soup recipes

[biobod]

Hi all,

ive been growing veg for a few years now, but this year i fancy making as many preserves as possible.
i am interested in making soup with my greens; mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens etc..

i dont have a freezer so i am interested in making a soup that will keep for as long as possible, so im thinknig of adding salt and vinegar, but ive no idea how long things will keep for...

any help much appreciated

[MKG]

Well, as no expert has come along, I'll give you my thoughts.

Don't do it.

It is possible, of course, to preserve a soup - but you need to be able to ABSOLUTELY guarantee sterility at the time of closure of whatever you're keeping it in. Generally, that would mean not only bottling/canning at very high temperatures, but then reheating the whole lot to sterilisation temeperatures and keeping it there for a period of time. That's OK in a commercial environment. In a domestic environment, it's not so easy - which is why the act of domestic canning or bottling is surrounded by rules. You can load it with sugar, load it with alcohol, load it with salt, or get the overall acidity up to a point at which microbial activity would be suppressed. None of those things would make your soup taste anything like palatable.

Surely it would be much better to research methods of preserving the raw ingredients and then making up your soup as and when required?

Botulism poisoning is, I'm told, very unpleasant - if not fatal.

Mike

[kit-e-kate]

Hi!
I think the best way to preserve soups and stuff is most definitely by freezing. Sorry, but i think if you want to make this idea work well- you're going to need a freezer. Tried freegle for one?
I suppose (as an experiment) you could always try drying your greens etc and then making up a sealed sachet? Sort of like a cup-a-soup?
Sterilising jars isn't too difficult, for chutneys etc i usually just put them in the oven and then turn it on to a low heat for about half an hour or so. You could always try an experimental batch? I guess the advantage of cabbagey soup is that its REALLY easy to tell when its turned!
Hope this helps
Kate

[grahamhobbs]

Although in France preserving green beans in kilner type jars is quite normal practice, but unless you have the proper equipment and really know what you are doing, I agree with MKG, don't try to preserve vegetables in jars except as pickles, chutneys, etc. The problem with botulism is that you cannot tell that the vegetables are infected, your life is not worth a bowl of soup.
The other thing I'd say is that green leafy vegetables can be plentiful throughout the year, so no real need to preserve them.

[bonniethomas06]

Hi Biobod, welcome to the forum

I salute your initiative, but I do find that any soup made form anything leafy is generally

Is it the sulpher? Is it the effect on my bowles? Not sure, perhaps it is my two week stint on the cabbage soup diet, but I can think of sooo many other things I would make soup out of first.

Potato and leek? Pea/bean? Carrot and corriander? Even courgette and potato.

[mollypea]

Hi Biobod, I'm new too although have been reading on and off for a while :)

I've been looking for new ways to preserve my veg too, as only have a small freezer, and am currently experimenting with fermentation such as Gundru (e.g. http://www.cookingforcommunity.com/recipes/gundru - I have the 'Wild Fermentation' book mentioned in the post and am trying out assorted things from it at the moment). Can't tell you what it's like yet as mine is still in its early stages but might be worth a try for some of those greens?

[biobod]

thanks for the helpful replies!
i have been having a go at making soup with my greens the last 2 days, iv been using a mix of allsorts of greens including thinnings and potato and turnip. i love the soup and i have filled a couple of jars. it looks like these wont keep long term but what is a safe time to keep them in the fridge (they have plenty of salt and vinegar)?

looks like i need to do some chutney research!

[MKG]

I'd say not more than a few days - but I'm no expert. Even though you say they have plenty of salt and vinegar, I doubt that these could be at a level to inhibit bacteria development - you'd need to make your soup entirely with vinegar rather than water to achieve that. The bottled beans Graham refers to are packed in salt and have to be rinsed before use. However, it's pretty difficult to rinse a soup.

The problem is that soup - no matter what it's made from - has developed over the centuries for a very good reason. It's packed full of nutrients. The down side is that, usually, what's a good nutrient for the average human is nirvana for a microbe. I have to say that apart from the general rule (soups and stews always taste better the day after they're made) I wouldn't go any further in terms of keeping the stuff.

Mike

[grahamhobbs]

MKG, actually the green beans are not packed in salt but are bottled using the water bath method (perhaps in a brine solution), from memory boiled for about 45 minutes but with a temperature gauge to ensure proper temperature, This is not considered good practice in this country or the States but is quite normal in France. However they also bottle roasted meat, again from memory by simply putting the hot meat into a sterilised jar, no covering of fat or anything like that - again, a no-no in this country.
I'm going back to France this autumn to carve up a pig and make rillettes, pate, black pudding and to bottle the roasted meat with my french friends, I've done it before but this time I want take notes and seriously learn how they do it. I'll also ask about the beans.

[MKG]

Sorry, Graham - I wasn't at all aware of that method. It could explain the tradition of civil disobedience in France

Your visit will make, I suspect, a very interesting series of posts on preservation - an entire country can't be wrong (unless it's Albania). I look forward to that.

Mike