The days are getting shorter, the weather cooler, and the kids are back to school. Although there is still plenty of the growing season to go, it is time to start harvesting the bounty, and bountiful it is.
In the past couple of weeks I’ve been canning and preserving like a woman possessed! You name it – tomatoes, beets, salsa, hot sauce, jellies, chokecherry syrup, and of course zucchini relish.
In fact this zucchini relish is something that we do every year. By the end of August there always seems to be way too much zucchini or we forget about one and it gets freakishly big. 
Those giant ones are not as flavourful but still good to go into things like relish, salsa, and zucchini loaves.
I don’t even like relish, but this relish is good, really good. It goes great on the traditional relish needing items like hot dogs (veggie dogs for us!) and burgers, but it can also be used like chutney.
So a bit about canning…
Hot water canning preserves summer’s fresh flavours well beyond the harvest season. It is a great way to preserve your excess veggies and have a supply of quality local produce through winter. There is nothing better than a cellar or pantry stocked with home-canned food. It saves money, it’s easy, and it makes for great gifts.
While this is the most complicated blog to date, don’t be intimidated—it’s as easy as following a recipe!
…Now a word about botulism from HealthLink BC:
Botulism is a serious form of food poisoning that can cause death. The poison is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that is commonly found in soil, or on raw fruits and vegetables, on meat and fish and many others foods and surfaces.
Botulism bacteria can multiply quickly in a moist, oxygen-free environment and create a very powerful poison. One teaspoonful is enough to kill 100,000 people. Improper home canning creates the perfect environment to grow botulism.
Because food contaminated by botulism may look and smell normal, you cannot tell by looking at the food whether it is poisoned by botulism bacteria.
Home can properly using extreme care to avoid botulism. Do not take any short cuts.
High-acid foods are resistant to bacteria and only need the “boiling water bath” method of canning.
Never eat, or even taste any home-canned food that:
- Appears to be spoiled;
- Foams;
- Develops a bad smell during cooking;
- Has a bulging container lid or is leaching;
- You are not sure if the food was properly canned or not.
Do not feed the questionable food to your pets or any other animals. After throwing it away, wash your hands well with warm soapy water. Read more about Botulism here.
Have I scared you off yet? Don’t be. I’ve been canning for years. No botulism!
The key is to follow canning directions EXACTLY. Botulism from canning most frequently occurs when canning low-acid foods. We are making a high-acid food (that is why we add vinegar).
Alright, let’s get to it, but please note, there is a part 1 and part 2 to this recipe and you need to wait at least 12 hours between prepping the zucchini relish and actually canning it.
Materials:
Canning supplies can be found at stores like Canadian Tire, Loblaws, and I am guessing Walmart and Target too. Canning jars come in a variety of sizes, including (from left): quart, 12-ounce tall, pint, half-pint, wide mouth half-pint, and 4-ounce jelly.
Canning supplies
- 6 x 500 ml jars
- 6 lids to fit. Always use new lids.
- 6 rings for the jars
- 1 big pot to fit all you jars into at once with lid
- Jar grabber thing
- Lid magnet
- Wide mouth funnel (trust me, you will use one of these for more than just canning)
- 1 plastic or metal chopstick (wood is porous and could harbor bacteria)
- Soup ladle
Ingredients for zucchini relish
- 12 cups of finely chopped zucchini. (I pulse it in the food processor a few times)
- 4 cups of onions (red, yellow, white, doesn’t matter), chopped
- 2 red peppers, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1/3 cup of salt
- 2 1/2 cups white vinegar
- 2 1/2 cops granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp ground nutmeg
- 4 tbsp prepared horseradish (I had to ask where to find this in the grocery store, but it’s there).
- 1 large hot pepper, chopped (include the seeds)
Directions:
Prepping the zucchini relish – Part 1
- Combine zucchini, onions, and peppers with pickling salt.
- Cover and let the mixture stand for at least 12 hours. This essentially helps draw moisture out of the zucchini which will help make your relish more chunky.
- After 12 hours, drain and rinse the vegetables, pressing out the excess moisture.
Cooking & Canning the relish – Part 2
- Before starting to cook the relish, fill pot with water, add jars open end up (no lids or rings), and put the burner on high. You’ll need enough water to cover filled jars by 1 to 2 inches.
- Boil the jars for 10-15 minutes. This sterilizes them.
- While the jars are boiling, place the strained veggies back into the stainless steel pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and gently boil for 45 minutes so it thickens.
- Using the jar grabber remove the jars. Empty the water back into the pot. You may need to dump some of the water into the sink because the filled jars will displace the water in the pot making it too full. If you do this, do it carefully.
- Sterilize the ladle and chopstick by letting it sit in the hot water for a minute or two.
- While this is happening, heat the new jar lids on low. Don’t boil them, though, as doing so can cause seals to fail.
- Using the wide-mouth funnel, ladle the relish into the jars. Be sure to follow recipe instructions and leave ½ inch space between the relish and the lid.
- Remove air bubbles by sliding the chopstick around the inside of the jar.
- Wipe jar rims with a clean paper towel. Food particles on rims can prevent seals from forming.
- Place jar lids on filled jars using the lid magnet.
- Add screw bands, tightening only until fingertip tight. Tightening them too much can interfere with sealing!
- Without tilting them, load filled jars into the canner using a jar lifter.
- Make sure to cover the jars with at least an inch of water.
- Put the lid on the pot and turn up the heat to high. The processing time will begin once the water starts to boil vigorously. Process for 10 minutes. The water should be boiling vigorously the whole time.
- After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the pot lid, and remove jars using the jar tongs. Try not to tilt the jars. Place them on the counter with at least 1 inch between them. You might hear some of the lids make a pop sound. This is good!
- Allow jars to cool to room temperature for 24 hours. Do not move the jars at all during this time.
- After 24 hours, test each jar seal by pressing down on the lid. If properly sealed, it will be concave and have no give. Wash or wipe down jars and lids to remove any food residue.
If any lids didn’t seal properly, keep them in the fridge and eat those first. - Label. I can’t stress the importance of this. When you start canning a lot of stuff, you easily loose track. Be sure to add the contents and date.
Canning tips
- Before canning, wash your hands and wipe surfaces with a disinfectant.
- Always inspect jars prior to use. Run your fingers along the top of each one, feeling for cracks or chips that would keep the jar from sealing.
- Don’t reuse lids – they won’t seal a second time.
- Prepare a few more jars and lids than you think you’ll need, just in case. You can cool, dry, and store any you don’t use. Keep an extra new lid nearby in case you need to heat it up quickly.
Storage tips
- Store canned goods in a cool, dry, dark location, preferably with a temperature between 10-21°C (50-70°F).
- Avoid storing near the furnace, hot water pipes, or stove, or in direct sunlight.
- Don’t store jars in an area prone to freezing and thawing. While freezing alone won’t spoil canned food (unless it breaks the seal), it does make food mushy.
Not so bad was it? If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!
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