In the soup !

Using the canner as a massive open saucepan today I made a vegetable based soup using 3/4 pound onions fried in 2 oz butter
 Then added one ounce of virgin olive oil . 1.5 pound fine chopped leek with the greenery still on , 1/2 pound celery fine chapped ,1/2 pound chopped parsnip,1 & 1/2 pound fine cubed rutabaga , 1& 1/2 pound of cubed carrots , 1/2 pound small cubed potatoes , 10 grams of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black ground pepper
these were stirred in and oiled up, then sweated and stirred for 25 min .


 I then added :-
4 x 20 fluid ounces of home made  cooked from raw carcass stock ( made over a couple of months from 6 of them and kept in the freezer till I had sufficient )   100 gram of double cream . 1 ,000 gram of skimmed milk ,450 gram of tinned chopped tomato , 500 gram of thick plain tomato juice  , a pint of water & 3 chicken stock cubes and finally a table spoon of crisp fried chopped onion  ( just to empty the container ).

I let it come to a boil then turned the heat down to get the lowest boiling simmer then set the timer for an hour. Gave it a good stir and simmered for another 1/4 hour  then blitzed it with the hand held electric liquidizer. Had a quick taste ... 1/2 a cup of it with a twist of black pepper and a half twist of salt .. YUMMY   added another 10 gram of salt and whizzed it in ..EVEN YUMMIER ! Turned the heat off and covered the pan with a large sheet of foil



Did a few other things like service the standby generator with oil and petrol in readiness for expected severe weather in the next week or so when the likelihood of electrical power disruption is going to be rather high . ( lights etc. have been flickering all night... thank goodness for our computer UPS.




  After doing the genny I cleaned up and sat down to try and learn how to pressure can our soup and was  dismayed to read the US food agency people saying  do not can pureed veg  , do not can anything with milk in it. 
I understand the reasons of not home canning the puree for no one has done any recognised testing  and that the different viscosity  of different purees could be difficult to set a canning chart up for.


Do any of you have an explanation for not canning if milk is used  ?  Is it separation of the soup or the likelihood of it boiling up and coming out the jar seals in the canner when it is being canned??


 Slightly disheartened at the prospect of having 400 fluid ounces of a brilliant tasting soup uncanned I have decided to freeze it in vac- pack heat sealed bags tomorrow in family sized portions.


 The next soup session/trial in the new year will be doing the same amounts of ingredients leaving out the cream and milk and then straining the cooked veg , apportioning  the cooked veg into 3/4 filled jars and then topping each jar with the liquid and processing as canned veg at the longest time needed for the longest canning veg
.

 I want to try and use a jar of  the cooked canned veg , put the contents in a pan heat it to a 3 minute boil  and then add milk and cream , bring it to a boil for then simmer for 6 min .  Is this the way you make your soups from the canned veg or do you guys only use a single  variety type of veg per soup batch ??

Good Day,
Yes, that is how we make soup. Just add the canning banned ingredients later. We are also told to watch the amount of oil and butter in recipes. Your soup sounds lovely, I hope you do not have to eat it in the dark.

Patty from Yorktown

Thanks Patty ,
 We have two large 5 foot tall propane gas bottles serving the kitchen 4 burner gas hob to cook with , candles , the genny and several high intensity LED head bands and a couple of  hand torches.


I've also installed a secondary non mains supplied set of power outlets/sockets which I hook up to the genny if the power fails for more than 1/2 hr. for I go into a diabetic hypo if I get too cold .

 The central heating is then unplugged from the mains system and plugged back into the generator system . Thank fully when I did the calculations prior to purchasing the genny I made an extra allowance of output available so we can also run some low power high intensity LED  lighting,  the TV and sky box as well as Alison's Computer and printer.

( She works from home  as a teleworker in the media industry ... if she does not work we don't get money so it was essential for us to have a stand by system ) .


I can cook most of the Christmas day turkey breast  in the CADAC gas barbeque out in the green house  if needs be .

 Tonight at Elf and Elfin's magic time Santa is bringing me " The Dummies Guide to Home Canning "  and in a few days after he has delivered all the kiddies present & had a good rest he might also find he has got a belated BALL BLUE centenary edition canning and preserving for me hidden down the back of the seat on his sleigh .....  but he can send that on to me via the US and UK  mail system instead of making a special journey to the UK just for me.