Pumpkin Soup
Canning Pumpkin Soup - a Step by Step Guide
Canned homemade pumpkin soup is much more flavorful than store bought, canned pumpkin soup, so why not have a go at canning pumpkin soup yourself?
You will need a pressure canner for this. Pressure canners cost about a hundred dollars but they are very handy, homemade pumpkin soup is a fraction of the cost of store bought soup and far better and pressure canners last for decades. You can even go halves on one with a friend or neighbor.
Making the Soup
Follow a pumpkin soup recipe, which does not contain flour, rice, pasta, noodles, milk, cream, or any thickening agents. You can add these ingredients when you use the soup.
If you are using dried peas or beans to make a pumpkin soup, they must be fully rehydrated first. Simmer the soup for at least five minutes to make sure everything is very hot.
Pureed pumpkin is too thick to process safely so do not puree the pumpkin soup until you are ready to eat it. This means you have to can the pumpkin soup without pureeing it, so cut up your pumpkin, potatoes, and other ingredients small enough to fit in the cans.
Transferring the Soup to the Cans
You can use the dishwasher's "sterilize" cycle on your jars or else put them in boiling water for ten minutes. Put the lids in boiling water for five minutes and lift them out with clean hands or a "lid lifter wand" which you can get in many grocery stores.
Rinse out the pressure canner, put a rack plate in the bottom, and fill it with hot tap water to four inches. Check the canner instructions first because some canners work in a different way. Put it on the stove over a low heat with the lid off, so it can heat up.
Use a clean slotted ladle to put the solids from your pumpkin soup into the sterilized jars, ensuring there are pieces of pumpkin, onion and potato (or whichever vegetables or fruits you are using) in each jar. Leave enough room for the broth.
Ladle the broth into the jars, leaving an inch of space at the top. Use a spatula to make sure there are no air bubbles in the soup. Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes, to double check there is no airspace inside the cans.
Process quarts for eighty minutes and pints for sixty minutes if you are using a canner and use a ten pound pressure. You can adjust the pressure according to the type of pressure canner and the altitude.
It is very important to become familiar with the instructions for your own pressure canner because different machines work in slightly different ways and you will not want your pumpkin soup to go bad before you get to eat it.
Storing and Serving the Canned Homemade Pumpkin Soup
Store the labeled, canned soup in a cool, dark place for up to a year. When you open a jar, use a stick blender to puree the soup or puree it in a blender or food processor. You can add some broth or milk to the mixture if you like and serve it topped with a dollop of cream and chives, parsley or cilantro depending on the recipe.
Pumpkin seeds, roasted walnut halves or a sprinkle of spice can be a nice topping too, depending on the pumpkin soup recipe you have used.
