Beans, Beans, and More Beans

   I love canning season. I can hardly wait until I have an overwhelming amount of produce that I can preserve and line my pantry with. I love a pantry filled with beautiful, colorful, filled quart jars. I have always been somewhat of a "hoarder" of groceries. I want to be prepared in case of a emergency. This is one of my goals for 2012. Since moving into this home I have not created a good stockpile of groceries as I have no basement. I do however have a large walk-in closet in a spare bedroom. It will work nicely. I grew up on a farm and my mother taught us how to can at a young age. Lately I have been using alot of pinto beans. I just hate the long cooking time. If I don't plan ahead, sometimes it requires me to purchase cans of beans from the store. The quality is not as good, and it takes more than several cans to feed my family. I purchase my beans in 20lb bags. I wanted to can some pinto beans, as I love the convenience. Now, I have plenty of ready-made beans for Pasta Fagioli, a wonderful Italian Bean soup.

The Process

Wash the jars in soapy water and rinse well. (I run my jars through the dishwasher.) 

Add 1¼ Cup of Dry Beans per quart to jars. Fill with hot water and let sit overnight.

The next morning, I drain the jars and fill the jars several times to rinse.

I then fill each jar to the neck of the jar with water and add 1 tsp of salt.

Heat the lids in boiling water, remove, place the lids on the jars and screw on bands.

Place in the canner (7 quarts will fit ) with 3 inches or 2 qts. of water ) 

Latch the lid on the canner and heat on high until steams shoots from the vent , reduce the heat.

I do a slow cook for 30 min. After 30 minutes place the weight on the vent and continue to cook until it reaches 10lbs pressure .

Process in Pressure Cooker @ 10lb for 90 minutes.

Remove from heat and let the canner cool completely and allow all pressure to escape before removing canner lid.

Remove hot jars from canner. Tighten lids. Let sit undisturbed for 24 hours. You will hear the jars pop as they seal. When cool, press the top of each lid to make sure there is a good seal.  When sealed there will be no “give” in the lid. If you discovered a jar has not properly sealed, refrigerate or reprocess immediately.

Always read manufacturers directions that were included with your pressure canner. 

Chili Beans

To can chili beans, add the following to jars before applying seals and screw bands.

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbs. dried onions

 Process the same as above.