How to make and can soups at home - easily! With step by step photos, recipe ingredients and costs

Select, wash, and prepare vegetables, meat and seafoods as appropriate for each type; generally just washing under running cool water.

Step 2 - Wash the jars and lids

Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sterilize" cycle, the water bath processing will sterilize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sterilize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sterilize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.

NOTE: If unsterilized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jam), it’s better to sterilize the jars.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jam.

Step 3 - Cook meats (if you are including meat)

Step 4 - Cool and remove bones, ligaments, etc. (if you are including meat)

Step 5 - Cook the vegetables

Cook the vegetables (simmer until soft in boiling water, or steam). For each cup of dried beans or peas, add 3 cups of water, boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak 1 hour, and heat to boil; drain.

Step 6 - Combine

Combine the solid ingredients (meat and vegetables) with meat broth, tomato juice, tomatoes, or water to cover.

Step 7 - Get the lids warming in hot (but not boiling) water

Lids: put the lids into a pan of hot water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids.

Step 8 - Boil for 5 minutes

Boil the combined mix for 5 minutes. Caution: Do not thicken with any starch, flour or other thickeners.

Step 9 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on

Fill jars halfway with the solid mixture (the bottom of the pan). Add remaining liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace. . Then put them into the boiling water canner!

Step 10 - Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes

Put the heat on high and let the steam escape through the vent for 10 minutes to purge the airspace inside the canner.

Step 11 - Put the weight on and let the pressure build

After 10 minutes of venting, put the weight on and close any openings to allow the pressure to build to 11 pounds.

Step 12 - Process the jars in the pressure canner (NOT a standard water bath canner)

Once the gauge hits 10 pounds, start your timer going - for the time in the charts below, generally 60 or 75 minutes. Adjust the heat, as needed, to maintain 10 - 14 pounds of pressure, again, as appropriate for your type of canner

Note: the charts below will help you determine the right processing time and pressure, if you have a different type of canner, or are above sea level.

Adjust lids and process following the recommendations below according to the method of pressure canner you have.

It is important to learn how to operate your pressure canner by reading the owner's manual that came with your particular canner. If you can not find your owner's manual, you can obtain find one online: Here is where to find some common manufacturer's manuals:

Step 13 - Turn off the heat and let it cool down

After the required time at pressure, turn off the heat and let the canner cool down. After the pressure drops to zero (usually, you can tell but the "click" sound of the safety release vents opening, as well as but the gauge. Wait 3 more minutes, then open the vent or remove the weight and allow the steam to escape.

Step 14 - Remove the jars

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool on a wooden cutting board or a towel, without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. You're done!

Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!

This document was adapted from the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA, revised 1994.

Other Equipment:

From left to right:

Jar lifting tongs
to pick up hot jars
Lid lifter
- to remove lids from the pot
of boiling water (sterilizing )
Lid
- disposable - you may only
use them once
Ring
- holds the lids on the jar until after
the jars cool - then you don't need them
Canning jar funnel
- to fill the jars

You can get all of the tools in a kit here:

Home Canning Kits

Features:

* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set!
* Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning.
* Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter.
* A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection.

This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars and lids (and the jars are reusable). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!

Click here for a larger photo, more information, pricing, ordering, etc.

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Canning books

Canning & Preserving for Dummies
by Karen Ward
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Price:		$11.89
You Save:		$5.10 (30%)

The Ball Blue Book of Preserving

This is THE book on canning! My grandmother used this book when I was a child. It tells you in simple instructions how to can almost anything; complete with recipes for jam, jellies, pickles, sauces, canning vegetables, meats, etc. If it can be canned, this book likely tells you how! Click on the link below for more information and / or to buy (no obligation to buy)

Price $8.95

Summary - Typical Cost of Making Homemade Jam - makes 8 jars, 8 oz each**
Item	Quantity	Cost in 2006	Source	Subtotal
Berries (strawberries)	1 gallon	$8.00/gallon	Pick your own	$8.00
Canning jars (8 oz size), includes lids and rings	18 jars	$7.00/dozen	Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores	$10.00
Sugar	4 cups	$2.00	Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores	$2.00
Pectin (low sugar, dry)	1 and a third boxes *	$2.00 per box	Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores	$2.70
Total				$22.70 total or about $1.25 per jar
* pectin use varies - blackberry jam needs very little, raspberry a little more, strawberry the most. ** - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars and reduce the cost further; just buy new lids (the rings are reusable, but the flat lids are not)!

Canning Homemade Soups, Stocks and Broths - Easily!

Ingredients and Equipment

Optional stuff:

Step 1 - Collect and wash your ingredients