R ~canning pasta?

[grace]

I'd like to try making some alphagetie type dishes to can. I figure my own would be much healthier then buying ready made. But I have a few questions . First do I need to pre cook the pasta? I'm thinking using small shaped stuff or elbows would work the best...Also how long would you can for? This would be in a seasoned tomato sauce. But I have know idea how long pasta needs to be canned...

Thanks!

Kim

[mk7925]

canned pasta swells really big. One macaroni would swell to fill a jqr. Can your vegies and stock or sauce and vacu pack the amount of pasta and band or tape to the jar. Most pasta cooks in ten minutes or less. The pasta used in canned food is a special type.

[Guest Guest]

Most pasta cooks in 10 minutes or less, so 90 minutes of pressurized cooking would disintergrate it.

 

Safetylady has a great suggestion in taping your vac sealed pasta to the jar.

 

Be sure to can your soup for the meat/veggie directions. This will be a low-acid recipe... 90 mins. per/quart, 75 mins per/pint. The amount of pressure varies dependent on your location.

 

 

[grace]

<snif, snif> I'm glad I asked before I tried it! So that rules out making any chicken noodle soups ect to I guess.... and I don't have a vacc sealer yet. Grain mill is next on my list, then that maybe.

Wonder what they do to the past in the alphageties and soups that keep them from doing that .

Kim

 

[Guest Guest]

The temperatures we can reach for home canning are a fraction of what commercial canners will reach. I'm not sure exactly how long it takes but, I'd be willing to bet it doesn't take 90 minutes to process in the factories.

 

That's part of the difference; the other is that those noodles are usually thicker than the ones you would put in your soup at home.

 

If you don't have a vac sealer, don't worry about it right now. Make your soup with extra broth, just as though you were going to cook the noodles in it, then go ahead and can it. Package your noodles in quart size freezer bags, double bag if you're worried, and pack them in a small tote, such as Rubbermaid or Sterlite.

 

Just write on the package which noodles go with which soup. It's going to work out the same, as anything you home can (all pressure canned foods) is supposed to be boiled for 10 minutes. Just throw the noodles in *halfway thru the process and when the time is up, you're soup should be done.

 

*That's only for alphabet noodles, bigger noodles take more time to cook. Follow package directions.

[Guest Guest]

First of all,

 

Don't home can pasta, nononononono...SWAT

 

2nd of all, do what I do...

 

I can home made chicken soup..when my daughter wants it, I take a handful of dry noodles, throw it into a pot, pour the soup and ingredients on top of it and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

It is the best chicken soup I've ever had...the noodles soak up the flavour of the broth while cooking and oohhhlala, it's to die for.

 

 

[kde_batt]

Darlene, anybody, what's your 'recipe' for the chicken soup? Also, any tips for canning potatoes, to keep them from looking milky, yucky after awhile? I know they still taste good, but I never like the way they look....

[Bamboo]

The first year I learned to can an older lady friend told me to just put the noodles in the soup and can it altogether. It was horrible. I had this huge lump of yuck at the bottom of each jar. I dumped them out. NOW I do what Darlene says and can chicken soup and leave the noodles until I'm heating it back up. Works great. Plus, depending on your recipe, you can use the canned chicken and broth for dumplings, chicken a la king, etc.

[Guest Guest]

Naturelady, I have written down my chicken soup recipe that I can just to keep consistancy and I'll share it with y'all...I'm too lazy to get up (i'm relaxing in bed with the laptop), but what I will tell you now is...

 

When the soup is done, I take out the chickens and veggies and I strain the soup through a wire mesh collander. I then strain the broth a 2nd time through cheese cloth because I like a clear broth. I then chop up onions, celery and slice up carrots (all raw) and put measured amounts into quart jars. When I take the meat off the chicken, I'm very particular and make sure it's very clean, and then add measured amounts of that.

 

Like I said, I have it all written down somewhere in the kitchen so I'll post the recipe with all the measurements. It's one of the things I plan on really stocking up on after I get the veggies all done in preparation for the bird flu.

[kde_batt]

Great! Thanks. I want to make some chicken soup for that very reason (BF or any flu) also. I made some vegetable soup a few months ago, using a lot of the extra okra and tomatoes, amoung other things. No recipe, I just kept throwing things in until it looked right. Tastes pretty darn good too !

 

Uh-oh, I think I have hi-jacked this post...it was about pasta.... sorry

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Ok here's the chicken soup recipe that I make, and I make this in a 20qt stock pot:

 

2 whole chickens (around 9 lbs)

4T kosher salt

1T peppercorns

1 whole onion (about 5-6oz)

2-3 whole carrots (about 7-8oz)

3 stalks celery

 

I put the chickens in the pot, fill with water, add the salt and simmer, skimming off the scum...once that's done, I add the peppercorns, onion, carrot and celery and simmer for a few hours (probably somewhere about 3-4 hours)...

 

I then take out chicken and veggies (i pitch the cooked veggies) and strain broth through wire mesh collander, and then once again through cheese cloth. I then make sure I have enough salt, and if not, add accordingly

 

I then chop up raw onions and celery, and slice up carrots. I debone the chicken, removing ALL fat and gristle and bones.

 

Into quart jars, I put 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/3 cup chopped celery, 3/4 cup sliced carrots and 1 cup cubed chicken, then fill the jar up with the broth. Sometimes I'll mince some fresh parsly and add that but not always.

 

I then process quart jars in the canner for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 10lbs pressure (I'm under 1000ft sea level), and voila, homemade chicken soup.

 

This makes 12 quarts for me.

 

I posted a cuban chicken soup recipe that is just like this one except I had a seasoning called sazon and cubed potatoes.

 

As far as canning potatoes, mine come out the same. I don't know a way around it either but it doesn't really bother me either.

 

Good luck.

[ricardo]

When you do something, you do it *BIG*!

 

I don't think I have a stock pot big enough to hold two chickens!

 

I was thinking about making and canning some soup and I like your recipe.

 

 

[grace]

Do you have a water bath canner? You could use that as a big stock pot . I've had to do that a lot before!

Kim

 

[ricardo]

I wouldn't want to cook in my water bath canners.

 

 

I'll just have to use two regular stock pots.

 

 

[Daisygirl]

First off, I cook in my hot water bath cooker and my canning pressure cooker both with no ill effects to either them or us.

 

Second, if your kids like spaggettios or whatever. Cook the dry pasta...it will keep for...a long time, uncooked. Add a can of tomato soup and some parmesan cheese (I use parmesan/romano) to taste and you have your own kid's pasta. My kids love it. The soup keeps for a year to two and the cheese for a very long time. No need to waste a canning jar and the time involved trying to do it when it is so easy to make when you need it with stuff that will keep a long time. You could probably use tomato powder to make it too, but I haven't done that yet.

 

 

[kde_batt]

Thanks !! I think I know what I will be doing next weekend. I have a set of the stainless steel stock pots... always wondered what I would do with the biggest one, besides take a bath in it...

 

 

[Guest Guest]

All ya hafta do is halve, third or quarter my recipes.

 

Everything I make is big, that's how I cook, that's how I can, and that's how my kitchen is set up.

 

I do understand however, that most people aren't as nuts as I am when it comes to kitchens...

 

 

 

lol