Do you have bags and bags of dry beans? They take forever to cook, and it's just easier to buy canned beans, right?
If you can get hold of some mason jars, here is how to pressure can dry beans. At the end, you will have dozens of pints of ready-to-eat, melt in your mouth beans, for any recipe. They will last years in your pantry, as well, for emergencies.
1. Into each pint-sized mason jar pour in:
a. 1/2 tsp salt
b. 1/2 cup dry, unsoaked beans (what ever you like)
c. Fill the jar the rest of the way with boiling water, leaving at least 1 inch of airspace on top.
3. Wipe the top of each jar, so there's no crumbs that will prevent the lids from sealing
4. Place lids and ring bands on top. Screw ring bands on only finger tight (it doesn't need to be any tighter than that.
5. Put a trivet in the bottom of a pressure cooker big enough to fit mason jars. Mine fits 4 at a time. Place jars on trivet.
6. Fill the bottom of the cooker with 3 inches of boiling water. Attach lid and close vent.
7. Pressure cook for 100 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
8. Quick vent the cooker, and pull jars out. It's okay if you're lazy and let it naturally vent and then pull the jars out at your leisure. Sometimes I wait up to 45 minutes. It just means the beans will be softer. And that's not a bad thing.
9. Carefully, with a jar lifter, pull jars out and place on a folded towel so the boiling hot jars won't shatter when they touch the cold countertop.
10. Allow the jars to cool to room temperature. Remove the ring bands. This is important because you don't want rust to form during storage, between the lid and ring band.
11. After 24 hours, check lids for sealing. The bump in the middle should be permanently inverted, and if you lift the jar by only the lid, it should stay firmly glued together. Store in a cool, dry pantry. They should last several years.
12. IMPORTANT- Before eating any home canned, non-acidic food, make sure that you cook it on a rolling boil for ten minutes, to kill any potential bacteria. It is unlikely that any will grow, but some such as botulism, are deadly.
If you can get hold of some mason jars, here is how to pressure can dry beans. At the end, you will have dozens of pints of ready-to-eat, melt in your mouth beans, for any recipe. They will last years in your pantry, as well, for emergencies.
1. Into each pint-sized mason jar pour in:
a. 1/2 tsp salt
b. 1/2 cup dry, unsoaked beans (what ever you like)
c. Fill the jar the rest of the way with boiling water, leaving at least 1 inch of airspace on top.
3. Wipe the top of each jar, so there's no crumbs that will prevent the lids from sealing
4. Place lids and ring bands on top. Screw ring bands on only finger tight (it doesn't need to be any tighter than that.
5. Put a trivet in the bottom of a pressure cooker big enough to fit mason jars. Mine fits 4 at a time. Place jars on trivet.
6. Fill the bottom of the cooker with 3 inches of boiling water. Attach lid and close vent.
7. Pressure cook for 100 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.
8. Quick vent the cooker, and pull jars out. It's okay if you're lazy and let it naturally vent and then pull the jars out at your leisure. Sometimes I wait up to 45 minutes. It just means the beans will be softer. And that's not a bad thing.
9. Carefully, with a jar lifter, pull jars out and place on a folded towel so the boiling hot jars won't shatter when they touch the cold countertop.
10. Allow the jars to cool to room temperature. Remove the ring bands. This is important because you don't want rust to form during storage, between the lid and ring band.
11. After 24 hours, check lids for sealing. The bump in the middle should be permanently inverted, and if you lift the jar by only the lid, it should stay firmly glued together. Store in a cool, dry pantry. They should last several years.
12. IMPORTANT- Before eating any home canned, non-acidic food, make sure that you cook it on a rolling boil for ten minutes, to kill any potential bacteria. It is unlikely that any will grow, but some such as botulism, are deadly.
