Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Canning Beans

I recently decided to try my hand at another item in my pressure canner! I had heard that canning pinto beans is super easy, and I would love to have a good supply of them in my slowly growing supply of food storage (too bad you can't just live on jam and applesauce!). See, in an emergency I really wouldn't want to waste the fuel and time that it takes to make a pot of beans, but they would be a really good source of protein and great energy, so why not can them!
What I did was, using quart mason jars, put in 1 1/4 cups clean, dry pinto beans. Add 1 teaspoon salt, then fill with water, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Put them in the pressure canner, and can at 15 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes. When the beans come out...
They look like this (picture below)! The beans soak up the water and swell up almost to the top of the jar. I have already opened a jar to make refried beans. All I did was dump them in my mixer, add a little salsa and cheese, mix them up and microwave until it melts the cheese. They are so tasty and so easy! Try it!


Edit on March 17, 2012
Here are the instructions for canning pint jars of beans. By the way, this will work with pretty much any kind of beans, not just pinto beans. I've personally tried black beans, kidney beans, and white beans. Black beans are my current favorite!

Put 2/3 cup of dry beans into a pint jar, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, fill jar with water, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Place lids & rings, then process in a pressure canner for 75 minutes. Let pressure decrease naturally, then remove jars from canner & let cool.

Edit on November 2, 2013
To answer some questions: I have canned other beans using this same recipe. The beans I've done are black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans & white beans. My favorite are black beans & we eat them all the time.
Also, I do not soak my beans before putting them in the jar. I rinse them a little bit (usually) just to get any dirt off, but they go into the jars without soaking. I just use the same measurements noted in the recipe, and have never had any problems with beans soaking too much water or coming out of the jar. They just soak up all the water in the jar & are perfectly cooked every time. I love adding the black beans to tortilla soup!

Here's an Amazon link to my favorite canner. It's a great deal & easy to learn how to use.

8 comments:

Morgan said...

I am going to do this!! I have pinto beans just laying around and this seems easy enough!

Caitlin said...

Let me know if you have any questions!

Amanda said...

Hi Caitlin! You don't know me, but Morgan posted your link on her blog when your daughter was born. I am Corky's cousin. I love reading how Sharon is doing and also your creative blogs. I have a question about the beans. Did you soak them first? If you did then how long? Thank you for taking your time to share your creativity! ~Amanda

Lindsay S said...

Have you ever canned any other type of dry bean this way (navy, kidney, etc)? If so, do you use the same amount of dry beans when you start out? Just not sure if they would soak up the water or expand more than the pintos and make a mess in the canner (break jars). I am not new to canning, just pressure canning. I have canned cooked beans before, but have never began by putting dry beans in the jar like you did. Tganks. Advance!

Lindsay S said...

Hey! Just a tidbit of something
I just found while searching on Pinterest. http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2013/02/canning-dried-beans.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HomeJoys+%28Home+Joys%29

Caitlin said...

Lindsay, I don't know how to contact you, so hopefully you'll read this follow-up comment. I have canned other beans. My favorite are black beans, though I've also canned kidney, white beans, and the pinto beans. I'm pretty sure it would work with pretty much any dried bean.

Gina said...

It is great to find someone else who loves canning beans! It is SO simple and cheap! I love it!
Gina

The Cebulas said...

Can I add any seasonings? Like a tsp of taco seasonings to black beans?