Home made soups to can?

[thumpershere2]

Has anyone made home made soups to can? Thinking about doing this during the winter. Any good ideas on the subject?

 

[Earlzach]

Have you looked into dehydrating.
I havent done it myself. but I was told that if you take like whole kernel corn, Carrot chunks, peas and green beens and boil them with Lipton onion soup mix to impregnate them well with the seasoning then let cool and spread in a dehydtrator utill dry. Later when ready to serve just boil up some chunked potato untill soft and add your dried mix back into the water and all of your vegies will swell back up and release the Onion soup flavor and it makes a great soup. Or you can just boil back up your veggies without the potatoes and it only takes a couple of minutes after boil. Add soup crackers and done. Just a thought. No preserves I believe are needed. Some one may know more about this thatn me to assit you further. The driers are pretty cheep to. And think of the Jerky you could make and boy do have a home mix for that.

 

[Andy M.]

I freeze portions of soup rather than canning them.

 

[GB]

I do the same thing as Andy, but I have never canned anything in my life. I am starting soon though. I got my Ball Blue Book and today I am going out to get some canning supplies.

 

[marmalady]

Remember the water bath versus pressure canning topic, folks - soups don't contain enough acid to water bath can them without a risk of contamination. Soups need to be pressure canned - or frozen.

 

[Christygirl]

I freeze soup also... w/out the noodles or potatoes... I have found the noodles get mushy and the taters get mealy... wedding soup is awesome frozen and reheated

 

[Michael in FtW]

Marmalady is soooo right .... soups have to be pressure canned if you're going to can them. Or, you can freeze them like others have said.

If you're new to canning - here are a couple of sites you should visit and do a little study on the subject:

HomeCanning.Com is the home page for Ball and Kerr, the folks that make the jars and lids you're most likely to find for canning in the US. You'll frequent see mention of the "Ball Blue Book" in our forums ... this is probably the best place to get it. It's a basic primer on canning that every new home canner should have - and lots of tested and proven recipes.

Another site, which get's a little deeper, covers more food preservation methods, has more recipes, and also has an online study course on canning if you really want to learn a lot more, is The National Center for Home Food Preservation funded by grants from the USDA.

 

[thumpershere2]

Yes I have looked into dehydrating and I'm looking at the appliances and deciding on witch one to get. My freezer is full, my garden did very well this year. I also canned 84 qts of tomatoes. Freezer is full of veggies and we have venison to put in it yet in Nov.I only have a 4 pint pressure cooker and will try a few pints of soup. I think the dehydrater sounds like the way to go but was thinking the veggies will lose alot of nutritional value. Guess I better do more thinking on this.Thanks all for the info.

 

[marmalady]

Thumper - Pressure cookers and pressure canners are 2 different beasties which do you have?


You might want to investigate a little second hand freezer to keep all your goodies in! Check the 2nd hand appliance stores.

 

[GB]

Marm, I was under the impression that they were the same thing. What are the differences?

 

[marmalady]

Here's a site where you can see the difference -

http://www.pressurecooker-outlet.com/

Pressure cookers are thingies that look like pots with a lid on them, that you pressure cook food directly in.

Pressure canners are larger, and they're used to 'pressure-can' foods already in jars, not to cook the food directly in.

Did that make sense?

 

[GB]

Thanks Marm. I just checked out that site and looked at the All American brand. I did a side by side comparison between the canners and cookers. They look like the exact same thing. Even the prices and numbers are all the same. For instance

All American Pressure Canner 10 Quart
All American # AA-910
Our Number OpcAA910

is the same as

All American Pressure Cooker 10 Quart
All American # AA-910
Our Number OpcAA910

 

[marmalady]

MOst folks get pressure cookers of about a 2-3 quart size, while the canners are the larger ones.

 

[GB]

Ah ok that makes some sense. Could I use a large pressure canners as a pressure cooker though if I wanted, or would it be just way too big? Say a 21.5 Qt. canner for instance.

 

[marmalady]

Don't Know, Geebs - you'd have to look at the directions for the specific canner - I think that with some of them, you can.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Pressure cookers are normally in the 4-6 qt range, while pressure canners are larger (10-23 qt range). While the diameters of cookers and canners can sometimes be comperable, canners are generally taller.

Yes, a pressure canner can generally be used as a large pressure cooker. You will most often see these referred to as a "pressure cooker/canner" - or - a "pressure canner/cooker" depending on brand and/or size. When in doubt - read the instruction manual for the particular model you intend to purchase.

 

[thumpershere2]

I have a 4 pint pressure cooker/canner. I have canned carrots,corn,beets,and a few pints of tomatoes.The really lg qt canners are just that, a canner.Guess i'll forget the soups and make from scratch and fresh.Thank you all.

 

[laughingdawg]

I do a lot of canning, but this year in doing my turkey soup, I couldn't remember whether I put the noodles in or added them when it was served. I'm going for door number 2, which is confirmed by a number of members on this site. If anyone has an alternative to adding after, please post a reply. I would like to have a one-stop bottle to open for a meal...