| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 08:32:38 AM
Hey all!
OK so I'd like to start canning beans to use rather than the yuky store-bought cans. Great Northern, pinto, black beans, garbanzo, etc.
Have any of you guys done this before? Obviously I need to use the pressure canner - the recipe I'm looking at says pints for 75 minutes, quarts for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. This is once the beans have been quick-soaked.
I've read that you should add a dab of lard to the quarts of pinto beans... a bay leaf to great northerns... does any sea salt help, or is it unnecessary? Any other hints???
Obviously I didn't get my fill of canning this summer, after filling my pantry with fresh stuff. I'm somewhat alarmed to realize that I want to fire everything back up and haul all my canning supplies back out to do it again! *sigh* This darn farmgirl stuff sure goes bone deep, doesn't it??? (smile)
~TJ of Green Willow Place
www.MyWesternHome.wordpress.com
"We make a living by what we get, but we build a life by what we give." ~Thomas S. Monson |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Jan 11 2011 : 08:53:19 AM
I think it would have been alot easier - or at least less mess etc - if I'd done the overnight soak instead of the "quick soak".
Great point about the lard!!!
I read somewhere else that there was a big difference between a pint of home-canned beans (16 oz) and a 15 oz can of store-canned beans, volume wise. That fact applies to other canned goods, so I imagine that it's true of beans as well!! Which is to say that I'll be doing more pints and less quarts from now on, most likely!!
I sure appreciate you guy's ideas and suggestions!!
~TJ of Green Willow Place
www.MyWesternHome.wordpress.com
"We make a living by what we get, but we build a life by what we give." ~Thomas S. Monson |
| Ms.Lilly |
Posted - Jan 11 2011 : 07:14:12 AM
We will never buy store canned beans again! In fact I canned about a month ago 16 pints of pinto beans because the previous batch was getting low. We have red, black, navy and pinto beans canned up and all of them work out just great. There is no reason to add lard to your pinto beans in fact you are adding the chance for bacteria to grow if you do. It only takes a second to add some sort of fat to your beans when you are heating them up. I soak my beans over night then the next day simmer for 30 minutes, jar them up and pressure can. Never had a problem.
Belle- We eat beans at least once a week here and it is very handy to be able to go into the pantry and grab a jar of beans. Examples: Saturday night we had chili for dinner so I went into the pantry and grabbed 2 jars of red beans and 1 jar of chili, mixed them together and heated. Refried beans: 1 jar of pinto beans, a little bit of butter, some spices, heat and smash these are the best refried beans you will ever eat. Another one: Grab a jar of corn, black beans cook them up with some green pepper slices and add a touch of cajun seasoning and you have a great side veggie that kids love. Beans are a main staple in my pantry and always will be.
Lillian |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 12:57:11 PM
TJ
I found this in Backwoods Home Mag; it was a person writing into the "Ask Jackie" column. I'll see if I can find it for exact measurements and times as it has been a while. And no, I have had no problems, & the beans are very nicely done.
I made Pioneer Woman's black eyed pea dip on New Years, & have used several pints of the black beans. All jars opened have been fine. |
| TJinMT |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 11:03:29 AM
Lisa - wow, that is much easier than the method of quick soak/cook for 30 minutes/pressure can! You do this and have had no problems?? I just got finished with the above method and have two quarts of black eyed peas and four of great northern beans in the pressure canner right now. But, the black eyed peas were already totally cooked with the soak/30 minute boil, they're gonna be MUUUUUSHY!!
I do use the pressure cooker itself sometimes for beans - but it's still a 90 minute process to get them ready, before I even start supper itself. I guess I'm lazy! Or not well-prepared enough... or something!! SOME convenience is very nice though!!! Sure glad I have the pressure cooker AND the canner, and don't have to chop my own firewood to cook beans for hours!!!!
~TJ of Green Willow Place
www.MyWesternHome.wordpress.com
"We make a living by what we get, but we build a life by what we give." ~Thomas S. Monson |
| Prairie Gypsy |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 10:02:53 AM
You can speed up the cooking of beans by using the pressure cooker (not canner). I made a ham & bean soup a couple weeks ago and it took 1.5 hours start to finish with the pressure cooker using dry beans. Easy to freeze after cooking them in whatever amounts you typically use.
Farmgirl Sister # 2363
http://twilightburrough.blogspot.com/
Warren, MI
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| TJinMT |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 09:45:32 AM
Well, I cook with beans alot - and being a busy homeschooling mom, sometimes just don't have time to do the whole 4 hour process to cook beans. I cook EVERY meal from scratch, which is only *partly* because I want to... the rest is a combination of finances and knowing that it's best health-wise for our family.
Also, our freezer is fairly full of meat (we hunt, and when we buy beef we buy a side of grass-fed beef at a time) and frozen vegetables from the summer...
Also, it's faster when I'm pressed for time to open a can than it is to thaw something - albeit not a WHOLE lot! - so... I just figure it's a better solution! I kept talking myself out of it for the past few years for reasons like what you said, but I find that I'm still buying canned beans at Costco and going through them. Thought this might be a better way!!!
~TJ of Green Willow Place
www.MyWesternHome.wordpress.com
"We make a living by what we get, but we build a life by what we give." ~Thomas S. Monson |
| Bellepepper |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 09:21:02 AM
OK, I am wondering why you would take dry beans and can them. They store so well in the package they come in. For convienience (where is spellcheck?), when I cook a pot of dry beans, I freeze a 2 cup container or two to use later.
Belle |
| nubidane |
Posted - Jan 10 2011 : 08:42:11 AM
TJ
I canned my dry beans this way.. easy peasy. Put dried beans in canning jars about 2/3 full. Add boiling water to bottom of rim (like normal) add salt and/or seasonings. Pressure can like above. Makes beans firm, but not mushy. I did black beans, kidney beans & black eyed peas this way. |
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