anna! said:
Canned Soup: WHY does all canned soup explicitly say on the can "Make sure soup doesn't boil"? What happens to it if it does? I let my soup boil and it tastes just fine to me..
If you boil a soup or sauce it can seperate, change consistancy and basically go all weird. When making dairy based sauces one must always make sure not to let it boil, because it affects the flavour (probably similar chemical process to making warm milk, since that tastes funny too, but I have no idea what the physics of it all are).
Furthermore, the consistancy thing can be a bitch.
With soup I imagine the same principles apply, although it's not really all that important when you're making canned soup, since the consistancy of the original stuff is less than ideal anyway and can be evened out if anything goes wrong.
My guess is they're
1. Trying to make sure no one shows up with totally inedible soup they boiled for two hours and tryung to sue them for not telling them it was a bad idea
2. Hoping their already maltreated product is not subjected to any more punishment than is required to make it stand the test of time in a small tin can at room temperature.
Many recipes call for heating but have big "DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL!" warning as if it would be the end of the world, but it's not really that dangerous if you don't overdo it. I've messed up cream based sauces by forgetting to watch it, they boil and basically seperate into layers and look/feel/taste weird. That being said, a light simmer for a minute or two never destroyed any soup or sauce of mine
--- G.