Rhubarb is my #1 favorite thing to chop. Celery is close, as it offers the same pleasing sound, and uniform stalks. But the smell and candy stripping of rhubarb secures it’s position at #1. Plus it’s the first canning of the year. It’s practically still spring when you start canning rhubarb.
Keep it simple. Rhubarb has a taste all it’s own, don’t insult with to much sugar. Tart rhubarb sauce is delicious on Vanilla ice cream, thick Greek yogurt, waffles or short cakes.
The tricky part with all of our canning recipes is proportion. Since we are gleaning all of our fruit we don’t have the benefits of precise measure. A friend calls and says, “I’ve got rhubarb coming out of my ears. Help! And we do. So these are more a guides then precise recipes. My primary rhubarb supplier tends to call me when she has about ten pounds more rhubarb then she wants to deal with. So….
10 lbs of rhubarb stalks leaves removed (approximately 36 cups coarsely chopped)
6 cups sugar + more to taste
One whole orange ground in food processor
Let the chopped rhubarb sit evenly covered in sugar for about one hour. This will draw out a great deal of moisture so it will be less likely to scald in the pan and you won’t need to add any water when it comes time to cook it.
During this time, get your canning water boiling and you jars sterilized.
Once the rhubarb looks nice and sweaty, bring it to the stove. Gently raise the temperature, coaxing out more liquid. Add the ground up orange. Raise the temp again and keep stirring occasionally taste it for sweetness. Once its reached the desired thickness (between ten and twenty minutes) start canning. Use Ball or Kerr books for canning times and procedure guides . Remember you plan on selling this to the public. If you have never processed anything for 14 minutes in a hot water canner before and have never gotten sick is meaningless. Follow an established canning time and temperature for all of your recipes. There will be comparable recipes and jar sizes. Quarts process longer then pints and so on.
Head to Goodwill (or if you obsessively buy fabric your own closet), and pick out some appropriate attire for your sauce.