Having a pout- I can't can what I want to. Hmf! Or can I? Help!

[moolie]

Do you have a cooker AND a canner, or just a canner and you used both words?

Don't use the cooker for pressure canning, there's no way to ensure that canning recipe processing times will work in a cooker.

My pressure canner has the standard flat aluminum rack with holes in it which I use on the bottom, I also have a "cake-rack" style canning rack that I use in my water bath canner that I put on top of the lower level of pints to hold the top layer of jars so I can do two layers at once

 

[hqueen13]

It is a Presto Canner, I use them interchanably, and shouldn't!

I have the flat aluminum rack for the bottom of mine as well. Where would I search to find a rack to be able to do a double layer? Sure would make the most sense!

 

[moolie]

You can get another flat rack off eBay, there are always lots listed. This is my canner rack , I don't use an actual black grannyware canner, I use a giant stock pot that I bought years ago as my water bath canner so I needed a rack for it

 

[KnittyGritty]

hqueen, I have the Presto Pressure Canner, and I got it from amazon. I also ordered an extra rack from amazon - it was inexpensive.

 

[luvinlife offthegrid]

... I make a big batch of soup one week and can it, then do the same with something else the next week or so--building up the pantry to the point where today my kids can choose Turkey Veg Soup, Borscht, Split Pea with Bacon Soup, Tomato Soup, Hamburger Veg Soup, Baked Beans or Chili with Beans. Last week we also had Tomato Veg, but we ate the last one the other day. Our lunches have improved because of the choices, and they don't get tired of one kind of soup.

Because of this thread, I'm going to be whipping up a batch of Chicken/Turkey (whatever stock I have in the freezer) Corn Chowder (sans milk) in the next while and canning it to see how that goes. Whenever we have a roast chicken or turkey, I make stock and freeze it complete with meaty bits included, so making soup is a no-brainer.

My secret weapon in thickening pressure canned soups is yellow split peas or dhal. Green split peas have that "split pea soup" flavour, but the yellow ones are much milder. And when you cook up a batch of soup with a cup or two of dhal added (depending on how big your recipe is) and then pressure can it, the dhal sort of disintegrate and make the soup "creamy". And they're dirt cheap in the Indian Foods aisle at my local Superstore.

Maybe I should post up my soup recipes?

This is what I'm trying to do with my stuff. I make big batches of food, but simply don't have the freezer space to freeze it. I mentioned the convenience. It was only because I hadn't really thought it out and done the research.

I think my situation is like yours, only back in time before you started with the pressure canning. I helped my grandmother with the canning. Then one year there was a wedding, and my grandparents weren't going to be around for the end of the tomato harvest. I don't why she entrusted the whole thing to me, I could have killed the family! apparently she was confident in my abilities from all the times I've helped her. Thatbsummer, Even after we ate tomatoes for every meal for a month and gave a lot of them away, I still ended up canning 60 quarts. She made green tomato catsup when she got back.

The thing is, though, she never used a pressure canner. She still thinks we're nuts for suggesting she use a pressure canner for carrots and green beans. She has never done meats or soups. I try to explain the science behind it, but she laughs at me. It's not an argument I want to get into with her.

There is a really good recipe for a soup with red lentils, tomatoes, onions, and herbs de provence. Red lentils cook in 20 minutes, so I might have to throw them in with a reheat if I can that one.

 

[hqueen13]

hey Moolie, for the 'cream of soup' what do you do when you are ready to eat it? Does it need to have water or milk added at that point similar to the way conventional canned cream of soups are?

 

[moolie]

hey Moolie, for the 'cream of soup' what do you do when you are ready to eat it? Does it need to have water or milk added at that point similar to the way conventional canned cream of soups are?

All my canned soups are "ready to eat", just heat and serve

The "cream of" is more of a thick consistency that comes from the dhal than what you get out of a can.

If you wanted to you could probably add some canned evapourated milk when heating to add a more miky flavour and not dilute it too much, maybe half a cup per pint?

This is my plan when I figure out Chicken Corn Chowder, as I use canned evapourated milk in my regular recipe and will need to leave this out for canning.

Hope that helps!

 

[~gd]

hey Moolie, for the 'cream of soup' what do you do when you are ready to eat it? Does it need to have water or milk added at that point similar to the way conventional canned cream of soups are?

Only CONDENSED canned soup requires additions, much canned soup is now "ready to eat" we call it heat it and eat it.

 

[ORChick]

Moolie, your addition of yellow split peas to make a creamier soup is inspired! Thank you. I've been away for a couple of days, and am only just now getting caught up on what has been happening here, so have only just read this suggestion.
As to not having time to let one's stock pot cook for hours - the slow cooker is a wonderful tool. I will often put the chicken carcass (or whatever), plus veggies, in the slow cooker (put the whole thing outside the kitchen door, as DH doesn't like the smell, and let it go on LO all night. If I have time I will set it to HI until it starts to simmer, and then turn it back to LO.

 

[hqueen13]

Only CONDENSED canned soup requires additions, much canned soup is now "ready to eat" we call it heat it and eat it.

I get that, which is why I was asking. I have a couple recipes that call for using condensed canned cream of soup. I was trying to figure out if this version of canning the cream of soup would work for those recipes or not. My mother's chicken pie is made with a can of the condensed soup that helps create the 'gravy', and it has a biscuit crust. Just trying to figure out how to make this work.