Pressure Canning Dried Beans, Baked Beans & more . . .

                                     (Before Processing)

Pressure Canning Dried Beans, Baked Beans and more . . .

CHEAPER & GASFREE!!

Food prices are skyrocketing with no end in sight.  Storing dried beans long term is not always successful UNLESS you want to grind them into flour. They become so hard that no amount of cooking makes them tender.

My inventory of empty canning jars was good thanks to the severe drought this summer (our garden pretty much dried up).

You must use a pressure canner but the cost is much less, I can ‘de-gas’ them which is my biggest problem with buying them already canned and you can make them the way YOU want them. Have you checked the price of canned beans in the grocery store lately? They are rising at an alarming rate.

I just spent $17.88 on dried beans. Not counting the cost of new lids and the electricity required I now have:

4 quarts baby lima beans @ $.89 per quart

8 quarts of kidney beans @  $.62 per quart

2 quarts, 7 pints & 2 half pints of black beans @ $.195 per cup

6 quarts of baked beans (from navy beans) @  $.78 per quart (instructions to follow)

1 BONUS quart of mixed beans for soup or bean salad @ FREE!

1 BONUS 3 servings of  mixed beans for immediate use @ FREE!

The general process is easy.

Sort the beans and rinse. Cover with lots of water and bring to a rolling boil. Continue cooking for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse very well. (This will remove the gas and who would have thought it could be so easy!)

Place pickling or Kosher salt in the jars at 1 tsp. per quart or ½ tsp. per pint.

DO NOT USE TABLE SALT

You may also add any other seasoning you would like. One friend adds 1 Tbs. per quart of taco seasoning for pinto beans, then mashes them after opening the jar. A favorite refried beans with NO ADDED FAT.

Fill the jars leaving a full one inch of headspace. Cover with water or brine (see below). Wipe the jar rims, seal, and pressure can at 10 lbs. of pressure:

75 minutes for pints

90 minutes for quarts

That’s it! It’s very easy and at quite a savings I would say even over sale prices!

PORK & BEANS – use tomato juice, 1 Tbs. sugar per quart and a piece of fatback, bacon or your preference to cover the beans with. Process as above.

BAKED BEANS – I made a ‘sauce’ of tomato juice (about 1 cup per quart), brown sugar, garlic powder, dehydrated onions, molasses, mustard, bacon (diced, fried and drained well) and a couple of drops of hickory smoke flavor per quart).

I don’t use measurements because everybody seems to have their own preference for baked beans. We prefer them a bit sweet and savory. You may use almost any baked bean recipes simply mix all the ingredients except the beans and pour over the pre-cooked beans. If you don’t have enough ‘sauce’ you may add more tomato juice or water.

I still plan to put up pinto beans, refried beans and garbanzo beans for making hummus and other things. Try this soon. I know you will be pleased with the tasteful result and the savings!