Soups and Stews, Preserved
August 31, 2010 5:12 PM   Subscribe

What types of soups/stew should I make for pressure canning? No knowledge of pressure canning required (aside from some notes inside). Just tell me your recipes!

I'm going to be living at home for the near future (commuting to community college), and my mom's been griping about how expensive it is to provide lunch. I'm ashamed to say that I'm usually too lazy to cook something from scratch, so I've been going to frozen meals and cold cut sandwiches made from good deli meat.

Anyway, I'm figuring that since I have a pressure canner and a good amount of free time, I might as well make some soups and stews in bulk and then pressure can them.

Don't worry, you don't need to know about pressure canning. I have a canning guide and the internet to help me, and I can figure it out. Just make sure your recipe doesn't call for noodles or other pasta, rice, flour, cream, milk or other thickening agents.

It helps if it's a recipe that can handle being cooked for a very long time, as pressure canning cooks the food at around 250F for about an hour and a half.
posted by mccarty.tim to Food & Drink (12 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
tomato based things are good because they have high acids.

Not all thickening agents are trouble, are they? could you use arrowroot? instant mashed potatoes?

Meats, as you are likely aware, need a lot more attention, but are totally doable.

My first pick would be a meatless minestrone type soup.
You could also do pumpkin/squash soups.

another thing to remember is that whatever seasoning you use will morph. things could get stronger or weaker depending on the individual spice, so I'd advise to keep herbs & spices to a minimum. salt liberally, though, if your diet allows.

if you have more specific questions, memail me :-)
posted by ChefJoAnna at 5:22 PM on August 31, 2010


One of my very favorite (and filling) soups fits your criteria:

Cabbage Soup

1/2 head cabbage, chopped
6 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
3 T sugar
1/2 T salt
pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
dash of allspice
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground beef
2 6-oz cans tomato paste

Combine all ingredients except tomato paste in a soup pot. Bring to a boil; simmer 1 hour. Add tomato paste and cook 15 minutes longer.



I would think this recipe should be fine through the canning process, as you describe it.
posted by DrGail at 5:34 PM on August 31, 2010


Response by poster: Well, I just discovered that some people don't recommend using butter in soups to be canned. I can't find a specific mention of it on the US government's canning website, but I'll probably just substitute oil for sautéing in the future, just to be safe.

I'm a little creeped out because I ate some french onion soup I pressure canned two weeks ago for lunch today, and it had onions sauteed in butter. However, I rationally know that it shouldn't have any botulism, because I cooked the hell out of the onions (which would be the prime vector for botulism), pressure canned it for 90 minutes, and boiled the soup before eating it.

I feel doubly guilty because my sister ate the other half of that jar.

Anyway, on the off chance a bunch of spores of botulism did somehow survive, Wikipedia says effects would show up within 3-5 days.

Does anyone who understands canning better than me know if I should throw out the rest of the soup?
posted by mccarty.tim at 5:47 PM on August 31, 2010


Response by poster: After I read up online, looks like I'm worried over nothing. Disregard that!
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:29 PM on August 31, 2010


If you're dead-set on pressure canning soups, check out the Ball brand web site. They have recipes for soups and stews designed expressly for canning.

But -- if you're just trying to stockpile soup, I have to point out that FREEZING soups also works...especially if you freeze a batch of soup divvyed up in to smaller containers. I would do that a lot -- and I'd also bake a batch of buttermilk biscuits and freeze 'em all. Then dinner would be a small thing of soup heated up in the microwave, and as for the biscuits, that was two or three biscuits pulled out and baked at about 350 for ten minutes. I did that in a toaster oven a few times, even.

But if you get really into this, you could also run out of room in the freezer, which may be where pressure canning comes in handy again (if you've got the pressure canner, go for it, but if you're new at this it could be a simpler step).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:45 PM on August 31, 2010


Response by poster: Freezer space is at a premium, which is why we're into pressure canning.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:04 PM on August 31, 2010


Pressure Canning, from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Also, get thee to the library or bookstore and find a copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:10 PM on August 31, 2010


if i understand what you were asking, it was 'what are some good RECIPES'. so here is my favourite!

Amazing Yam-Squash-Apple soup!

sweet potatoes (let's say 2-3)
butternut, or acorn, or whatever other kind of squash (1 big one)
apples (4-5)
onions (2)
garlic (optional, a couple cloves, minced, or not)
soup stock (see note below)
spices to taste: allspice, nutmeg, cayenne, salt n pepa

1) chop the veggies (and apples) into medium sized cubes
2) with a bit of oil in the bottom of the pan, sauté onions for a few minutes. when they start to cook, add garlic, sauté for a few minutes.
3) throw the rest of your veggies in the pot, cover with soup stock, throw in the spices.
4) cook until everything is soft
5) blend with an immersion blender (or transfer into a blender and pulse) till desired consistency is reached. i like my soups creamy so i blend till smooth. if you want some bite, leave some chunks.

SO good.

in the fall, i get really into making soups too, so i have started the habit of keeping a container in the freezer. whenever i chop veggies for dinner, i take the soup-stockable scraps and throw them in this container. maybe some nights it's only onion skins, but sooner or later i have lots of scraps. Before I make soup, i use my biggest pot and make the stock. it's SO easy and it makes soup taste way better (and healthier!) than those chemical cubes. Any stock i don't use goes back into the freezer (or i guess you could pressure can it) till next soup day.

bon appetit!
posted by andreapandrea at 7:46 PM on August 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Putting Food By only has a few canned soup and stew recipes, but it's such an invaluable resource for preserving food that I can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:46 PM on September 1, 2010


Since no one else has stepped up, I'll play the role of stick in the mud.

You really, really, really need to stick to pressure canning recipes, not favorite recipes that you decide to process in a pressure canner. The soup's pH isn't the only important factor. Density is also crucial when pressure canning. Everyone here could post their favorite soup recipes and they could all be awesome, but their density will also vary widely. There's no way of knowing which recipes are safe for preservation and which aren't, unless anyone here is a food scientist or master food preserver.

You want to use the recipes in the links that MonkeyToes provided. Both are USDA approved. The Ball book, which I have at home, has a good variety of recipes.

Do NOT follow recipes or instructions provided by pressure canner manufacturers (i.e., Presto, All American). Those recipes haven't been updated in years, and they are very vague. Presto tells you that "vegetable, dried bean or pea, meat, poultry, or seafood soups can be canned." Well, yes, they can. But you need to have a recipe for one that is safe to can, yet they don't provide one. The vegetable processing times they list in their instruction booklets are also out of sync with the USDA in some cases.

If you want to experiment or use MeFites' favorite recipes, you need to figure out how to acquire additional freezer space or do more Sunday night cooking.

You should also know that a lot of people don't like the texture of pressure-canned soups or stews. The meat and veg both get quite a bit softer than you're probably used to. A lot of people (myself included) vastly prefer the freezer when it comes to preserving this kind of food.

Sorry to be the schoolmarmy bearer of bad news, but this isn't like the totally acceptable form of recipe improv where you use tarragon instead of basil.
posted by mudpuppie at 1:55 PM on September 1, 2010


Oh my god Osso Bucco made with beef.

Any of the meat with no potato curries (Sadly, not mussaman).
posted by Quadlex at 4:04 PM on September 1, 2010


Listen to mudpuppie. Again: Get the Ball Complete, and *stick to the recipes and measurements.*
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:14 AM on September 2, 2010


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