I make stock when I have time and stuff to cook up, usually after dinner. We eat the chicken, while the carcass goes into the pot with a coarsely chopped onion, some celery, and some carrots and maybe bits of leftover tomato. I cook it till bedtime, then pull all the nice meaty bits off the carcass and chuck them back into the broth, pop the pot into the fridge on a potholder to cool overnight, then next day into a container for the freezer.
Then when I feel like making soup, usually while I'm cooking dinner or something else, I'll pull the container of stock out of the freezer and dump it into a pot, and throw in veggies until it looks good. I let it cook only till hot if I'm canning it, otherwise all of my soups cook for hours, then go into the fridge to cool overnight while the flavours "meld" some more, then I cook it a few more hours the next day.
If I'm canning it right away, i just cook it till heated while I run the jars through a hot "rinse" cycle on the dishwasher to made sure they are clean, ladle the hot soup into the jars, lids onto jars then into canner, and process while we eat dinner. Timer goes off, turn off burner, wait till pressure goes down to zero, jars out onto towel on countertop till I check the seals and put them away the next morning.
It sounds like a lot of steps, but I already made soup for years the same way, so adding the jars and processing step just added time for the most part
Tomato Soup
4 quarts chopped tomatoes
3 large onions, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
3 red bell peppers, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
salt, basil, bay leaf
Cook tomatoes till soft, run through food mill to remove skins and seeds. Cook rest of veggies in just enough water to cover till soft, run through food mill. Combine tomato and veggie pure in pot, season and add bay leaf. Simmer about an hour till thickened, remove bay leaf. Pack into clean hot pint jars, leaving 1/2" headspace, process 20 minutes at 10 lbs pressure (adjust for altitude, I need 12 lbs).
Split Pea Soup with Bacon
1 lb split peas
3 cups water
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 lb thick bacon, cooked and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 tsp dry mustard
salt, pepper
1 cup diced ham
Combine all ingredients except ham and simmer 2 hours until peas are tender, add ham and heat through again. Pack into clean hot pint jars, leaving 1" headspace, and process 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure (adjust for altitude, I need 12 lbs).
Turkey Veg Soup
2 onions, chopped and sauted
2 quarts turkey stock with meat
1 quart water
4 cups assorted chopped veggies
salt, pepper, herbs to taste (rosemary is nice, parsley is classic)
Add sauted onions to stock and water, simmer till veggies are cooked but not too soft. Can pure half the soup with immersion or regular blender if you wish it creamier OR can add 1 cup yellow split peas while simmering veggies (this will also thicken the soup). Season to taste, pack into clean hot pint jars, leaving 1" headspace, and process 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure (adjust for altitude, I need 12 lbs)..
Cream of Whatever Soup
3 quarts of veggie or meat stock, no meat
2 cups veggie of choice
2 cups yellow split peas
salt, pepper to taste
Simmer veggies and split peas in broth till soft, pure with immersion or regular blender, add water if too thick (should be eating consistency for creamy soup), season to taste, pack into clean hot pint jars, leaving 1" headspace, and process at 10 lbs pressure (adjust for altitude, I need 12 lbs) for 75 minutes.
Hamburger Veg Soup
1 lb ground beef/bison
2 onions, choppped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 quarts chopped tomatoes
2 quarts beef broth
4 carrots, chopped
1 cup assorted mixed veg (can be frozen, we like grean beans and corn)
salt, pepper
Saute onions and celery, brown meat and spoon off fat, add tomatoes and broth along with veggies and cook till heated through, season to taste. Pack into clean hot pint jars, leaving 1" headspace, and process 75 minutes at 10 lbs pressure (adjust for altitude, I need 12 lbs).
