted it from the pan (after all was placed into the jars and before cleaning the pan I let it cool off) it was super good.
I was excited.
I canned mine in 4 oz jars as I know we would use smaller amounts and I didn't want to open up larger cans that may go bad before we used all of it.
I got 8 jars by doing this. 

Tonight, I opened up a jar and poured it over some cut up strawberries.  The sauce was much thicker and creamy.  It was very good! 
I will be making more of this for sure.  I hope you give it a try too.  Let me know if you do.
** Other then using smaller jars, the only thing I did differently was I used a medium sized pan and I let it reduce for 20 mins. rather the 15 mins. listed.  I wanted a thicker sauce.

29 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Do you think you can add mint extract to this recipe and still can it?

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    1. I added mint extract to mine last year and just opened my last jar. It's wonderful. Both with and without the mint extract it's wonderful.

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  3. Don't use a "small" pan like the recipe says. I tried a 2-quart pan, and after I added the cocoa it immediately boiled over. A 5-quart pan would be about right.

    Mint extract should be fine in this, as it's often used in jellies that are water-bath canned.

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  4. I wonder why yours boiled over?? Perhaps you had the heat up to high. I did it just as it said to do it and it worked out perfectly.

    Yes, I do think mint would be fine in this.

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  5. I am SO glad I found this recipe you so graciously shared. I am DEFINITELY going to make this. I don't have enough cocoa powder so I'll be sure to get some and make it in the next couple days (just made a batch of marmalade today). Thank you

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  6. We use a similar recipe, only milk is used in stead of water. Would this effect the canning process or the safety of the product.

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  7. We use a similar recipe, only milk is used in stead of water. Would this effect the canning process or the safety of the product.

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  8. How long does the sauce stay good for?

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  9. I hate to tell you, but SBCanning has removed this recipe from her site because it is unsafe. The pH of chocolate is at least 5.4, and it needs to be below 4.6 to safely waterbath.

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  10. I hate to tell you, but SBCanning has removed this recipe from her site because it is unsafe. The pH of chocolate is at least 5.4, and it needs to be below 4.6 to safely waterbath.

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  11. Can you pressure can it then? Is there a reason to not pressure can it?

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  12. That is my question too, Pauletta. It does not contain dairy so why could you not pressure can it? Where would you go for a good, solid answer to that?

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  13. I emailed the National Center for Home Food Preservation and will post their response here, specifically in regards to pressure canning this recipe.

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  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  15. The difference is in the cocoa powder.

    http://joythebaker.com/2013/10/baking-101-natural-vs-dutch-processed-cocoa-powder/

    Dutch process cocoa powder has less acid than natural cocoa powder. I would think that if you use a natural cocoa powder then you could water bath as the acidity would be higher in the finished product.

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  16. Hi do you have a caramel sauce recipe that is safe for canning?

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  17. Hi do you have a caramel sauce recipe that is safe for canning?

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  18. Canning chocolate sauces is not recommended due to the risk of food poisoning and botulism. http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/choc_sauce.html

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  19. Bummer about the ph level tips! Wikipedia says "Natural cocoa powder has a light brown color and a pH level of 5.1 to 5.4. The processed (alkalized) cocoa powder is darker in color, ranging from brownish red to nearly black, with a pH from 6.8 to 8.1." So, looks like even the unprocessed cocoa is out.

    BUT the Ball canning book has a fantastic chocolate raspberry sauce recipe!! (Raspberries are more acidic, than say, strawberries, so I urge caution against following the people on the internet who swap it for strawberries w/o any other safety measures...)I did swap this year, but increased lemon juice, added citric acid, and pure vanilla extract (alcohol) to feel more comfortable about it, as well as extra canning time.

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  20. So what would happen if we added citric acid to this recipe? Wouldn't that make it safe.

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  21. How is this recipe shelf stable safe after canning??

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  22. possible success!!!! I have been researching this on and off for weeks. I have developed a number of vegan chocolate sauce recipes which I am hoping to eventually produce on a commercial level, though first one must have success on a cottage industry level, right?

    Anyhoo-I came across your blog post in my search and our recipes are very similar to start, but with distinct variations being the adult beverages I add for flavor combos. But that's neither here, nor there.

    Attached is a link to a page I found explaining the chemistry of botulism in relation to home canned beer making wort

    Here's the exerpt:
    Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that produces the botulinum toxin, can grow in environments from 40–120 °F (4.4–49 °C) when the pH is above 4.6, the oxygen level is below 2%, and the water activity is above 0.85. (Solutions with 22 g of salt per 100 g of water or 67 g of sugar (sucrose) for each 100 g of have water activities less than 0.85.) The conditions for the growth of C. botulinum are met by boiled wort stored in a sealed container, but not beer.

    If you measure your recipe by weight you can easily determine whether your water activity is below 0.85% based on the example above. mine is pretty near equal parts sugar to water so I'm thinking i'm in the safe zone, though I'm keeping things frozen until i re-confirm. but it's a new direction to take the question.
    There's still the pressure canner. assuming it doesn't destroy the chocolate the way it destroys green beans.

    http://beerandwinejournal.com/q-a-botulism/

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  23. Using dark chocolate cocoa powder and reducing slightly more makes an excellent hot fudge

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  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  25. I want to do this, right now, but I only have dark syrup not light. Will that make a difference?

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  27. The recipe is still on SB Canning website, here's the link...
    https://www.sbcanning.com/2019/03/chocolate-sauce-yes-its-safe.html

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