How to Can Jar Soups
- 1). Prepare your soup according to your recipe, but keep the solids and liquids hot in separate pans. Avoid soups containing ingredients unsuitable for canning, including pasta, noodles, potatoes, milk or cream, which are added after you open your jars of soup. Never add thickeners such as flour or cornstarch to canned soup. Dried beans or peas must be fully hydrated by soaking or boiling before including them in your canned soup.
- 2). Wash your jars, rings and lids in hot, soapy water, then sanitize the jars by boiling them for 10 minutes. Alternatively, sanitize the jars by running them through your dishwasher's hottest cycle. Keep the jars hot until you fill them with soup.
- 3). Fill your pressure canner with water up to the fill line marked inside the canner. Bring the water to a boil, then allow the water to simmer until your jars are filled and ready to process.
- 4). Fill the jars halfway with vegetables, meat or other solid ingredients. Add hot broth or water to fill the jars, allowing 1 inch of unfilled space at the top of the jar.
- 5). Place the jars of soup in the pressure canner. Bring the canner to the correct pressure level, then set the timer. Adjust the heat as needed to keep the canner at the correct pressure. If your pressure canner has a dial gauge, process the jars of soup at approximately 11 to 13 lbs. of pressure. If you're using a pressure canner with a weighted gauge, process the soup at approximately 10 to 15 lbs. of pressure. Process pints for 65 minutes and quarts for 75 minutes. Increase the processing time to 100 minutes if your soup contains seafood.
- 6). Turn off the heat and allow the pressure canner to cool down. When the pressure gauge drops to zero, wait an additional 3 minutes before opening your pressure canner's vent or removing the weights.
- 7). Remove the jars of soup carefully from the pressure canner. Place the jars on a thick towel or a wooden cutting board. Allow the jars to cool overnight, then test the seal of each jar by pressing the center of the lid with your finger. If the lid isn't firm and moves up and down when you press, the jar isn't properly sealed. Place the jar in the refrigerator and use the soup within a few days. Store the sealed jars of soup in a safe place.
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