Canning Chimichurri

[JoeCanDoIt]

Hello everyone,

My family is from Argentina and I have a problem about chimichurri in the United States because no one does it correctly. I have yet to find a restaurant that serves proper chimichurri. Even the Argentine restaurants around don’t seem to do it correctly.

This led me to search for commercially available chimichurri but all of the options look horrendous. My biggest issue is that dry ingredients are used and often times the parsley is brown in color, as opposed to a brighter green.

For this reason I have began researching on how to share my family’s recipe with the rest of the world. I plan to produce small batch chimichurri to share with friends and family, but I want to do so in a way that is food safe. Eventually I would like to connect with local boutiques and restaurants.


My two big questions:
1. What are the best ways to seal/can chimichurri? There is a lot of olive oil involved, so I do know this is an issue with water bath canning.
2. Is there anyway to preserve the color of parsley? I personally feel that the color of commercially available chimichurri is very off putting.

Any advice/input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone!!

 

[sadie33]

I actually didn't know what chimichurri was, so I looked it up. I could not find a recipe for canning it. I'm going to guess it's because of the oil. There are some ingredients (like cream in chowders) that have to be added after you can it. I add it when I heat it. I was thinking you might be able to do that, but it seems if you leave the oil out, there is not enough liquid to can. I did find a recipe for freezing it, but not sure that helps.

https://www.freshpreserving.com.au/2018/12/04/chimichurri/

 

[GotGarlic]

I'm sorry but there is no safe method for canning food items with a high oil content at home. Fresh ingredients carry Clostridium botulinum spores which grow well in the anaerobic environment oil creates.

 

[JoeCanDoIt]

I'm sorry but there is no safe method for canning food items with a high oil content at home. Fresh ingredients carry Clostridium botulinum spores which grow well in the anaerobic environment oil creates.

Which would be the best way to package chimichurri then? Can I just put it in a jar/bottle and seal it?

 

[taxlady]

Which would be the best way to package chimichurri then? Can I just put it in a jar/bottle and seal it?

NO! That would have even more risk of botulism.

You could freeze it.

 

[blissful]

Parsley stays a nice green color if it is dried at about 105 deg F for a longer time (than say 125 deg F for a few hours).
So let's say you make a chimichurri dehydrated mix / powderish, to which the customer adds oil or oil and water, to hydrate into a sauce.


You could package it into a foil envelope, label, and sell/give away. That might be an option.


Oil doesn't do well in a dehydrator either, prone to going rancid, the heat oxidizes it which speeds rancidity.

 

[JoeCanDoIt]

Parsley stays a nice green color if it is dried at about 105 deg F for a longer time (than say 125 deg F for a few hours).
So let's say you make a chimichurri dehydrated mix / powderish, to which the customer adds oil or oil and water, to hydrate into a sauce.


You could package it into a foil envelope, label, and sell/give away. That might be an option.


Oil doesn't do well in a dehydrator either, prone to going rancid, the heat oxidizes it which speeds rancidity.

This is very insightful.

I really do appreciate everyone’s input.

It seems like chimichurri has not been mass produced because there really is no way to mass produce fresh chimichurri due to the high oil content.

Very interesting.. the search continues.

On another note, if anyone is interested in trying my family’s chimichurri recipe, I am happy to make a batch and ship it! PM me if interested, you wont be disappointed.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Chimichurri is a fresh sauce; like Venezuelan guasacaca or a true Mexican salsa. If you look on Amazon, you can find several varieties of chimichurri, so to say you can´t do it - well I don´t agree.
I started bottling sauces, salsas, all sorts of stuff, about 20 years ago. I made over a million jars of things - including stuff with loads of oil, and never, ever had a complaint. My government health inspector used to check my stuff, just in case, and never found a problem.
So give it a go. Make some, seal the jars properly and put them in a water bath for 25 minutes. Then leave them for a month. Try them - or even take them to a food laboratory for testing.
There are only about 110 cases of botulism in the USA per year; it is a RARE occurrence. Go ahead and do it, and see how it works - and "buena suerte"!

 

[JoeCanDoIt]

Chimichurri is a fresh sauce; like Venezuelan guasacaca or a true Mexican salsa. If you look on Amazon, you can find several varieties of chimichurri, so to say you can´t do it - well I don´t agree.
I started bottling sauces, salsas, all sorts of stuff, about 20 years ago. I made over a million jars of things - including stuff with loads of oil, and never, ever had a complaint. My government health inspector used to check my stuff, just in case, and never found a problem.
So give it a go. Make some, seal the jars properly and put them in a water bath for 25 minutes. Then leave them for a month. Try them - or even take them to a food laboratory for testing.
There are only about 110 cases of botulism in the USA per year; it is a RARE occurrence. Go ahead and do it, and see how it works - and "buena suerte"!

This is what I like to hear! Thank you for the insight and advice.

 

[GotGarlic]

This is what I like to hear! Thank you for the insight and advice.

For a bit more insight, the previous poster lives in Venezuela, not the United States, and our laws are likely to be different. Usually, states have what are called cottage food laws that regulate the types of foods people can make and sell from their homes. Unless you're planning to develop a commercial product, which will have different rules, you will need to be familiar with them.

Here are the cottage food regulations for LA County.
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/business/home-based-cottage-food.htm