"zxcvbob" & Mark
: >>
: >> Are you afraid you will overcook the soup? An extra 10 or
15 minutes
: >> in the pressure canner adds very little to the energy used
or the
: >> total time it takes to do a batch.
: >>
: >> Bob
: >>
: >
: > Wow, this seems to be a very elusive answer, heehee. No I
am not
: > affraid at all of overcooking the soup. It could cook all day
and be
: > fine. I am wondering for a multitude of reasons.
: > First, we live off grid and are very energy concious so
wether it
: > takes a little or a lot more fuel to can for longer the
bottom line is
: > its more. What is the point of burning even a modest amount
more if it
: > is not neccesary? If it is neccesary I have no problem with
it but its
: > foolish if its not.
: >
<SNIP>

: > Mark
:
:
: I think you will have to write to Dr. Nummer if you want an
authoritative
: answer.
:
: I don't can things like soup until I am heating my house
anyway. Heat from
: the kitchen stove heats the house more efficiently than the
furnace, so no
: energy gets wasted. That may not entirely be true in your
case.
:
: While the canner is cooking, you can be doing other things (you
just can't
: go anywhere) so the time is not totally wasted either. But if
you are
: doing back-to-back canner loads, the extra processing time will
slow you down.
:
: Bob
: ==========

Hmmm, you've definitely found yourself in a pickle Mark. While I
would tend to think along your ideas (why can, time-wise, for
items that aren't in there...) I am NOT an expert nor do I play
one on TV. My first thought, if you did can the soups that long,
I would be concerned that the vegetables would be mushy (very
technical term). I freeze mine rather than can just because of
that "mushy" concern.

I dunno. Please keep us posted as to what you do and how they
turn out.

Cyndi