My process for canning split pea soup. Recipe below. not sure if this is an approved USDA canning method. been doing it for years, no problems. I do not presoak or blanch any of the ingredients. All go in as a raw pack would, excluding the ham which was baked beforehand. I want to say a huge thank you to Rev. Vincent (Vinnie) Nicoletti and his darling wife, Cathy who have been a part of our family for many a year as we were in ministry together in Detroit Michigan some years back at the Metropolitan World Outreach Center in Southwest Detroit.
They graciously blessed us with many bags of beans and other legumes and I am in heaven processing them for use in our home. Their home church will be linked below if you live near them and would like to support their ministry to those in need. The food bank that they keep going reaches so many and helps to make the lives of those they reach more enriched in both body and soul. If you are in need or even on the edge of being in need and require any help, these folks are kind and helpful. We’ve all been in tough spots before and a helping hand is always a blessing!
ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT YOUR HANDS ARE WASHED thoroughly!
Add the recommended amount of water for your pressure canner. If you don’t know what that is, there are many places online where you can find the manuals for your particular canner. If your jars are new, wash in hot soapy water and rinse, if they are being reused, and you are pressure canning as in this a case a run through the dishwasher is fine. Lids should be washed in hot soapy water but really don’t need to be sterilized in boiling water when pressure canning. Most county extension programs and universities that test this sort of things have amended their recommendations in the last few years to include this. I wouldn’t use them straight out of the box because you never know where the cardboard boxes were stored before you bought them. They could have mouse or rat urine or a myriad of other things that can get into or be spilled on the box.
Because everything that is in the jar is cold except for the hot water that I add, I do not have the canner on heat. When I am almost done filling the jars, I turn the heat on medium and let the water in the canner start warming up to meet the temp of the jars.
RECIPE:
for pints
1/4 to 1/3 cup picked and rinsed dried split peas
chopped onion, celery, Ham and carrots, and your choice of
stock, broth or water to one inch headspace
process in a pressure canner for 75 minutes using lbs of pressure recommended for your altitude