Horseradish: How to can your own homemade canned horseradish sauce (complete directions with photos )
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How to Make Homemade Horseradish Sauce
For refrigerator or freezer storage
(Photos coming soon)
You think making your own horseradish sauce is difficult or expensive? Not at all! You won't believe how much more flavor it has than the store bought horseradish sauces. Perfect for shrimp cocktail, with prime rib or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding!
So, here's how to make horseradish sauce! The directions are complete with instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated.
Prepared this way, the jars have a refrigerator shelf life of about 1 or 2 months. The pungency of fresh horseradish fades within 1 to 2 months, even when refrigerated. For that reason the batch is small. Let's be clear about storage: the USDA says that the prepared sauce should be stored only in the refrigerator or freezer, not at room temperature.
Directions for Making Horseradish Sauce
Yield: about 1 pint total, usually canned in 4 four-ounce jars or 2 8-ouce jars
Ingredients and Equipment
- 3 or 4 horseradish plants (about 2 lbs of roots, minus the tops) to produce about 2 cups (or 3/4 lb) of freshly grated horseradish (see step 1)
- 1/4 tsp powdered ascorbic acid (Fruit Fresh)
- 1 cup vinegar (5% acidity) (note: I have successfully substituted lemon juice)
- 1/2 teaspoons canning or pickling salt (optional - besides flavor, it helps with color and retaining pungency)
Pickled Horseradish Sauce Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the horseradish
The most important step! You need horseradish that are FRESH and crisp. Limp, old horseradish will make nasty tasting canned horseradish. Guests will probably throw them at you.. Select firm, crisp horseradish. Remove and discard any soft, diseased, spotted and chewed up horseradish.
How much horseradish and where to get it
You can grow your own, pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. About 3 or 4 plants with of 1-inch diameter roots makes about 4 four-ounce jars - similar to the ones in the grocery store.
Step 2 - Wash the horseradish
I'm sure you can figure out how to scrub the horseradish in plain cold or lukewarm water using your hands or a vegetable brush. Wash horseradish roots thoroughly to remove as much dirt as feasible.
Step 3 - Trim the ends and cut into smaller pieces
Cut the small roots off and with a vegetable peeler and a sharp knife, peel off brown outer skin.
Step 4 -Grate the horseradish!
I prefer to use a blender, pouring the vinegar or lemon juice in to help liquefy the roots and keep the blender moving it around. But the peeled roots may also be grated in a food processor or cut into small cubes and put through a food grinder. Grating horseradish releases the enzymes that cause the hot flavor. And the finer the grind, the hotter the heat!
Step 5 - Mix in remaining vinegar, salt and ascorbic acid.
I prefer not to use any salt, and for ascorbic acid, I use "Fruit Fresh". Just mix them up (again I do this in the blender). Note that adding the vinegar stops the heat from developing, so if you like very hot horseradish, let the grated horseradish sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour, before adding the vinegar!
Step 6 - Store the jars in the refrigerator
Just put the lids on and put them in a colder part of your fridge!
Try to use them within 2 months!
You're done!
Other Equipment:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is it safe to can horseradish sauce in a traditional water bath? If so how long do you do process them?
A. No, the USDA's National Center for Home Food Preservation has not found a reliable, safe way to can horseradish, using home canning equipment (which includes both water bath canners and pressure canners). It's fine to prepare it and store it in the refrigerator or freezer!
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