Noodles falling apart in soup

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Home chef

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Lately, every time I cook chicken noodle soup the noodles fall apart in the broth after the soup has turned into leftovers. It will sit in a sealed container for a day or two then turn to mush. What am I doing wrong? I am using dry egg noodles and I am pre-cooking them in boiling water before I introduce them to the soup.
 
I thought about that but when I cook my soup I only bring it to a boil when I am first making the broth. After that I reduce the temp to a steep. I figured noodles wouldn't cook properly if the temp wasn't at a boil.
 
Re: noodles falling apart in soup

Home chef said:
Lately, every time I cook chicken noodle soup the noodles fall apart in the broth after the soup has turned into leftovers. It will sit in a sealed container for a day or two then turn to mush. What am I doing wrong?
Noodles continue to absorb liquid from the stock during storage so they inevitably turn mushy as well as sucking up the stock. (Rice does the same thing too tho not as much as pasta does.)

Home chef said:
I am using dry egg noodles and I am pre-cooking them in boiling water before I introduce them to the soup.
Good - you're half-way there. Even if you want noodles in your soup, cook them seperately. Only add cooked pasta directly to the soup just prior to serving if you know you'll have no leftovers.

BTW, you really don't ever have to add cooked noodles to the soup. When serving, put cooked noodles in the bottom of each bowl and then pour the hot soup over them. By the time they get to the table the noodles will be hot too.

Store any leftover cooked pasta seperately from your soup/stock and add exactly the quantity you need after you've reheated your stock.
 
I understand that noodles still absorb liquid after they are cooked. I guess then I don't understand why Campbells noodles stay firm in the can. I don't just store broth and noodles. I store the completed soup in gladware or something like that.
 
Sorry - don't eat canned soup. All I'm saying is don't add pasta to homemade soup that's going to sit a few days in the 'frig. Hope this helps :D
 
When I make chicken or turkey noodle soup, the noodles are the very last thing I add, sparingly, and dry from the package. The thin, curly
ones. I stir them in then. I turn off the heat and put on the lid. They finish cooking on their own.
 
So, basically, since I always make a HUGE batch of soup at a time I shouldn't add the noodles until I am ready to actually eat the soup. There's no way to add the noodles and store the whole thing in canning jars or tupperware because the noodles will ultimately congeal. I wish there was a better way :?
 
1st off, Cambells probably has some items in their noodles that aren't food! The probably make them very hard to survive canning, but they likely subject them to rapid cooling to stop cooking. I'm sure if you reheat it several times the canned ones will get mushy, too.

I always make the noodles separate, then add them only to the portion I'm going to serve. You can easily zap them for 20 seconds in the microwave if you need to whip up more soup. This way you only have what you need and the noodles don't break up. Works good with rice, too.
 
I love home-made egg noodles with my sooup. I always add the noodles after the rest of the soup is cooked and seasoned the way I want it. It comes out great.

My biggest mistake with homemade woup came when I was asked to bring a big pot of my chicken noole soup for a fundraiser to help a family. I made the soup to the best of my ability. I also made the home-made egg noodles and added them to the soup. I cooked them until they were soft and then put the whole thing in the refrigerator as I had to take the soup to the location during my lunch hour. Like yours, my noodles had become mush. The flavor was good, but the noodles were indistinguishable from the rest of the soup. When I stirred the soup, the noodles became a thickening agent. I learned that lesson the hard way. I now add noodles just before serving, as I do with the meat.

I cook the meat (cubed turkey, beef, chicken, etc.) seperately from the soup, as boiling meat will toughen and dry it out. I flavor the broth with bones and skin (for poultry), or bones and fat (for beef, and pork). Then I get it cold and lift the hardened fat from the gelled stock. I strain it and heat it to a low boil. Add the veggies and flavorings and cook until done. Then add the noodles, dumplings, or whatever pasta needs to be incorporated. And finally, when serving, add the cently cooked meat cubes. That way, everything is at the proper texture, degree of doneness, and at its best flavor.

Hope this helps.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Godweed, I understand your story exactly and I feel your pain.

I just made another batch of chix soup and cooked the noodles separately. I now keep softened noodles (cooked in chix broth) in the fridge and put them in the soup just before serving. It tastes good and it's not much more involved.

I would love tomake my own noodles but I haven't had the nerve to do it yet.
 
:D Cook your soup as usual then the last 10 to 12 minutes of cooking add the dry uncooked NoYolks brand of egg noodles I use the wide ones called dumplings cook the 10 to 12 minutes that they recommend or till tender they hold up wonderfully and reheat without falling apart.
 
I'm weighing in with those who say they cook noodles separately from their soup when making anything that will be leftover. Nothing helps, noodles don't hold up. Rice also can have problems holding up to the long term, tending to "blow out" at the ends of the grains. I make my stock and anything else I want in the soup, then cook pasta or rice separately, drain, and toss in with each meal. Extra trouble, but do not like them mushy. Strangely enough, I do like campbells -- the old chicken noodle -- but it is simply a childhood taste. We all have them ... stuff we like because of happy memories having nothing to do whatsoever with good taste in food. It's something I heat up when I have a cold, or need comfort without effort. My very favorite, 'though, is Liptons, and I add extra noodles to it (as Mom did). But, as above, I don't like it leftover.
 
i would just add the hot noodles to the hot soup and serve immediately or leave them seperate. they DO get mushy in the fridge- someone had mentioned that- but you could make only what you think you'll need and do the same with a new batch during re-heating.
 
Just finished making homemade chicken noodle soup in the crock pot. Like always, I added the stock, onions, celery, bay leaf, seasoning, carrots, and let go for an hour. Needless to say this is not my first time making soup, but this is the first time I have had egg noodles completely disintegrate in 30 minutes. There is not a noodle to be found:huh: I agree adding the noodles to the bowl, but this was crazy. I have used homemade noodle, and just about every brand of off the shelf extra wide egg noodles, but this time I used the HyVee x wide egg noodles. Never again. :mad:
 
I understand that noodles still absorb liquid after they are cooked. I guess then I don't understand why Campbells noodles stay firm in the can. I don't just store broth and noodles. I store the completed soup in gladware or something like that.

If you read the list of ingredients, you will see a list of chemical ingredients that keep the noodles from getting mushy. The noodles you buy separately are made the same way as you would make them at home. Then they are allowed to dried.

You received some very good advice here. Keep the noodles separate from the soup.
 
Here, the chicken noodle soup is clear chicken soup (broth) with small pasta added last, just before serving. We wouldn't reheat that, because the pasta becomes slimy and unpleasant. To us it's invalid soup, the stuff they serve in hospitals or give to children. But made properly, it's good.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
Invalid soup? :ermm:

Sick people and children should get the best care through their diet, no?

I don't mean to be argumentative, but that struck me as mentionable.
 
You're quite right. The tone of my message was somewhat disparaging, it wasn't meant to be, but for that I apologise. A good chicken noodle soup, fresh made, is very nutritious and easy to digest
 

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