Pressure canning help please!!

[KDbeads]

Finally bought a pressure canner. Getting ready to dive in but I have a question and didn't want to loose any responses in the massive canning thread, so asking it separately.

I have a beef and barely stew/soup recipe that we LOVE. Wanted to know how I would can it, can't seem to find anything online anywhere, hoping for help!

Here's the general gist of what it is:
Stew meat, browned in a little oil with pearled barley, dried beans, oinions, carrots, bay leaf, ginger, salt and cilantro, with broth, cook for about 5 hours or until the beans decide to get done. Sometimes I add peas to it the last half hour or so.

Was thinking possibly cooking the beans and barely partway before mixing it all together in the jars, would this work? Or do I leave them dry?

Would really like to be able to do this so I don't have to take up all that room in the freezer just to keep it on hand.


Also......... can you pressure can potato soup? Can't seem to find that answer either.

 

[oberhaslikid]

This is the recipe I use and how to can it.

http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/beef-barley-step-15.html
On the Potato soup yes you can can it and leave out the cream it part and do that when you open it I tried it and the milk will seperate from it.It doesnt look to great.

 

[KDbeads]

Thanks so much!!!

 

[cedar-run-chicks]

any soup or stew can be canned by just preparing it as if you were going to have it for dinner put HOT soup/stew into clean jars place heated lids(heated in water) on jar and screw rings on tight let set covered with towel to promote slow cooling, and it will seal as they cool. You dont even need to put into pressure cooker.

 

[Kim_NC]

cedar-run-chicks

Leaving the jars to cool and seal without canning would not be safe at all. Meat, barley, beans, onions and carrots are all low acid foods. They're only safely canned by using a pressure canner. Even water bath canning would not be adequate.

KDbeads - I'd like to know how the stew turns out if you do can it. I'm particulary interested in the barley. Many things like rice and noodles turn to mush when canned. People typically leave them out, and then add them when opening the jars to prepare a meal. I'm curious what happens to the barley.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but like Kim says, I think barley IS NOT safe for home canning. That is added just before serving. I thought there was a link showing what is not safe for home (pressure) canning as mentioned, noodles, pasta, dairy, pesto (I think). I'm not sure if even the end results of the texture is the problem. I believe it is just not safe.
I have successfully canned chicken and beef soups. My son cooks the ramen noodles when he heats up the soup to have his noodles. Or I make them from scratch. MP or somone else maybe able to pass a link on to you about the barley. Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Good luck

 

[Kim_NC]

Well, barley is not recommended on the pickyourown.org site. That site does post only approved methods.

.....do not thicken with starches, flour, or add rice, barley or pasta to canned products

from this page: http://www.pickyourown.org/canningtips.php

I was googling, trying to find something about barley on one of the extension, university or NCHFP sites. No luck so far, although it's surely there somewhere. I'm out of time to look any further this morning. I'll check back later.​

 

[booker81]

I know for myself, MANY soups freeze well....and that's what I do. I have a Foodsaver that specifically can do "wet" things like soup. I make it up, portion it out, and then put in the bags and foodsave it.

When I want it, I can just put the whole thing in a pot of warm water, simmer, and then just cut the pouch and pour into a bowl. I do this with chili a LOT.

Just an optional food storage method for soup

As for pressure cookers, they hate me. I stick to water bath safe things, or just freezer stuff.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't recall seeing unsafe things to can discussed, but just becauseI have not seen a specific thing doesn't mean a lot. There could easily be something out there. What I've often seen when they mention to not can certain things is that not enough researchg has been done to know what a safe processing time is. I think it is possible to can about anything safely if you process it long enough to kill the organisms inside. It's been a long time since I paid any attention to that section at the store, but I'm pretty sure Campbells has a beef and barley soup? I know a can of condensed milk is available.

I'm pretty sure the specific recommendation against using thickeners is that the processing time has to be adjusted to account for the density of the product. If you add thickeners to a recipe you don't know how to adjust the processing time. If you have a recipe that calls for those specific products, the density is accounted for in the specific recipe. That's why you need to follow a specific reipe pretty closely. I will adjust certain things that don't affect density to a canning recipe, such as some spices, but I'm pretty careful on proportions of ingredients because of the density issue.

The other part of that is the quality of the food after long processing. Some things will just turn to mush if you process them in a pressure canner for 85 minutes. Barley could easily be one of those.

I can a corn chowder that has a long processing time, 85 minutes, and I add the milk and cheese after the can is opened and it is boiled a bit. That's probably a quality issue rather than a safety issue though I am not sure what the density of cheese would do to processing time. I'm pretty sure the corn in the chowder sets the processing time, not the potatoes. I don't have a potato soup recipe so I can't tell you how long to process that.

 

[KDbeads]

Freezing is out of the equation here, have a small freezer as it is and there may be a move across country coming at us in the next few months.

I haven't been able to find concrete anything on canning with barley, hence why I'm asking! None of my books have anything, all the older canning pros out here have no idea, don't even use barley.