We love soup, in every shape and form. I grew up in a fairly large household as did my husband, where there was always a big pot of soup on the stove to feed the hungry hordes. At our house it was mainly mutton, as that is what there was plenty of and occasionally it was chicken if we had a feral rooster or two to get rid of. Mum always grew a big vegetable garden and the soup was always thick wholesome and yummy....always brings back good memories of home.
When I learned that you could pressure can meats,I started to pressure can my soups, also mainly chicken and lamb. We only recently made a batch up the farm and canned it. I have included this into this post just to show how i usually made it.
We were lucky to find a bargain at our local chicken factory sales shop, they were selling massive turkey wings for $2.00 per kilogram.It was for sale in 12 kilogram boxes. We chopped these into three sections each, the meaty end we used for the soup pots ,the mid pieces we put into the smoker and the tips were doggie treats.
I placed the turkey into the pots with pre- prepared chicken stock and cooked until the meat started to fall off the bones,I then removed the bones and added pre-canned tomatoes and corn,chopped carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, herbs, and salt,pepper, garlic and any sauces I could find.
This then simmered on the stove for an hour or so until all flavours merged and vegetables cooked.
after this I removed them off the stove and cooled a little, I then filled all my hot jars, debubbled, wiped rims with paper towel and white vinegar, placed pre-simmered lids on and screwed on the bands finger tight. These were then processed at 75 min 10lbs for pints and 90 min 10lbs for quarts.
After the first batch of 14 quarts was complete, I removed them and then processed a second batch of pints to give to my elderly mum for handy quick meals for her. She finds them invaluable.
So , when we came back home to the coast we thought that the turkey was such a good buy that we would purchase some more. his time after having seen so many raw packed soups on the canning sites, we decided to give it a go as well.
This time, Brian sat and trimmed the meat off the bones(which we froze for the dogs) while I prepared the carrots, onions, celery and potatoes ready to layer in the jars as follows.
We had purchased 12 kilograms of turkey wings, the meaty end pieces that we used with bone in weighed about 6 kgs, it produced enough trimmed turkey to do two full canner loads of pints (38 altogether)
After layering the meat and vegetables, I added garlic, mixed herbs, chilli,pepper,( BBQ sauce to the first batch and Home made tomato sauce to the second batch), and filled the jars to about 1 inch from the top with chicken stock(I used stock powder dissolved with water this time),de-bubbled and adjusted liquid, wiped rims clean with paper towel and white vinegar, topped with simmered lids and screwed on the bands finger tight.We then once again used our new brilliant outdoor propane set up to process the soups.
We processed the pints for 75 minutes at 10lbs pressure for our altitude, and then turned off the gas, cooled the canner down and removed the lid. The two of us then carried the canner inside to unload the jars onto a bath towel covered bench top to cool overnight.
Next morning, I removed bands, checked seals, washed jars and bands, stored the bands away with the rest of the multiplying hordes labelled the jars and stored in the pantry.
This is a brilliant way to make soup, quick and easy, also a heck of a lot cheaper than my old way(unless you do the first cook on the wood stove), and the final product was amazing. This will be many,many quick meals for me when Brian is away working or we just want a lazy hot meal, and as we are trying to watch our weight this also helps with portion control.
Will I do this again, Yes I most certainly will.
I am learning so much every day from all the amazing people from all over the world that I meet on the canning and homesteading sites that I have contact with, and I am sure making many life time acquaintances.
We live in an amazing time in history and I for one am loving it.
So my friends,
until we have the pleasure of meeting again,
Cheers for now,
Jane.
