@Steingar or anyone who knows relish

Rushie

Rushie

En-Route
Joined
Jun 21, 2006
Messages
3,017
Display Name
Display name:
Rushie
If you do relish, pickles and saurkraut you might know the answer to this question. I'm making that cranberry-orange relish to give away for Christmas. (It's the OceanSpray recipe: one bag cranberries, one large orange or two small, and a cup of sugar.) I'm wondering how long it should last in the refrigerator. I'm giving it to everyone so need to make tons, and the stores might sell out of cranberries and the good oranges if I wait til too close to Christmas. I'm thinking Christmas is less than three weeks away right now, if I made it tomorrow, it would still be good on Christmas Day, right? It actually gets better after it sits a few days. It wouldn't be likely to grow mold or anything within that timeframe?

The alternative is to freeze it, but I don't know if that would affect the quality.

What thinks you all?
 
Socks.
 
GRG55 said:
Be bold!
Relish the thought of Argyle. Like Sac Arrow :eek:
Click to expand...

il_570xN.205686022.jpg
 
Oranges, in their natural state will last a long time. Stock up. I can’t really speak to cranberries, though. I have definitely eaten an orange that was sitting on the table for a month.
 
I would say it should keep for 7-10 days or so as long as it’s continually refrigerated. Seems like the longest I remember having a similar type relish was around a week. Much longer than that and it will go rancid. If you make it now, I don’t think it would taste it’s best on Christmas Day, considering it’s 16 days away. Just my 2c.
 
Since you have to boil it, if you put it into sterilized canning jars (boil them too), it should last unfridgerated on the shelf.
 
I have no idea how long it will last. At least 3 days.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Since you have to boil it, if you put it into sterilized canning jars (boil them too), it should last unfridgerated on the shelf.
Click to expand...

This.

If you sealed it correctly, the lid will help give an indication whether the contents of the Mason jar have spoiled or not.
 
Ryanb said:
I would say it should keep for 7-10 days or so as long as it’s continually refrigerated. Seems like the longest I remember having a similar type relish was around a week. Much longer than that and it will go rancid. If you make it now, I don’t think it would taste it’s best on Christmas Day, considering it’s 16 days away. Just my 2c.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was a little uncomfortable with this long. Maybe freezing it would be best if I have to go ahead and get it made.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Since you have to boil it, if you put it into sterilized canning jars (boil them too), it should last unfridgerated on the shelf.
Click to expand...

asicer said:
This.

If you sealed it correctly, the lid will help give an indication whether the contents of the Mason jar have spoiled or not.
Click to expand...

No this stuff isn't cooked. You just process it together. So it does need to be refrigerated. I was just thinking because of all the sugar it might keep at least as long as an opened jar of jelly in the fridge which would be a couple months at least, but whenever I've had it before it always gets eaten up within a week so I never had a chance to test it.
 
Rushie said:
No this stuff isn't cooked. You just process it together. So it does need to be refrigerated. I was just thinking because of all the sugar it might keep at least as long as an opened jar of jelly in the fridge which would be a couple months at least, but whenever I've had it before it always gets eaten up within a week so I never had a chance to test it.
Click to expand...
Store bought jelly has preservatives.

It will not likely last three weeks. And it definitely will not taste as good. I would suggest you make a small batch freeze. Then thaw it and compare to a fresh batch.

Tim

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
Rushie said:
No this stuff isn't cooked. You just process it together. So it does need to be refrigerated. I was just thinking because of all the sugar it might keep at least as long as an opened jar of jelly in the fridge which would be a couple months at least, but whenever I've had it before it always gets eaten up within a week so I never had a chance to test it.
Click to expand...
Ah, did not know that. The stuff my mom and wife make is boiled just to pop the cranberries and dissolve the sugar.
 
tspear said:
Store bought jelly has preservatives.

It will not likely last three weeks. And it definitely will not taste as good. I would suggest you make a small batch freeze. Then thaw it and compare to a fresh batch.
Click to expand...

I did freeze some. I'll do a blind taste test on hubby today.
 
Just don't do the fruitcake thing. They tend to get recycled.
 
mscard88 said:
I like fruitcake!
Click to expand...

I do too, but... never eat a gifted fruitcake. You never know what the previous owner did to it. That glaze on the top that the bakery didn't put on? Hold a black light to it. Like, ewww.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I do too, but... never eat a gifted fruitcake. You never know what the previous owner did to it. That glaze on the top that the bakery didn't put on? Hold a black light to it. Like, ewww.
Click to expand...

