# Tomato Soup Question...



## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

I wanted to try the following tomato soup recipe that I found posted here. Can anyone tell me if I can replace the flour with ClearJel for thickening? I have some that I used for pie filling. 

Also, would I use the same amount as I would flour (14 TBSP) or how would I figure out how much was needed?

Here is the recipe...

Tomato Soup

14 quarts ripe tomatoes
7 medium sized onions
1 stalk celery
14 sprigs of parsley
3 bay leaves
14 TBSP flour
14 TBSP butter
3 TBSP salt
8 TBSP sugar
2 teaspoons pepper

WASH: cut up tomatoes. Chop onions,celery,parsley,bay leaves, Add to tomatoes. Cook until celery is tender.Put through a sieve. Rub flour and butter into smooth paste thinned with tonato juide. Add to boiling soup; stir to prevent scorching. Add salt,sugar and pepper. For smoother consistency, put throuhg sieve again. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Yield:10 pints

Process pints at 10 pounds pressure for 20 minutes; quarts at 10 pounds for 30 minutes.

To serve thin with milk or water and heat. 

I cannot remember who posted this recipe, and apologize for not being able to credit the original poster...


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

I'm sorry but this wouldn't be considered a safe recipe for canning per the current standards. It is your choice of course and Clear Jel can always be substituted for any other thickeners since it is the only thickener that is approved for canning.

The additional problems with this recipe besides the flour it contains (which is very alkaline), is the butter and that it contains no added acid of any kind to compensate for all the low-acid vegetables. Lastly, it is very likely too dense for safe canning. 

Since there are no tested and approved recipes for canning tomato soup I can only assume the processing time in this recipe is just someone's guess.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Since you don't usually eat Tomato Soup cold, why not just hold out the thickening till you re-heat? I'm not a caner that worries too much about "food police" policies....but when it comes to thickening even I fall on the side of the USDA (or whoever it is that tests caning). I'd double check the pressure canning times for celery and onion...20 min seems short to me, but I could be wrong since I've never done them without meat also being in the jar which calls for much longer times.

Edited to add: Thanks for the recipe, I hadn't seen that one before...looks yummy!


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> I'm not a caner that worries too much about "food police" policies....


As far as I know there is no such thing as a "food police" or a "canning police" either. And if there is, I certainly don't claim to be one of them.

However, since several posters here regularly advocate a very casual approach to home food canning, I don't think I am out of line in presenting the other side of the safety issues. That way the reader can make their own decision about which approach they want to take.


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## Sparkey (Oct 23, 2004)

"...since several posters here regularly advocate a very casual approach to home food canning, I don't think I am out of line in presenting the other side of the safety issues."

Hey Judylou !...c'mon now & back off a bit ...If there are posters who wanna take a casual approach, let the fun begin !

This could lead to the development of the "Darwin Award for Home Canning " ! ! ! ! 

Charlie
(who thinks a casual approach to food preservation is just plain stupid.)


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

I agree with judylou and Ohio Dreamer. I would make the recipe as written but stop before the addition of flour and butter. You may need to add some lemon juice to increase acidity and can according to the longest processing time of the vegetables listed. "Casual canning" can get your family killed.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Somewhere over the ages, but no immediate clue as to where, I did see some soup recipes which used potatoes as a thickener. In fact, I've canned mixed vegetables soup using diced potatoes and it turned out thicker than expected. How about skipping the flour and butter while adding potatoes the equal to the amount of flour called for? Since it's all going to be put through a sieve, the potatoes would be broken down to the consistency of flour even before canning. 

Martin


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

judylou said:


> As far as I know there is no such thing as a "food police" or a "canning police" either. And if there is, I certainly don't claim to be one of them.


Judylou I was not implying you were the "food police". I find your posts bring a great balance that we all need.


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## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

I realize the flour is a bit of a no-no in the canning world as we know it today, which is why I was thinking of replacing it with the Clear Jel. I also didn't want the separation that I've known to happen in recipes using flour (tried a pie filling recipe once that I was not happy with the results.) I wasn't thinking about the butter, I guess, since I have also seen where others have canned their own butter here. So I wasn't far enough into the process to question it. I had honestly planned on adding some lemon juice to each jar, and was considering running it through the PC as opposed to WB canning. But I was also concerned about how this would affect the Clear Jel, since I have only used it in waterbath recipes.

I have so many tomatoes this year, and I am the only one who really likes tomato soup. I have a lot of salsa and plenty of tomato juice canned from last year, so I was looking for something new. I was going to take advantage of the over abundance and indulge in something just for myself. But I was hoping for an end product that was comparable to the soup from the shelf, in that I would open it, add cream or milk, and heat. I can't see going to a lot of trouble to fix a bowl of soup just for myself. 

The potatoes would be an interesting experiment, and I suppose I would have to process it for the time set for the potatoes.

Thanks, everyone, for your input.


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## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Okay, now I am re-thinking this, and may try it as suggested, without the thickening agents. It shouldn't take a whole lot of effort to add them at the time of cooking. So, now where would I find the pressure canning times for onions and celery? None of my books have listings for those vegetables individually.


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

Well, speaking of thick canning.... I canned some beans and they turned out super thick. Is this a problem as long as I followed the proper time?


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

OK, I'm not finding much on celery. Apparently it turns to mush when caned - which would work good in this soup. Everything else I do see is calling for vinegar or white wine in both the onions and celery recipes. Most times are in the 35 min range for the recipes that don't have meat or broth in them, but some are as high as 75min for pts (which is what I use as I always have meat in combo with my onions). But none of these times are coming from any place official or I that I would assume know and use safe canning practices (like Food Network or some such).

I did find this at the MN Extension site...look near the bottom of the page for Tomato Mixture. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/dj1097.html


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

I can give you an 'unofficial' suggestion. 

If you are willing to leave out the flour and the butter and add them at prep time, switch the parsley and bay leaves to dried not fresh (fresh herbs change the pH), and hot pack it into the jars then you can safely use the Stewed Tomatoes recipe processing time in the BBB - it is tomatoes, onions, peppers and celery - 15 mins for pints and 20 mins for quarts @ 10-11 lbs adjusting for altitude and pressure canner type.

This would be considered safe because it will be thinner than the stewed tomatoes is so density is no problem and more acidic because you aren't including the green peppers in that recipe.

No official stamp of approval but I would be comfortable with it.


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## lickcreek2 (Dec 15, 2009)

Thanks judylou and ohio dreamer. That was what I was leaning towards - 10lb pressure for 20 minutes (quarts). I was having trouble finding much info on celery, but since it will be put through a sieve, I didn't think the density would be much different than that of the tomato juice/puree. I do have dried herbs, so I can use them, too. I think I'll give this a try.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

judylou said:


> ...
> switch the parsley and bay leaves to dried not fresh (fresh herbs change the pH)...


Good to know, I always assumed dried would react the same way as fresh, so I skipped dried too.


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Nuts online has Instant Clear Jel for $3.49 per pound. The more you buy the cheaper it is. Here is the substition chart they list for Instant Clear Jel:

1 T. cornstarch = 1 1/2 T instant clearjel 2 T. flour or tapioca = 1 T. instant clearjel


http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingba...r/instant-clearjel.html?utm_source=googlebase


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