How To Can Broccoli Soups With Meat

Canning is one of the oldest methods of preserving food, and is an excellent way keep to your garden-grown vegetables in storage for the winter or emergencies. Broccoli makes a wonderful canned soup on its own or mixed with cheese or meat. Canning guidelines are different for vegetables and meat and should be carefully followed to prevent spoilage or bacterial contamination.

Processing Meats and Broccoli Together

Although you may be tempted to can broccoli soup and meat together, it’s best to process them separately for safety's sake. Meat takes a much longer time to process than broccoli, and the lengthened amount of time will cause the broccoli soup to lose its color, turning gray. It’s better to can the broccoli soup and meat separately, then combine them when you're ready to serve your meal. If you do mix and can them together, pressure cook the jars for the amount of time that it takes to process the meat to ensure that everything is properly prepared.

Canning Broccoli Soup

It's easy to can broccoli soup at home, but you'll need to use care during preparation because it's easy to overcook. Broccoli can lose its bright green color and turn brownish-gray when cooked for too long, making it unappetizing and bitter. Cook the broccoli on the stove top for about five to eight minutes until it becomes tender. Follow your recipe closely. Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour the finished soup into sterilized canning jars, leaving about one inch of headroom at the top of the jar. Place the lid on the can and process in a pressure canner for 60 minutes if you're making pint jars, or 75 minutes for quart- size jars.

Canning Meat

Because meat is low in acid, it can be a breeding ground for bacteria. To overcome the possibility of bacterial contamination, meat should always be pressure canned at a temperature of at least 240 degrees F. Both cooked and raw meat can be canned, but it’s important to follow the directions in your recipe closely. Whether you're canning raw or cooked meat, you need clean, sterilized jars. Keep the jars hot in the oven or a water bath until you’re ready to put the meat in them, and only prepare as large a batch as your pressure canner can hold at one time.
Pack the jars tightly, leaving one inch of headroom at the top. Place the lids on the jars and put them in the pressure canner to process. Each type of meat will take a different amount of time processing, as will raw versus cooked meats. Your recipe will direct you as to the length of time necessary. Process meat as soon as you have it packed in the hot jars to minimize the chance of contamination.

Finishing

Allow the jars to cool in the canner for 10 minutes and then remove them using a jar lifter to finish the cooling process. If any food has escaped from the tops during processing, gently wipe the outside of the jar with a damp cloth, remembering not to dislodge the lid and break the seal. Screw on the outer rings of the lids for added security. For any jars that aren't properly sealed, repack and reprocess them with a different lid. Keep the jars out of drafts while they cool to prevent the glass from cracking.

Label and Store

Allow the hot soup jars to cool and label each with the contents and the date you made it. Store them in a cool, dry place.

Reheating Canned Meats

When it’s time to serve your canned meats on their own or mixed in broccoli soup, cook the meat to boiling for 15 to 20 minutes. This will kill any bacteria that may have grown in a jar that wasn’t perfectly sealed. It’s a good idea to cook the meats separately ahead of time to ensure any microorganisms are completely destroyed, and then mix them into the heated broccoli soup.