Sorry, no mashed potato flakes. It would be considered a thickener. No mashed or pureed vegetables are safe to use when canning.

Even those packets of taco seasoning, spaghetti, or chili seasonings from the store have thickeners and cannot safely be used in canning.

I second Linda Lou's post. Is there any reason why you couldn't just can your bean soup then when ready to heat and eat, add the potato flakes?

Thanks Linda Lou and bcskye, I guess I could leave out the potato flakes and add them later, I just thought maybe I could make it up for a meal and then can the leftovers. Though I could separate out the portion I think my family will eat and can the rest. Does anyone know if this kind of soup would freeze well? It also has chunks of potatoes and carrots.

You are trying to can your own recipe and generally that isn't considered safe to do since there is no way to know either the pH or the density of the soup so no way to determine the proper pressure canning time.

If you can post the entire recipe we might be able to advise on its safety aspects or make suggestions for how it can be adjusted to bring it close to one of the tested and approved canning recipes.

Also you need to keep in mind the so-called "1/2 and 1/2 soup rule" that most all soups are canned using no more than 1/2 solids and 1/2 liquid in order to allow for adequate heat penetration. Don't know the effect that would have on your personal recipe. So all in all, freezing would be your best option rather than canning.

Check out the link below for details on canning soups.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Canning Soups

It would still have issues with safety because of the bacon. You can get some good soup recipes from the BAll Blue book. There are some soup recipes with a bit of bacon or ham, but these are tested for safety.
There are other things not safe to add, like any butter, eggs, milk, etc.
I suggest you try freezing a little bit of your soup and see how it is once thawed and reheated.

lambscottage, my bean soup is with ham, carrots, celery, onion, garlic...no potatoes of any kind but it does freeze beautifully. Try freezing some of yours, I freeze stews with potatoes and those don't show any ill effects from being frozen....thaw in refrigerator or microwave, heat on stove and instant dinner.

Why would bacon be a safety issue? The NCHFP soup recipe specifically says that meat, poultry and seafood soups can be canned, with no limitation on type of meat, relative amount of meat (within the 1/2 and 1/2 rule, of course) or fattines/saltiness of the meat. It does not, for instance call out bacon or ham or hamburger as unsafe. Nor does it limit meat to a certain amount per soup or per amount of vegetables.

All meat in soup is going to have fat; it cannot be completely eliminated; especially if meats such as chicken thighs, 7 bone beef roast, hamburger, or lamb shoulder are used.

Curious. . .

Sharon

Bacon or other fats surrounds botulism spores and can allow them to survive even pressure canning.
You are adding additional fat, not like the natural amount in meats. Plus, you always remove as much fat as possible when canning meats. With bacon you would not be doing that. Even adding bacon to green beans when canning is a "no no", for that reason.

Sharon,
I regularly can my green beans with pre-cooked and defatted bacon that I buy at Costco.
With respect to canning meats, I can a lot of poultry and usually raw pack it. A pint jar will have 1/2 inch of fat sitting on the broth in the jar when cooled. Prior to eating, I just place the jar in the refrigerator so the fat will solidly solidify, cool it well, remove the cap and fat topping on the broth, and either serve cold or incorporate into a chicken dish.
I don't can ground meats or sausage, but these meats are usually pre-cooked, rinsed under hot water to remove as much fat as possible, and canned.
There is the issue of rancidness of the fat in the canning jars that you may hear of. I have not encountered this problem or issue. Perhaps it is because I use up canned meats as soon as possible and don't make up more than I can eat in 6 months or so.
Hope this helps. I just don't want you to freak out or think you have to throw out chicken thighs with fat on the top of the broth. Trust me, there will be.
Jim in So Calif

I agree, Jim, that any canned meat will end up having fat. Any raw packed poultry will have as much or more fat than bacon in soup. So will canned sausage or hamburger, all of which are OK, per NCHFP.

I don't understand the comment that bacon adds more fat than is "natural in meats". Bacon is simply cured pork belly. All the fat is naturally occurring in pork belly. Some bacon is leaner than others, just like any cut of meat. I have never seen any prohibition about not canning pork belly (or pork shoulder or uncured hams--both of which have as much fat on a percentage basis as a lot of bacons).

And I understand, though I do not have time to look it up right now, that several extension services including Michigan State DO have directions for canning green or baked beans with bacon or salt pork.

Bacon does not seem inherently different than, say chicken thighs, in terms of naturally occurring fat. You can more easily see the fat in bacon, but it is still there in chicken thighs. Bacon is salt cured, but that affects sodium levels and taste, not amount of fat.

The no bacon issue doesn't seem supported by the recipes on NCHFP.

Anyway, enough said by me. . .

Sharon

Baked beans do have some fat, but it is a small amount, considering it is for 5 lb. of reconsituted dry beans.
Place seven ¾-inch pieces of pork, ham, or bacon in an earthenware crock, a large casserole, or a pan. This is for 14 pints of beans. So, half of a 3/4 inch piece per jar.

It depends upon each type of food, as well. Different ph levels, etc.

There are no safe directions for adding it to green beans.
This is from a leading authority on safe food preservation :

Can bacon be safely added to green beans when canning them?

Bacon, which is very high in fat, should not be added to vegetables or tomato vegetable mixtures that are to be canned. Fat can protect Clostridium boutlinum spores that produce botulism toxin so that the usual processing times will be too short to kill them. Because processing times for fish are so long, it is all right to add oil in some instances. Please refer to the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin 539, for directions.

Barbara Willenberg, Nutritional Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia.
***************
I have also been personally trained in USDA food preservation safety for the past 11 years and I work at my local county extension office. I instruct food preservation classes as well.