You actually do that? Dude, life is too short. Eat it and be merry! :D
 
My Darling makes a cranberry relish that sounds similar. We freeze it after she makes it and it lasts over 6 months, tastes great and maintains it's consistency once thawed. She doesn't mash the cranberries.

edit: She says her recipe comes from the "Joy of Cooking" book.
 
Never been fan of Cranberries but my mom and aunt, both of whom were old farm girls made the best Corn Relish. Their recipe went away with them and I've never been able to find anything as good.
 
A friend makes sweet zucchini relish and jars in in a water bath like any other stored veggies. I have an inopened jar from two years ago and it's perfect. If you want to give relish as a gift? Learn how to pack it to last.
 
I’ve never done a relish that wasn’t a preserve. That means the contents have been fermented or sterilized in some fashion. What you’re making is similar to a chutney, except my chutneys are all spicy. I like spicy sweetness to add to my curries.

The acid in the citrus and cranberries will give your chutney some shelf life in the fridge, but not that much. Psychrphilic fungus and molds can and will grow on the surface of your mixture. If you could vacuum pack them you could keep the wee beasties at bay permanently, but that isn’t an easy thing to do.

I wouldn’t set something like this up unless I was going to use or give it away very, very quickly. And I wouldn’t give it away to anyone who wasn’t well versed in looking for signs of spoilage. I definitely wouldn’t freeze anything with fresh fruit, it ruins the texture.

Sorry not to give the answer you want. I spent a crapload of my day making and canning salsa. To my mind preserves are not a thing in which one takes half measures. No one ever died from eating cookies.
 
steingar said:
I’ve never done a relish that wasn’t a preserve. That means the contents have been fermented or sterilized in some fashion. What you’re making is similar to a chutney, except my chutneys are all spicy. I like spicy sweetness to add to my curries.

The acid in the citrus and cranberries will give your chutney some shelf life in the fridge, but not that much. Psychrphilic fungus and molds can and will grow on the surface of your mixture. If you could vacuum pack them you could keep the wee beasties at bay permanently, but that isn’t an easy thing to do.

I wouldn’t set something like this up unless I was going to use or give it away very, very quickly. And I wouldn’t give it away to anyone who wasn’t well versed in looking for signs of spoilage. I definitely wouldn’t freeze anything with fresh fruit, it ruins the texture.

Sorry not to give the answer you want. I spent a crapload of my day making and canning salsa. To my mind preserves are not a thing in which one takes half measures. No one ever died from eating cookies.
Click to expand...

Ah, see I knew you'd know something about this. The acidity is why I thought it would last longer, I've got a pH meter and it's 2.8.

I do have the vacuum pack device, hadn't thought about doing that, but no, it would be messy and a chore and the presentation not what I want.

Everyone I'm giving it to are people well known to me, that's not a problem. I will be able to hold off giving it to them until they are home and it can go immediately from my fridge to theirs. I might ship some to family members (people who would not hold it against me if I poison them) but for those I'll definitely freeze it and then pack it in dry ice and ship overnight.

I did give hubby a taste test, some I had frozen and thawed, and some fresh. He could not tell the difference. I was sure it would destroy the quality but it didn't seem to. Maybe cranberries have a structural strength over most other foods?

In any case I think it's unanimous, for fresh, two or three week old is too old. Even if it stays good, I just don't feel right about it. I will either have to freeze it, or make it the week of Christmas. My whole worry was the cranberries will be gone by then but maybe I can talk to the store and have them order/reserve them for me.

Thanks for all the input guys. Next year I'm going back to Mrs. Hanes Moravian cookies. This is just too much trouble.
 
Stewartb said:
A friend makes sweet zucchini relish and jars in in a water bath like any other stored veggies. I have an inopened jar from two years ago and it's perfect. If you want to give relish as a gift? Learn how to pack it to last.
Click to expand...

Yes, but as Steingar pointed out, this technically isn't a relish, it's a compote, or chutney? It's meant to be eaten freshly made, but aged a few days. So to give this as a gift requires good timing. That's the lesson I've learned here. It's really better to make it for yourself or to bring to potluck on the day of a feast. Next year I'll stick to cookies.

It's just EVERYBODY gives cookies. Cookie overload. It's not healthy. I wanted to do something different.
 
Justin M said:
My Darling makes a cranberry relish that sounds similar. We freeze it after she makes it and it lasts over 6 months, tastes great and maintains it's consistency once thawed. She doesn't mash the cranberries.

edit: She says her recipe comes from the "Joy of Cooking" book.
Click to expand...

