Does the "no zucchini" rule apply to soups?

11 years ago

My mom has made this zucchini soup every summer since I was young. Last year I decided to try and can it. I used pint jars, followed the soup canning recommendations, and ate it at least 3 times a month throughout the winter. It's perfect - it's served cold, just add sour cream, stir it up, and drink it from the bottle. I'm still alive. Phew. This year I'm being far more diligent in my research.

From what I've read, the USDA no longer suggests canning zucchini due to what seems to be lost documentation. That documentation would have been about how former food scientists came to conclusions on process time for zucchini. The issue was apparently unpredictable density of the different crops.

On the other hand, their soup recommendations exclude pasta, rice, flour, milk products, and any vegetable that doesn't have it's own canning recommendation. Zucchini no longer has a canning recommendation. However, it seems like soup processing is pretty much worst case scenario anyways - 11 pounds for 60 minutes.

What I'm getting at is that I think I can can my mother's zucchini soup safely, since texture doesn't matter at all here, and I do think that cold pockets will be heated in 60 minutes. I just want to see what other people think on the subject? Heck, for the time I've spent researching this, I don't even mind paying for a lab to check it over - I just don't even know where to start to find a lab that would do that.

Second hurdle, I almost forgot: This is a pureed soup. I'm not sure where the line is drawn for the no puree rule, but when blended, this soup is slightly thinner than the consistency of KatieC's famous tomato soup. I think the no puree rule is for much thicker purees, not one that still easily flows as liquid - I mean, it's drinkable! So I do think this would be safe to puree, but if not, I can prepare it with half liquid and half chunks, then just screw the blender blade assembly onto the mason jars and blend when needed.

For those who will be curious for the recipe:

3 medium zucchini
2 potatoes
1 med onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp vinegar

Cut everything to inch cubes, boil until soft, blend. Chill it, enjoy with sour cream.

Looking forward to hearing some opinions!

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Comments (6)

gardnpondr
11 years ago
Well it sure does sound yummy that's for sure. I'm not sure about answers to your questions, but I am sure Dave or Linda Lou or someone that does know will come on and answer them for you. I know years past things were done different than they want them done today and none of us died from it. :-) I don't think anyone got sick from it either as far as I know.......I mean my mother in law didn't even own a canner and she made green beans, soup mix, and tomatoes every year with no telling how many jars each. She did have the base to an old canner that I would dearly love to own now but don't know where it went. Anyway I KNOW she canned upwards to 60 qts. of just the soup mix every year. But these days they say do things different.
digdirt2
11 years ago
It is the 1/2 and 1/2 rule with soups that lets us get away with things that otherwise might not be ok - including zucchini. So yes you can do it in chunks and follow the 1/2 and 1/2 rule and then you would puree it after opening the jars, not before canning. The puree guideline is drawn at - only allowed with a few tested recipes, otherwise, no.

Dave
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rgreen48
11 years ago
Just reading over your recipe... you said "boil until soft". There's no liquid to boil, just the tsp. of vinegar. What are you using for liquid, and how much? Do you mean saute until soft? And what type of vinegar?
Kavi Siegel
Original Author
11 years ago
Good question. I didn't have that on the copy of the recipe I had, so I just asked my mom. The recipe has evolved to:

4 med zucchini

2 potatoes

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

1 tbs white vinegar

5 cups water

2 cubes vegetable bouillon
rgreen48
11 years ago
Thanks Kavi. I have a few zucchini that I don't want to go through the work of blanching and freezing, so I'm thinking of trying it tomorrow. I like recipes with simple, straight-forward ingredients. I'll let you know how it turns out.
rgreen48
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Kavi, I just finished the soup. Tell your Mom that it was great. Both granddad and I liked it a lot. He wasn't feeling hungry but I talked him into trying a cup of soup that he could drink and he had 2 cups! Lol.

I wondered about the vinegar. What would just a tbs. do...? and it really was the perfect amount. It made the soup.

Since you didn't include directions, I improvised the cooking methods. I did a light carmalization on the onions, tossed in the garlic for just a min. or 2, added the water and the bullion cubes, then zucchini till soft, then the potatoes - already cooked and frozen from last week, then the vinegar.

I froze half of it, hopefully the texture will remain just as it came out of the blender.

Easy ingredients, easy cooking, and easy clean-up... the perfect summertime recipe.

Thanks again!