How do I bottle soup?

[dtw]

I made some butternut squash soup, and put it into some Patak's pickle jars.
When they cooled, the clicker on the lids went in.
After a few days, there was some sort of reaction in the jar making the lid pop up
and some soup came out too.

What would cause that, and how can I stop it?

The ingredients were butternut squash, potatoes, onions, turmeric and fresh horseradish (for flavouring).
I didn't follow a recipe, I just made it up as I went along.

Luckily I froze some too, it was quite nice.  :D

I would prefer to bottle it, as I don't want to fill up my freezer.

[dtw]

[Jeannine]

 Hi DTW, this reply is going to sound grim  but it is so imprtant I am going to write it.

You cannot preserve soup this way, it is very unsafe, veggies to not have the acids that jams have. The only safe way to bottle soup is to cook it as normal, pack it into sterile proper preserving jars and then using a pressure cooker with a visual gauge on keep it at the correct pressure for that recipe for the correct amount of time, they are all different depending  on the ingredients. A regular pressure cooker is not adequate.

You cannot just pour it into sterile jars as many folks do for jams, you cannot seal them in the oven,nor can you seal it by using a water bath for the jars,all these methods are very dangerous, for these types of ingredients.the temp has to go higher than boiling which it can only do in a pressure cooker, it has to be held at that temp for some considerable time.

I think most folks on A4A know I do a lot of preserving and some think me fussy as I water bath all my jams  and I do not use re cycled jars,which many do , but..... I doubt if anyone would disagree with me on this one when we are talking about veggies.

The lids popped beacuase there was still bacteria in the soup , and the jars you used were not acceptable bottling jars, it started to ferment.

If you have any soup left in jars,even if it looks OK please destroy it. Botulism grows in exactly the conditions you gave it and it can kill you. The jars popping was lucky as even the unpopped jars that look OK still carry the same risk.

Go on to the net  tap in USDA safe canning, it will take you to a site which  will explain in detail the risks you are running, many people die each year from Botulism food poisoning they have got from improperley preserved foods.

I do have recipes and instructions on how to do it safely if you have the correct equipment.

I am sorry if this sound grim, but the reality is ..it is.. this is a very dangerous procedure.

I will try to get the website link to the USDA and add it for you.
XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

The link is

http://foodsafety.cas.psu.edu/canningguide.html

You might want to read the bit about disposing of contaminated food.

XX Jeannine

[dtw]

Thanks for that, I have already thrown away the soup in the bin, and it has already been collected.  :-\

I've been trying to buy a pressure cooker for ages, but never see them in the shops.
Buying online would add a lot to the price because of postage.

I shall get one with a gauge.
Where did you buy your pressure cooker with gauge from?

[Jeannine]

Hi dtw, I hope I didn't scare you.
I actually bought mine in the US. It cost me just short of £100 for the cooker and postage.I  had the identical one when I lived over there out on loan and they forgotto return it in time to pack so it got  left !! Finally  I had another shipped over. The relative who had it has promised to ship it but it never materialised.If you want to look it up it is a 23quart Presto canner. I researched quite a bit here befoe I bought another one and couldn't find one here. That was about 4 years ago so it may be worth a look now. It needs the visual gauge as you need to be accurate,even an elevation in your home above or below sea level can make a difference.

There are reliable sellers on ebay US but shop around as they all sell them different prices.

XX Jeannine

[dtw]

I found a new one on ebay USA for about £40, I've asked for shipping costs to the UK.

[Jeannine]

That's about right, the shipping costs are usually about the same price as the canner,I got mine a bit cheaper but I can't find that seller now. You won't regret it by the way.. did I tell you about the jars I use, I can't remember if I have told you before..there is a cheap way for those too..from the UK XX Jeannine

[dtw]

I don't recall about the jars, mind you, my memory is a sieve.

You never see these sorts of things in the shops any more.
Maybe somebody on here should think of opening a chain of preserving shops.

I've used old jars without any problem for making jam.

But I would like to get some bigger jars for doing vegetables in.

[Pigletwillie]

Hi Jeannine,

My pressure canner is axactly the same as yours a presto 23 quart and I too had to shiip it over from the states.

Do you have any recipes for canning beans such as borlottis in either plain water or slightly salted water?