What kind of preservatives would I use when canning vegetable soup in jars? How long can I keep them before they spoil? I am using all natural straight from the ground vegetables for this soup.
By Lavoris McGhee from Little Rock, AR
As the other feedback says,you need a pressure cooker but you will also need to add a teaspoon of salt to each jar of soup. That is a preservative in its self. Look up Ball.com and ask for their blue book. It tells you what you need to know about canning. Be especially careful about sterilizing your jars and rings, for they can carry germs that will cause your soup etc to spoil. I've canned Moose meat with gravy and it's the best I've ever eaten.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Can I can homemade soup with cabbage in it?
By Kathy S from PDC, WI
Yes, you can. My grandmother's vegetable soup includes cabbage and for as long as I can remember, she canned it every year.
I always add cabbage to my veggie soup even when I make my WW version without any meat. It really adds a lot to it.
Whenever I put my hot soup in a mason jar and use a new lid, it seals when it cools. Is this process OK and safe?
This is not safe. You need to use a water bath canning method. You need a deep stockpot, a trivet, clean dishtowels, and canning tongs.
Step 1
Step 2
Seal the jars.
Step 3
Put on a trivet.
Step 4
Cover with water. Your jars must have 1-2 inches of water above them.
Step 5
Begin processing time. You can refer to the Ball Book of Canning, or any recipe.
Step 6
Use the canning tongs when processing time is done to remove the jars.
Step 7
Let cool on the counter.
No, I am sorry it is not safe. All soup made at home needs to be pressured canned.
This may be safe if you moved the jars to the refrigerator and used within 3 or 4 days; but storing - no, it would not be safe.
Most of the information from everyone can be found on this web site:
www.simplycanning.com/
I agree that it is unsafe to just put the soup in the jar and let it seal itself without processing. There is always the danger of botulism, especially in low acid foods. The only thing I do not pressure process or use the boiling water method for high acid foods is when making freezer jam, which is entirely different and depends upon being frozen quickly after all other directions are followed.
Storing soup in mason jars before cooling.
Step 1
This is not safe you should allow the soup to cool before putting on the lid or even putting soup in the jars.
Step 2
If you have a glass jar with shoulders make sure you fill it under the shoulders to avoid broken glass.
Step 3
Place the lid on loosely until the soup is frozen.
Step 4
Leave a little space between jars in the freezer.
Step 5
You can also store them in the box the jars came with to avoid breaking your jars.
That isn't safe, no. Here is the canning method you should use in the future.
Step 1
Clean your hands and all of the tools you'll be using.
Step 2
Remove the lids from the jars.
Step 3
Place the jars on top of the rack in your canning pot.
Step 4
Fill the pot and jars with enough water to cover them and then bring to a boil.
Step 5
You want to soften the lids so bring them to a boil, as well.
Step 6
Remove all boiled items from pot and set on a dry towel.
Step 7
Fill your jars with soup leaving a 1/2 inch at the top.
Step 8
Screw on the lids securely.
Step 9
Lower the jars back into your canning pot of boiling water using sturdy tongs or a jar lifter.
Step 10
Start your timer once the water has returned to a boil. (The cooking time will vary depending on your soup.)
Step 11
Allow jars to cool for 24 hours. They may be stored in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
It is my experience that canning soup with cabbage is quite safe.
It is my experience that canning soup with cabbage is quite safe.
I want to can/jar my home made Maryland crab soup. It contains crushed tomatoes, cooked vegetables, and crab meat. Everything was cooked together and brought to a safe temperature. I practiced two ways. Just jarring it strait out of the pots into jars. I put lids on and that seemed fine. But someone told me I had to pressure cook even though everything was already cooked.
I tried pressure cooking the already cooked soup and the pressure cooker over cooked the soup. I did another batch using the first method and it seemed fine until a few exploded. This batch was set in a room that exceeded 80 degrees, is that why they exploded?You do need to pressure can the soup. Get the Ball Blue Book of Canning.
If you want to can soup it must be pressured cook for a certain amount of time. I would start by visiting this website nchfp.uga.edu/
Oh my...please be safe here! I got very sick from a bad canned product so I can't stress safety first here!
Here is a link to the correct canning procedure:
I would take anything you have already made and use it now or freeze it, vs. canning it and start fresh if you want to can.
Please be very careful in this process. Being sick from a bad batch swore me off of home canned items forever!
Post back with an update!
I had heard when canning homemade soup you just need to cook it like you are going to serve it, then fill the jars and turn them upside down. Does this work to create a proper seal?
By heather from West Liberty, KY
Heather,
I wouldn't do or trust it. Read the archived information below. I have a book about canning from Ball (Ball Blue Book of Preserving). It has very detailed information about how to can/preserve different things. You don't want to mess around with this, whoever consumes the food could get deathly ill!
Yes you need to cook your soups before canning better safe than sorry.
The definitive guide for how to can foods (water- or pressure-canning) complete with time specifications based on altitude can be found here: www.healthycanning.com/
Can you use mixed canned vegetables in pressure canning homemade vegetable soup?
I wouldn't. They have already been pressure cooked once, and to do it a second time they would be mushy. You could do it without the pressure cooker though.
You can make the soup, and then add them in at the end. If you put them in at the beginning and pressurize, they will be too soft and mushy.
I'm single and made a large pot of soup. I wanted to save some. I put the hot soup in a jar with a tight lid. It cooled and the lid popped in good seal. How long can I keep in refrigerator or not and be safe?
By Ray
From your letter, it appears that you did not properly can the soup but, rather, just put it in a jar. Whether the lid "popped" or not, the soup is not safely canned. Depending upon the ingredients, the soup may last a few days to a week in your refridgerator. Why not just freeze?
How long and at what pressure should I can quarts of homemade tomato soup?
By Kathy M
Can I use rice and barley in homemade chicken soup to can? Does anyone have a good recipe to try?
By Holly S.
I live at just under 8000 ft in Colorado. I canned some chicken coconut curry soup and some tortilla chicken soup today. Yep Christmas day and I choose to can. Anyway, I pressure cooked the quart jar for 60 minutes with the weight for 15 pound. Then I read it should have been in for 90 minutes. My pressure cooker is a cheap one, no thermostat, so I trust the temp was high enough. Can I rerun the soup or will that work?
By Trampus
When canning you will want to determine the safest way to can certain foods, some require a pressure canner others a hot water bath. This is a page about canning soups without a pressure canner.
This is a page about, "Why did the lids pop on my canned soup?". Depending on where you are in the canning process popping lids can mean different things.
This is a page about canning soup containing cabbage. Certain vegetables can well, while others do not.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I have a pal, who cans her own homemade soups. She'll prepare a big batch of soups and home can them.
