In my experience, the amount of time to pressure can stock does not change based on the ingredients you used to make it. Pressure canning works mostly on a principle of heat penetration. The density of your stock wouldn’t change, it’s still a thin liquid and so the time allotted for heat penetration wouldn’t need to vary. I can’t imagine it would be necessary to pressure can a thin liquid for 75 minutes.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t use a jiggle-top pressure canner, so I don’t know whether the appropriate number of jiggles is a brand-specific thing or whether it is universal.

Is there anyone who uses this style of pressure canner who could speak to the number of jiggles?

The defatting of the stock doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect. If I’m working with stock that hasn’t been cooled, I use a ladle to scoop off the floating layer of fat as best I can. If I have time and refrigerator space to cool it, I’ll do that (though admittedly, that’s a rare thing).

The primary reason that I like to remove what fat I can is that I’ve found that on occasion, it can interfere with the development of a good seal, particularly if your jars do any siphoning (escaping of jar content as air is pushed out) during the pressure canning process.

Harriet, you’re preaching to the choir when it comes to pressure canning stock. I started doing it a couple of years ago and I excitedly sing the praises of the practice now to anyone who will listen.

But thank you. I accept your welcome most happily!

Kathi, it’s a spice paste that you can get at most Asian markets. It adds a rich, spicy, almost curry-like flavor that is really delicious.

I’m so glad you’re both happy with this recipe! It really is quite delicious.

Dear anonymous,

In telling the story of my husband’s current diet, I was in no way passing judgment on legumes. I was simply trying to share the path I took to arrive at this particular pot of soup. I actually think it’s ridiculous to exclude beans from a diet that is trying to focus on real food and I told both my husband and his trainer just that when I found out that they were going to be eating like this for the month of January.

The decision to eat or not eat a food is a distinctly personal one. In the end, the issue wasn’t about the beans so much as it was making a choice to either accept my husband’s diet restrictions or stop cooking for him for a month. So I set aside my frustrations over the diet and made some soup.

-Marisa