Pressure cooking ensures the safety of home-canned foods.
Many cooks who are short on time recognize the benefits of canning their homemade soups and stews. Our grandmothers used to home can their garden vegetables, fruits, meats, and jams and jellies. Not only was it a way to preserve food for later, but they saved money by growing their own food in home gardens. Canning your own hamburger-veggie soup is not only a connection to the past, but provides healthy food while helping money stretch in a tight economy.
Instructions
1. Peel and chop potatoes, carrots and onions for soup and place in bowls. Put a pan of water on the stove and bring to a boil, add all vegetables and cook until soft. Drain and place in bowl to cool.
2. Brown hamburger with a little salt and pepper to season and let cool. You may prefer to boil the hamburger in enough water to cover the meat to remove all the oil and grease from hamburger. If this method of cooking is chosen, just boil and drain the meat reserving the liquid to make stock.
3. Combine meat and vegetables with stock or vegetable juice and season with celery salt any any other favorite seasonings.
4. Place canning jars in dishwasher and run on hot setting. Put lids and rings in pan of hot water and boil to sterilize.
5. Place jar funnel on top of each jar. Fill the jars to an inch from the top with soup using the ladle or spoon. Pack loosely for even distribution. Run a clean butter knife down the inside edge of each jar to remove any bubbles before canning.
6. Place lids and rings on each jar and seal. Place canning rack on the bottom of the canner and place jars on top and fill with water enough to cover the jars. Bring to a boil and put the lid on. Let the steam vent out for at least 10 minutes.
7. Close the vent and let the pressure build up to 10 lbs. of pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain the amount of pressure required. Process pint jars for 60 minutes and quart-size jars for 75 minutes. When timing is done, turn off the heat and let the pressure go down on its own. After the gauge returns to zero the valve releases. Let sit for three minutes and vent steam before opening. Remove jars from water with jar tongs and place on clean towel to cool. Wipe down jars and lids when cooled with a damp rag. Check each lid to make sure it is sealed.
Tags: jars minutes, lids rings, Place canning