I Need Help when Pressure Canning Vegetable Soup

15 years ago

I hope I haven't broken any rules here. I posted these questions on the thread about pressure canning soup, but was afraid that it got lost since the thread was so long. I'm sorry if I shouldn't post twice, but I was hoping for answers before I did another batch today.

I followed, exactly, the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving" recipe for Vegetable Soup. After boiling the veggies for the recommended 15 minutes the consistency was more like canned veggies than soup. (Even before cooking it didn't seem to have nearly enough liquid for soup.) Then I remembered reading this thread and so I followed the National Center's instructions for pressure canning soup, since I needed to add a lot of liquid. Can anyone suggest an easy way to estimate the amount of liquid needed to half fill a jar with solids and then fill the jar with the soup liquid? Also, do you need to leave the solids at the bottom of the jar while processing or is it okay to stir them up once the measurment is accurate. Am I right in thinking that the type of liquid doesn't matter?

Still so much learning to do.

Lynda

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
15 years ago
I'll try to help with a few of the points. ;)

Can anyone suggest an easy way to estimate the amount of liquid needed to half fill a jar with solids and then fill the jar with the soup liquid?

Yes, how many pints does the recipe say it makes? You will need that same number of pints of liquid. IOW, if the recipe says 'makes 4 pints of soup', following the NCHFP guidelines you will need 4 pints of liquid too and will end up with 8 pints of soup. Follow me?

Also, do you need to leave the solids at the bottom of the jar while processing

The vegetables will naturally sink to the bottom of the jar as they are heavier than the liquid. Nothing you can do about it. Just shake well before opening and stir while heating to serve.

Am I right in thinking that the type of liquid doesn't matter?

Nope - wouldn't want to use bourbon ;) or any unheated liquid. Something with flavor rather than plain water is best, heated to boiling. Many of us use 1 of the following: canned chicken stock or beef stock, canned boullion (ie. Swansons), tomato juice left from canning tomatoes if you saved it, any homemade meat stock, etc. Some like to add a bit of red cooking wine for flavor and color.

As the soup directions from NCHFR say: Combine solid ingredients with meat broth, tomatoes, or water to cover. Boil 5 minutes.
Caution: Do not thicken. Salt to taste, if desired. Fill jars halfway with solid mixture. Add remaining liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace.

Hope this helps. If need more info let us know. ;)

Dave
lyndapaz
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Dave. It definietly helps! The recipe said the yield was 7 quarts and I ended up with 13, so that worked out just about like you said. In the future, it seems like I can measure the amount of solids (say 6 cups) and double the amount of liquid. Is that right? When I ran out of the soup stock, I added the left-over tomato juice (after heating)as you suggest. I was just worried because it was thicker than the soup stock, so I wanted to be sure that was okay.

Thanks again,
Lynda
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Dave - I expected to find the liquid and vegetables seperated when I took them out of the canner (like my pressured tomatoes usually look), but they were not. So the soup looks a little thicker than I had hoped, not 1/2 and 1/2, but not spaghetti sauce thick either. I did not add extra liquid. I think next time I will add water or beef broth to meet the 1/2 and 1/2 rule. I still feel comfortable enough to eat it. I was looking at a few recipes in the BBB. Things like spaghetti sauce and the Spicy Tomato Soup are relatively thick (tomato based) and are still safe at those processing times. And it's not as thick as Annie's Salsa. But I know it's all about approved and tested recipes. Thanks for your input!
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I was wondering since I couldn't find a soup recipe with beans (I'm assuming OP used fully rehydrated or canned beans), corn (same thing - raw might not be a problem if it was a very small amount?), tomatoes, chicken and broth and the NCHFP "recipe" seemed very broad. So what "recipe" should (s)he have followed? Meat and vegetable (so cook the corn, drain canned beans) as you posted above? Do tomatoes count as solids or liquids? I'm also wondering what instructions I could follow to can my chili made with canned beans (I could try dried beans but I can never seem to get them to cook thoroughly) and chunks (app. 1" cubes) instead of ground meat. Would that be considered a "soup" if the stewed tomatoes and salsa that I use when I make this in a slow cooker are considered "liquids"? OF course I would cook the meat to only rare as described for soups. I realize it's more versatile to can the meat, tomatoes, salsa separately and combine upon reheating but it would be nice to have some quarts of chili for when the power goes out (which it does about once a year - sometimes winter, sometimes summer, never can tell). I'd also like to can chicken soup but I make mine with onions and carrots - strain the onions out of the broth before canning, and just add the carrots the last 5 minutes so they don't get overcooked (I don't care about bits of onion, want the flavor in the broth but don't want cloudy onion mush in the jars)? Sorry for the hijack - maybe it's easier just to stick to the Ball Complete recipes (process for 75 min or 90?) or just can meat and broth and add vegetables upon opening.
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digdirt2
15 years ago
In the future, it seems like I can measure the amount of solids (say 6 cups) and double the amount of liquid. Is that right?

It might get you in the ballpark but liquids and solids measure very differently. The liquid also has to fill part of that half of the jar where the solids are and the solids will displace some of the liquids. So you'll want to at least double.

Your best bet is to have the at least same amount of liquid as the number of pints/quarts the recipe says it makes as described above.

Pre-measuring using your jars is a handy habit to get into when canning. It is important to end up with very close to what the recipe says it makes - much less and you are likely too dense and processing time may be off, much more and you likely didn't measure ingredients correctly and acidity (if relevant to the recipe) may be off.

Dave
gran2
15 years ago
Lynda, there's always the issue of needing supper when your canning chores are over, so you want to be sure to have extra, but I usually can my soup a little on the chunky side, then add more water or broth and a bouillon cube when heating to serve. Minimizes the jars on the shelf, like "condensed" Remember too that when you add significant amounts of tomato (juice, whole, whatever) your veggies won't get any more "done" than they are before.

I Need Help when Pressure Canning Vegetable Soup

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lyndapaz
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I Need Help when Pressure Canning Vegetable Soup

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digdirt2

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