That's it! I have Joy of Cooking and I just looked it up. If they haven't changed the recipe over time (my book is pretty old) it's almost the same as the Ocean Spray recipe, only a little more sugar and slightly higher cranberry to orange ratio. (I'm sure that resulted from bags of cranberries shrinking from one pound to 12 oz.)

I wish I'd found this sooner. They give the tip to use only the surface portion of the orange peel, and eliminate the white because it tends to be bitter. I think this is true, and I've found that the white portion seems thicker in today's grocery store oranges. I think oranges with thinner peels would be better.

The book says to age it two days before serving and this is correct. The sugar needs to marinate into the fruit bits. But it doesn't say how long you can expect to keep it.
 
Here are some visual aids:
cranberry1.jpg cranberry2.jpg cranberry3.jpg
 

Attachments

  • cranberry1.jpg
    cranberry1.jpg
    175.6 KB · Views: 10
  • cranberry2.jpg
    cranberry2.jpg
    224.9 KB · Views: 10
  • cranberry3.jpg
    cranberry3.jpg
    203.1 KB · Views: 10
Norman said:
Never been fan of Cranberries but my mom and aunt, both of whom were old farm girls made the best Corn Relish. Their recipe went away with them and I've never been able to find anything as good.
Click to expand...

You don't think to ask the old ladies for their recipes before they die. Even before then it can be too late. My mom no longer remembers what she did to make some of the best stuff we had when I was growing up. Often she didn't have a recipe written down, it was all in her head.
 
As someone who's never heard of this cranberry/orange relish - what do you eat it with?
 
Rushie said:
It's just EVERYBODY gives cookies. Cookie overload. It's not healthy. I wanted to do something different.
Click to expand...

You're a South Texan now. Need to make and give pecan pralines, peanut brittle, and fruitcake. But if you really want to go native...learn to make homemade tamales.

My brother-in-law makes a big batch of spicy Chex Mix every year too that they send. Ours just arrived Saturday.
 
Rushie said:
My whole worry was the cranberries will be gone by then but maybe I can talk to the store and have them order/reserve them for me.
Click to expand...
One thought for you is to get some dried cranberries now. Dried they last forever. You can reconstitute them in whatever you want, I'd probably use brandy and sugar. You then add your oranges and have a much more flavorful compote (which is pretty much what you're making, good call).

Me, I'd pack this into decorative jars and water can it. Then it won't ever go bad. Then again, were it me I'd add some white wine vinegar, probably some garlic and serrano peppers. But that's just me.
 
Van Johnston said:
You're a South Texan now. Need to make and give pecan pralines, peanut brittle, and fruitcake. But if you really want to go native...learn to make homemade tamales.
Click to expand...
Tamales are super easy but time consuming. I often make a batch this time of year, I love them. And it just so happens I have the perfect chili to serve as a filling.
 
Rushie said:
Yes, but as Steingar pointed out, this technically isn't a relish, it's a compote, or chutney? It's meant to be eaten freshly made, but aged a few days. So to give this as a gift requires good timing. That's the lesson I've learned here. It's really better to make it for yourself or to bring to potluck on the day of a feast. Next year I'll stick to cookies.

It's just EVERYBODY gives cookies. Cookie overload. It's not healthy. I wanted to do something different.
Click to expand...

Well, another friend used to give us cherry chutney in a preserved jar, too. There must be a way. Do the Goo!
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/chutney_principles.html
 
Van Johnston said:
You're a South Texan now. Need to make and give pecan pralines, peanut brittle, and fruitcake. But if you really want to go native...learn to make homemade tamales.

My brother-in-law makes a big batch of spicy Chex Mix every year too that they send. Ours just arrived Saturday.
Click to expand...

One of our neighbors gave us that Chex Mix last year, it was awesome!
 
Timbeck2 said:
As someone who's never heard of this cranberry/orange relish - what do you eat it with?
Click to expand...

You use it instead of the canned cranberry "sauce" for the big turkey dinner. But it's excellent with any meat, especially meat that tends to be dry.
 
Stewartb said:
Well, another friend used to give us cherry chutney in a preserved jar, too. There must be a way. Do the Goo!
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/chutney_principles.html
Click to expand...

Great article, yes I suppose "chutney" best describes this except it's not cooked, and it's not spicy.

The very best meal I have ever had in my life involved mango chutney when I was but 16 years old. It was called "curried chicken with fried banana and mango chutney" on the menu at a hotel we stayed at for a few days on Lake Constance (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, amazing views, you can look at three countries at one time). That was my first exposure to mango chutney and the best, I've searched unsuccessfully for 45 years for an equal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top