How to Can Tomato Bisque Soup
Canning your favorite tomato bisque allows you to make a large batch at one time, give some to friends and save money on buying commercial soups. Using food you make yourself, maybe even from tomatoes you grew yourself, can give you a sense of pride and accomplishment as well. Canning a tomato bisque will require the use of a pressure canner because most bisque recipes call for milk, flour and butter which will bring down the acidity level of the soup. Foods low in acid are more susceptible to harmful bacteria such as botulism and need to be canned at 240 degrees F, which can only be achieved by creating steam under pressure. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Canning jars
- Canning lids
- Jar rings
- Pressure canner
- Jar lifter
- Tongs or lid lifter
- Towel or cake rack
Instructions
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Read your pressure canner's instruction manual for processing vegetable soups. It is important to understand exactly how your own pressure canner works.
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Make your tomato bisque soup according to your favorite recipe and keep it simmering hot until you're ready to can it.
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Wash your canning jars. Use a dishwasher on the sanitize cycle, if you have one. If not, wash by hand with hot soapy water, rinse and then boil them for 10 minutes, keeping them in the hot water until you need them.
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Place the new lids in a pot of hot, but not boiling water, for 5 minutes and leave them until needed. The rings do not need to be sterilized since they never come into contact with the soup.
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Fill your jars with the hot tomato soup, leaving about a 1/2 inch gap.
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Place the lids and rings on the jars once they are full.
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Put 2 inches of hot water in your pressure canner and then lower the jars on to the rack of the pressure canner using your jar lifter.
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Fasten the lid on the canner securely, open the petcock or leave the weight off the vent port, and heat at the highest setting until steam starts to flow.
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Keep the heat high and exhaust steam for 10 minutes. Then place the weight back on the vent port or close the petcock. The canner will start to pressurize over the next 3 to 5 minutes.
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Start timing the process once the pressure reading on the dial shows that the recommended pressure has been reached. The Ball Blue Book recommends 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes, but, depending on the amount of flour or milk you've added, you may need to keep your soup in longer.
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Adjust the burner on your stove as needed to maintain the desired pressure.
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Turn off the burner after the specified amount of processing time and let the canner cool down until the pressure is vented.
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Open the top of the canner, according to the manufacturer's instructions and remove the jars carefully. Place them onto a towel or cake cooling rack, leaving about an inch between the jars. Hot jars that touch each other can crack. Let the jars cool overnight before storing.
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Tips & Warnings
If the temperature or pressure dips below the recommended rate, you will need to bring the pressure canner back up and start the timing over.
Those who live over 1,000 ft above sea level need to adjust the pressure required to can their soup. Read the instruction manual on the canner.
For those who don't have a pressure canner, basic tomato soup without bacon, milk, flour or butter can be canned in a water bath canner and then the bisque itself can be made later with the plain tomato soup.
References
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