Pressure Canning Baked Beans
If you know how to preserve your own food, the possibilities are endless for you. I currently have a long list going of all the items I can for my family, including the two items I preserved this morning, pressure canning baked beans and refried beans.
It turns out that there are a good number of people that are beginning to be interested in canning. This is definitely a lost art that used to be very common for preserving one’s harvest every year. Preserving was the only way to take advantage of all of the vegetables you grew every season before they went bad.
Not so many people have a garden anymore, but preserving your food is still a great way to take advantage of great sales when food is in season, and save some serious money on food all year. Whether you can, freeze, or dehydrate your food to preserve it, this is a handy skill to have, not only to save money, but you provide your family with delicious, healthy food all year.
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I essentially have a grocery store in my basement with all of my favorite items available anytime I want them. Yum! What is it you want to learn how to preserve?
Start by soaking your pinto beans overnight. They’ll grow considerably.
In the morning, set up your canning station. You’ll need a pressure canner big enough to hold your quart jars, a large pot for mixing your sauce, quart size canning jars, canning supplies, a ladle and some towels. Then rinse your beans in a strainer in the sink.
Set your beans by your jars and get your sauce ready on the stove.
Fill each of your jars leaving a little bit of room between the beans and the bottom of the neck of the jars for sauce and onions.
Then it’s time to fill each with sauce up to the bottom of the jar necks.
Wipe the rims down with a damp washcloth.
Top with lids and rings, but only twist the rings on until you feel the slightest resistance so air can get out during canning. And load your jars with your jar lifter. There should only be 3 quarts of water in the bottom of the pressure canner.
Lock your lid on and turn the heat up to the setting just below the highest number.
My little one was sneaking dehydrated onions while the pressure canner heated up. When you have let the steam vent for 10 minutes, top with the weighted gauge. When the gauge starts rocking, turn the heat down until you find the lowest setting where the gauge will still rock consistently, around medium heat or so, and set the timer for 90 minutes. See the directions below for the end of the canning process.
Servings:
7 quarts of beans
Cook Time
Processing Time: 90 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours
Ingredients
About 21 cups of soaked pinto beans
12 cups of water
2 cups tomato paste
1 cup chopped onions
9 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of vinegar
6 teaspoons of salt
2.25 teaspoons of ground mustard
Instructions
1. You’ll want to start by filling a large pot about halfway with pinto beans and then to the top with water (the night before you want to can).
2. Your pinto beans need to soak overnight. If you need to split them into different containers and give them more water, that’s fine. You want them to get as much water as they need before canning or they will expand inside your jars.
3. When you are ready to can the next day, begin by setting up your canning station. You’ll need a pressure canner, a large pot for your sauce, quart size canning jars, canning supplies, a ladle, and several towels.
4. Let’s get your sauce going. In the large empty pot for your sauce, measure out each of your ingredients, and stir to mix.
5. Heat your sauce on medium-low heat until pretty hot, stirring to keep it from burning.
6. In the meantime, pour your soaked beans into a strainer in the sink and rinse them really well before taking them over to your jars.
7. Now its time to fill all of your jars with pinto beans using your funnel. Normally you would fill your jars to the bottom of the neck of the jars. But this time, make sure to give a little bit of room for your sauce and onions.
8. Once your jars are filled with beans, ladle the sauce you made over the top, filling the jars just to the bottom of the necks.
9. Wipe the rims of your jars with a damp washcloth to remove any liquid or debris.
10. Set a brand-new lid on top of each jar and then twist a ring over each one. Only twist the rings until you feel the slightest bit of resistance.
11. Fill your pressure cooker with 3 quarts of water, or to the bottom fill line inside your pot.
12. Turn the heat on to the setting just below high.
13. Load your jars into the canner with your jar lifter. My canner holds 7 quart jars. Make sure the jars don’t touch any part of the canner or each other.
14. Place the lid on top and twist to lock it into place.
15. The pot will build up pressure inside and start steaming out the top.
16. At this time, set your timer for 10 minutes and let the pot vent. The air lock on the top of the lid will even pop.
17. When the timer goes off, put your canner weight over the vent and wait some more.
18. When the weight begins rocking back and forth, you’ll set your timer for 90 minutes and turn the heat down to just above medium. You’re trying to achieve a slow rock without letting it stop.
19. If it stops rocking, you’ll need to get it rocking again and then restart your timer.
20. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let it cool completely down.
21. When the pressure inside the canner comes down enough, the air lock will go down, about an hour and a half.
22. At this time, remove the weight and let cool another 10 minutes before removing the top.
23. Pull the jars out with your jar lifter and set them aside on a towel to cool for 24 hours. At this time you can start the process all over again and can another round if you’d like.
24. Your jars will start popping letting you know they’re sealing. If one or two do not seal, put them in the refrigerator and use them within a few days. However, if four or more jars don’t seal, remove the lids and rings, clean the rims and process them again.
25. Store them in a cool, dry place without their rings. If left on, liquid or food particles under the rings could compromise your jars.
The pressure and cook times will be different for various altitudes, jar sizes and food items. See the chart below for your area. I’m currently at 5,500 ft elevation.
Table 1. Recommended process time for Baked Beans in a dial-gauge pressure canner. | ||||||
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||||
Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0 – 2,000 ft | 2,001 – 4,000 ft | 4,001 – 6,000 ft | 6,001 – 8,000 ft |
Raw | Pints | 75 min | 11lb | 12lb | 13lb | 14lb |
Quarts | 90 min | 11lb | 12lb | 13lb | 14lb |
Table 2. Recommended process time for Baked Beans in a weighted-gauge pressure canner. | ||||
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||
Style of pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0 – 1,000 ft | Above 1,000 ft |
Raw | Pints | 75 min | 10lb | 15lb |
Quarts | 90 min | 10lb | 15lb |
And for nutrition facts for homemade canned vegetarian beans, see the chart below.
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Serving size: 1 | |
Calories | 239 |
Calories from Fat | 9 |
% Daily Value * | |
Fat 1 g | 2% |
Saturated fat 0 g | |
Unsaturated fat 0 g | |
Carbohydrates 53 g | 18% |
Sugar 8 g | |
Fiber 10 g | 40% |
Protein 12 g | 24% |
Cholesterol 0 mg | |
Sodium 200 mg | 8% |
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. |
Related Recipes:
Once you get into canning, it will get easier and easier. This recipe may look like it has an awful lot of instructions, but I basically mixed the sauce, loaded the beans, poured in the sauce and sealed the jars, and then canned them. No biggie right. When you know the steps as well as I do, you no longer think about the process, but only the ingredients. If you keep practicing, you’ll get there too!
Baked beans are going to be delicious with a baked potato and bbq chicken tonight. I can’t wait! We also made refried beans today. Be on the lookout for this great recipe next. When it really comes down to it, there’s no reason why you have to can any of these recipes. You could also toss them into a crockpot and cook them all day to have the same result. You could then freeze or refrigerate your leftovers for later. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
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