Major Canning Mistakes - Potentially Deadly

*Making up your own canning recipe. Without scientific testing, you will not know how long the product needs to be processed to be safe. (see link below)

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Your soup sounds wonderful, but I'd suggest freezing it. If you have a FoodSaver, quick-freeze the leftover soup in small containers (I like single-serving sizes). When frozen, pop them out of the plastic containers, stack the soup "cubes" and vacuum-seal them if a FoodSaver bag.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: ...Canning Mistakes

I'd freeze it....the end result will be better and safer.

Okay. Now here's the bummer. I did this all last night and thought I had done everything right until some reading I did this evening. I canned it and let it sit overnight. If I ran to walmart, say, to purchase a sealing machine, would it be worth it - could I salvage the soup?

Oh dear. First, did you pressure can it or did you water bath can it?

Next, you CAN can soup without an approved recipe, as long as you follow the approved guidelines for soup. Here are the instructions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation:

Soups
Vegetable, dried bean or pea, meat, poultry, or seafood soups can be canned.

Caution: Do not add noodles or other pasta, rice, flour, cream, milk or other thickening agents to home canned soups. If dried beans or peas are used, they must be fully rehydrated first.

Procedure: Select, wash, and prepare vegetables, meat and seafoods as described for the specific foods. Cover meat with water and cook until tender. Cool meat and remove bones. Cook vegetables. For each cup of dried beans or peas, add 3 cups of water, boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak 1 hour, and heat to boil; drain.

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.

Adjust lids and process following the recommendations in Table 1 or Table 2 according to the method of canning used.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Soups in a dial-gauge pressure canner.
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes
Style of Pack Jar Size Process Time

0- 2,000 ft 2,001 - 4,000 ft 4,001 - 6,000 ft 6,001 - 8,000 ft
Hot Pints 60* min 11 lb 12 lb 13 lb 14 lb
Quarts 75* 11 12 13 14
* Caution: Process 100 minutes if soup contains seafoods.

Table 2. Recommended process time for Soups in a weighted-gauge pressure canner
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of
Style of Pack Jar Size Process Time 0 - 1,000 ft Above 1,000 ft
Hot Pints 60* min 10 lb 15 lb
Quarts 75* 10 15
* Caution: Process 100 minutes if soup contains seafoods.

Now, where I think you will run into trouble is the density of the soup being canning. Note that the instructions say half solids and half liquid (broth). Your recipe is far thicker than that, I think.

Is it still safe? The experts would tell you to throw it out, no exceptions. I am a big proponent of everyone making their own decision regarding the level of risk they wish to take, after being informed of the risks. If you pressure canned the soup properly last night, I'd probably feel OK about opening it up, putting it into new containers and freezing it. If it were water bath canned, I'd toss it. If I did freeze it, I'd boil it 10 minutes before I ate it, just be to extra safe. And, if you are at all concerned about the safety, then toss it, thankfully there are no ingredients that are extremely expensive and a pot of soup isn't worth the worry, not even a double batch of really good soup!

Good luck, and happy canning.

Annie

I'm assuming you followed correct procedures for venting the pressure canner, processing time and cool-down time. That's a whole issue in itself.

I've included a link at the bottom to the NCHFP page regarding canning soups. Generally there's nothing wrong with your ingredients (though cabbage and potatoes may suffer a bit in the canning process) but there is a density issue. A homemade canned soup should be no more than 50% solids in the jar with the remainder broth, water, tomato juice - some liquid.

So you would probably have to thin your borscht and you may prefer not to do that; therefore, freezing is a more desireable option.

If no more than 24 hours you could bring the soup to the boil, boil for 5 minutes or so then rapidly chill (a basin in a sink of ice water, for example) and freeze.

Rather than running to the store, if you have space you could clean and use your canning jars in the freezer. Just allow plenty of headspace to compensate for expansion.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning Homemade Soups