Loretta

No, I wouldn't trust a waterbath canner with the bean with bacon soup recipe, because of the meat, which (as I understand it) requires higher temperature to be successfully canned. Waterbath canning is generally saved for acidic foods--jams, jellies, tomatoes, and some relishes/salsas. I'm hardly an expert, though, so maybe someone else here or on a canning web site can offer us both some guidance.

Judy Lee

Thank you. Take your time. I still have tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and peach to work up.

My mom had one blow up, too. What was yours cooking in it? Mine was cooking lima beans...
I used to be afraid of them because of that. Are you sure you wouldn't consider giving one a chance? You just need to make sure your vent is open every time you put the lid on, and follow the directions.

Freezing soup works fine. I used to line my square quart containers with plastic freezer bags, and the resulting blocks were easy to stack. If you are fezzing in containers, crumple a little waxed paper on top to submerge the solids so they don't get freezer burn.

:( Sorry to hear that.
Yeah, freezing shouldn't be any problem.

I agree....a waterbath doesn't get hot enough to make the low acid foods such as beans and meat SAFE. There's this little bug called botulism that would LOVE to kill the whole family. Be very careful. I was always scared of a pressure canner, too but I have a Presto weighted guage canner that works great and i love it and I always feel confident that the foods cooked in it are going to be perfect.

Great tip, Moonpi. I do that, too.

Your soup looks wonderful! Having just come back from the County Fair I would say you could take a "Blue" ribbon with your soup. Good job.

Haven't forgotten your request--going full bore on binding a queen-sized quilt for my son's birthday on Saturday. BwB soup notes on my list of TTD (things to do).