French Onion Soup

My Canning Cellar

French Onion Soup!
What I used for equipment was a large dutch frying pan, a large stock pot, a cutting board, a sharp knife, a canning funnel, a de-bubbler, a two cup measure cup, dish towels, potholders, the jar remover tongs and I ended up needing 9 quart jars. I used the Presto digital canner, again not good with the planning, which meant I had to do this in two batches of four quarts with one quart left over for the next day’s lunch, and I used the pressure canning cycle.
The ingredients I used were 7 pounds of onions, 6 quarts of our own previously canned beef broth, 4 tablespoons of beef base and the brand I have is by Maggi, 4 teaspoons steak sauce and 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and four tablespoons butter.

While my husband peeled and sliced the onions, I got the broth going. It was very simple. I removed the solidified fat from the top of each quart of beef broth and emptied the broth into the stock pot. I don’t know if anyone else would have had to remove the extra fat, but because my husband can’t tolerate it I just didn’t add it.

I added the beef base, the steak sauce and the Worcestershire sauce.

I brought it to a simmer for a few minutes then shut it off.

I cooked the sliced onions in the butter in the dutch frying pan on medium low until they were translucent, and meanwhile I had my jars going through the warming cycle in the canner because I was going to be putting in hot food. It’s always hot food, hot jars, hot water OR cold food, cold jars, cold water.

When the onions were done, I measured two cups into each quart jar, filled with the broth, de-bubbled, and added more broth to one inch head space. I wiped each rim with a vinegar soaked paper towel, put on the lids and finger tightened the rings. I processed each batch for 75 minutes. I had some siphoning during processing but all the lids sealed.

When my processing is done, I always remove the canner cover and just let the jars sit for about ten minutes. This helps if any jars are really bubbling because it gives them that little time to settle down a bit. I have removed bubbling jars immediately and had them spit at me around the lids and rings in protest. And I always set the hot jars on dish towels to help avoid any shock of extremely hot jars on the colder work table.

The next day I removed the rings, washed the jars to remove any grease from the siphoning, and after they dried I labeled them and put them down in my canning cellar.

“When any vegetable is damaged, its cells are ripped open. The plant often then tries to defend itself by releasing bitter-tasting chemicals called polyphenols that can be off-putting to hungry animals trying to eat it. But an onion’s defense mechanism goes further, producing an even more irritating chemical, propanthial s-oxide, meant to stop the plant being consumed by pests.”
It’s been a while since I recommended Jamie’s amazing jar openers, which he makes using 3D technology. I absolutely can’t use anything else because my thumbs give me so much trouble. He gave me permission to put his contact info in the show description. I have no relationship with Jamie, just love his product.

Thank you for visiting my canning cellar. Talk soon. Stay safe.

https://nchfp.uga.edu

https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/soup/soup-other-soup/easy-pressure-canned-french-onion-soup.html

https://theconversation.com/why-onions-make-us-cry-and-why-some-dont-84486

Jamie’s jar openers: [e-mail]