You might be able to salvage some burned soups.
The general consensus among chefs is that if your soup is scorched, it can't be saved. This is especially true of cream-based soups -- their flavor is so delicate, it's too hard to try masking the burnt smell. You might be able to salvage heartier soups like vegetable, stews and chili, but it depends upon how badly the soup has burned.
Instructions
1. Immediately remove the pot from the burner when you smell the soup burning. The sooner the pot is removed from the heat, the quicker you can try to minimize the damage.
2. Scoop out about half of the soup that's at the top of the pot with a soup ladle and pour it into a bowl. Don't stir the soup or scrape the bottom of the pot with the ladle. This will keep the burned material from contaminating the rest of the soup.
3. Taste the soup that's left in the pot. If it tastes too burnt to salvage, throw it out. But if it tastes like you can mask the burnt taste, add it to the bowl with the rest of the soup.
4. Sit a few pieces of cooked potato in the soup to absorb the smell. Leave the potatoes in the soup until you're ready to serve it, then throw them out.
5. Pick a similar ingredient to what the soup contains to mask the smell. For instance, you could make it seem like you intended your chili to have a smoky flavor by adding a few drops liquid smoke. Or you might be able to hide the smell in your beef stew with some pepper or a stronger spice like turmeric or hot pepper flakes.
Tags: might able, able salvage, might able salvage, rest soup, soup that