Mariner's Cookbook

Suggested Equipment:

• Stock pot, 8 quart
  
• Ladle, large
  
• Slotted spoon, or similar tool, large
  
• Canning equipment and supplies:
  
• - Pressure canner
  
• - Jar lifter
  
• - headspace gauge
  
• - lid lifter
  
• - canning funnel
  
• - canning jars, with lids and rings (4 quart or 8 pint)
  
• Common kitchen tools and measures
  

Ingredients:

Directions:

Canning reconstituted dry beans or soups containing them will require the use of a pressure canner. Coincidentally, the smallest such canner I have will process four (4) quarts at a time, which is convenient, since this recipé produces about four quarts of soup.

Reconstituted beans and soups must be canned using the approved “hot pack” method (see this page and this one). This means that the soup, or all of its ingredients must be heated to above the boiling point of water before, and remain hot until, being placed into the receiving jar, just prior to processing.

1. Begin the night before you intend to make the soup, by soaking the dry beans, in order to rehydrate them. Place the beans in a bowl, pan, or stock pot large enough to contain the beans (and the soak water), and add enough water to cover them to two or three times the depth of the beans by themselves. The beans will expand to more than double their dry weight and volume. Let soak for a minimum of 12 hours. There are techniques for performing a so-called “quick soak”, but I don't trust any of them.

2. An hour or two before the beans finish soaking, follow the jar manufacturer's directions to prepare the clean jars for canning, and lay out your canning tools.

3. About 30 minutes to an hour before the beans are finished soaking, begin preparing the other ingredients. This involves simply opening the cans of additional vegetables, and dicing any large pieces to achieve a better distribution of the soup components throughout the volume of the soup. In particular, the meat for the soup should be diced into pieces no larger than the individual beans.

4. After soaking is complete, drain and thoroughly wash the beans. Place the clean and soaked beans, along with 4 cups of fresh water (or pork stock), into a pot or saucepan large enough to hold at least 5 quarts. I prefer to use my 8-quart stainless steel stock pot

5. Do not drain the corn or the tomatoes! Add the entire contents of the cans of corn and tomatoes to the beans; the canning water for these vegetables carries significant taste and nutrient value.

6. If using canned okra, drain the okra and discard the canning water - water in canned okra often contains additives which may adversely affect the flavor of the soup. Add the okra to the soup

7. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the soup, except the salt, then bring it to a moderate boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking the soup for 30 minutes - no more: the purpose of this cooking is not to tenderize the beans, but to bring their internal temperature up to the boiling point of water (212° Fahrenheit – 100° Celsius). The beans will complete cooking during the processing of the canned soup.

8. Begin packing your jars. Using a slotted spoon with constant stirring, apportion the soup solids among the appropriate number of jars. The jars should be filled to half-full (or a little better) with solids. Don't try to fill the jars with solids! Remember, much of the seasoning and spice, not to mention some nutritional value, is in the broth. Too many solids in the jars will rob your soup of broth and seasonings, and make your soup look, feel, and taste more like plain canned beans - with maybe a few extra vegetables thrown in.

9. Add 1 teaspoon of the reserved salt to each quart jar - ½ tsp per pint jar - then add enough of the soup broth to fill each jar, leaving 1 inch of head-space. If there is insufficient broth, you can add fresh boiling water or pork stock to make up the difference.

10. Apply lids and rings per the jar manufacturer's directions, and process the jars according to the canner manufacturer's directions. I use Ball® brand jars and an All-American® canner; and I process quart jars for 90 minutes (75 minutes for pints) at 15 psi. The altitude here is right at 1000 ft MSL, plus or minus a few feet, so perhaps I could get away with processing at 10 psi, but I'm more comfortable with the greater margin of safety.