Canning Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken soup is good for the soul....Well at least that is what the popular line of books written back in the 1990's would say. Well I cannot vouch for that, but I can tell you that Chicken soup is good for the tummy, especially when it is beginning to turn cool outside and the leaves begin to change colors. My wife says that soups are a cool weather food and she does not care for them during the summer months, but I think soups should be enjoyed at all times of the year.

Recently here on the farm, we butchered seven rooters so we had lots of backs and bones to cook down and turn into chicken stock. As is usual, I canned some of the chicken meat leftover from the bones and made some chicken and dumplings. I still had a little white and dark meat left over and decided to make some chicken and rice soup.  The thing is, I knew if I made a big pot and put it in the refrigerator we would have more than we could eat. I could freeze it, but our freezer space is precious, so I decided to can 4 pints of chicken and rice soup.

I can hear you screaming now “You cannot can rice in your soup!” Well, yes you can, it is just not recommended by the USDA. In fact, there are a lot of things that you can preserve via canning that the USDA does not approve of. Primarily, because the risk of food poisoning is higher if you do not follow proper sanitary procedures and or techniques. So heed my warnings, if you decide to can soup with rice, you do so at your own risk however minimal it might be.

Having said that, people have been canning rice in soups for many years without any problems, you just have to be careful. I always can my soups with dry uncooked long grain rice. Something you have to be aware of is that dried rice, generally absorbs 2 to 3 times it's volume of liquid when cooked. The container (pint or glass jar) has a limited amount of room for the expansion of dried foods such as rice, and beans when they cook. Therefore it is important to measure the amount of dried rice you put into each pint or glass jar before adding the liquid. In my recipes, I use 2 tablespoons of dried long grain rice for a pint jar, and 4 tablespoons per quart jar. You can put less rice in the jar, but never more or you run the risk of having jars that overflow or not to seal properly.

I know when you look at this amounts of rice used in these recipes they appear insufficient, but I promise you that these amounts are accurate for safe and reliable canning of rice in soups. Rice like many grains, will continue to absorb liquid after it has cooked, and in most cases the rice will absorb almost all the liquid in the jar if you use the recommended amounts of dried rice (2 tablespoons per pint, 4 per quart) in each of these recipes.

You could soak your rice over night, and rinse it to remove some of the starch. This technique might also reduce some of the liquid the rice absorbs when it is being processed, but I have not tried this yet, but may do so the next time I can a chicken or rabbit and rice soup. I have a friend, who cooks his rice ahead of time, but I have never made my soups that way. I was always afraid that the 75 to 90 minute processing time would turn it into mush, but he assures me the texture is fine. I may try this technique in the future, but again, in this article I am only going to explain the actual technique that I use.


Getting Everything Ready (Mise En Place)

You will need a pressure canner to can your soup as it will contain meat (a low acid food), and all low acid foods must be pressure canned. The appropriate number of pint of quarts jars, lids, and rings. For this recipe I am going to assume you already have made your chicken stock and are ready to can your soup. If you would like further information regarding making your own chicken stock and canning it safely check out my previous article: Canning Rabbit: Beef, Poultry and Wild Game. http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Canning%20Meats.

If you haven't cleaned yours jars, then do so before you get started. Once your jars are clean we are going to sterilize them. Fill your pressure canner about ¾ full with water and put on the stove and set it on high. We will remove some of the water later, but I like to use my pressure canner to sterilize my jars before canning. If you do not want to use your pressure canner to sterilize your jars, then fill a stockpot with enough water so that you can submerge your jars in boiling water. I like to go ahead and sterilize my jars and set them aside on my racks just before I add my ingredients.

Once the water in your pressure cooker or stockpot begins to boil, reduce the heat until the water simmers and using your jar tongs place no more than 3 pint jars in your pressure cooker or stockpot at a time and leave for 30 seconds to sterilize the jars then remove to a rack to cool. If you do not have a metal rack, a bath towel folded in half to protect the counter will work, however be careful not to knock the jars onto the floor. At this point I also sterilize my funnels and other equipment by dipping them into the water and placing them on my canning racks with the jars.

When you are ready to can your soup, take a small saucepan and fill with water and set it on high and heat it just until it starts to boil. Turn off the heat and add your rings and lids. If you are using your canner to sterilize your jars and already have it ¾ full of hot water, then remove enough water until you only have about 3 to 4 inches left in the canner. If you did not use your pressure canner to sterilize your jars, then fill it with water until it reaches the 3 to 4 inch mark. Now, I realize, that 3 to 4 inches does not sound like a lot of water, but as you add your full jars of meat, the water level will rise. Most pressure cooker manufacturers also recommend adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the water in your pressure canner to prevent water stains in the cooker and on the tops of the jars. I must admit I am not very consistent with my use of vinegar, and the occasional water stains are easily wiped off the tops of the jars.


Chicken and Rice Soup

Before starting the canning process you need to already have the raw vegetables you wish to use copped as well as your chicken cooked, cooled, and cut up and your chicken stock needs to be hot and ready. The amount of chicken and chicken stock you will need depends on the number and size of jars of soup you want to can. When canning my chicken and rice soup I layer the cooked chicken, raw vegetables, and rice in the jar, and then fill them with the hot chicken stock. Therefore, I will list the amounts of the ingredients I place in each pint or quart jar.

Chicken and Rice Soup (Pint Jars)

1/3 cup chicken, cooked, and diced
¼ cup onion, diced
½ a carrot or 3 baby carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons long grain rice
1 tablespoon celery, diced
¼ teaspoon minced garlic

Layer all ingredients into pint jars, then fill with hot chicken stock leaving 1 to 1 ¼ inch of head space. Add lids and rings then place in pressure canner and process for 75 minutes on 10lbs of pressure.


Chicken and Rice Soup (Quart Jars)

1/2 cup chicken, cooked, and diced
1/3 cup onion, diced
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) long grain rice
¾ of a carrot or 5 to 6 baby carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons celery, diced
½ teaspoon minced garlic

Layer all ingredients into pint jars, then fill with hot chicken stock leaving 1 to 1 ¼ inch of head space. Add lids and rings then place in pressure canner and process for 90 minutes on 10lbs of pressure.

Now, this recipe for canning chicken and rice soup is pretty basic, but very versatile, and it works, and I have used it many times. Feel free to use whatever raw vegetables in the soup that you and you family like. You can increase the amount of the vegetables somewhat if you you like, but remember you do not want to increase the amount of rice. In addition you need to take into consideration that if you increase the amount of the vegetables significantly, you will have less room for the chicken stock.


Conclusion

So why can rice in your soups when dried rice is already shelf stable? There are three reasons why I can some of my soups with rice. First, I like to have soups canned and ready to eat, so that I can just open a jar pour it into a container and take to work for an easy, fast, nutritious lunch. Second, rice is a relatively cheap filler and adding it to soups is a delicious way to stretch your food dollar. A 1/2 cup of cooked, chicken, beef, or rabbit meat does not easily feed two or three people, but put it in a quart jar with rice and vegetables and you have a filling meal. When I have small amounts of leftover or extra meats is generally when I can rice based soups. Third, I like to have soups on the shelf in our pantry that are ready to eat that I do not have to heat up in the event that we are without electricity for whatever reason.

The bottom line is that you can can soups with rice if you are careful and practice safe canning techniques. I know there are a lot of people out there that are not going to be happy about that statement, but I stand behind it. I have canned rice successfully in soups and know many people who do as well. Having said that, if you choose to can rice in your soups, be aware that there are risks involved, and that the risk is yours and yours alone!

If you are wanting to learn about canning, be sue and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.


Additional References:

To Pressure or Not To Pressure, That Is the Question: Preserving Your Bounty Safely. http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Pressure%20Canning

Canning Rabbit: Beef, Poultry and Wild Game. http://culinaryyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Canning%20Meats