Canning Dried Beans with Bean Bread Recipe (2024)

Pressure canning dried beans is an excellent method for creating a ready to consume food item. Utilize home canned beans in soups, stews, breads, refried, or eating straight from the jar. Steps for preserving dried beans is an easy processes and ideal for anyone who enjoys beans.

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The key to owing your food source begins with what’s in your pantry. Putting up staple food items, such as home canned beans, not only allows individuals to own their food source, it provides the opportunity to consume clean, healthy foods. Not to mention, many home canned items are a healthier version of convenience foods.

Why are Home Canned Beans Ideal?

Canning dried beans fills the pantry with ready to consume meals. Remember, it’s all about creating healthy convenience foods. The ability to shop the pantry, as you would the canned goods aisle of your local market, is a rewarding and a healthier option.

Canning foods, like dried bean, can be done in the manner in which your family will enjoy. The ability to put up canned foods without preservatives also allows for a chemical free product. Not to mention, salt is not necessary when pressure canning foods at home. Leave it out if you wish.

Though freezing cooked beans is an option, it does takes up freezer space. For occurrences such as power outages, ready to consume foods saves you from having to eat out. This makes home canned beans ideal for a quick meal.

Not to mention, a jar of home canned pinto beans makes for a scrumptious bean bread or homemade refried beans!

Selecting the Best Beans for Canning

There are a plethora of options when it comes choosing what type of dried bean to can. Begin with what your family consumes the most, though make sure give other varieties a try too! The following dried beans are commonly pressure canned due to being able to hold up well during the canning process.

• Pinto
• Navy
• Black-eyed
• Garbanzo
• Great Northern White
• Fava
• Red
• Kidney

Canning dried beans is safe standards set up by the National Center for Home Food Preservation whereas dried peas are not.

During the pressure canning process dried peas become very soft and mushy, creating a very thick puree like texture within the jar. The thickness of the packed dried peas prevents the heat from properly penetrating through the jar. When the heat is unable to properly penetrate through the jar it leaves open the opportunity for food-borne botulism (which is commonly found in low acidic foods) to thrive.

With that in mind, avoid canning the following dried peas:

• Green Split Pea
• Yellow Split Pea

The Sustainable Canning Course

Are you searching for canning classes near you? Look no further!The Sustainable Canning Courseis a self-paced series of online classes designed to help you on the road to achieving food ownership.

The Sustainable Canning Courseis an extension of my book,The Farm Girl’s Guideto Preserving theHarvest. I wrote this bookto help guide those who seek to own their food source the opportunity to do so. It is a comprehensive, easy to understand book covering all methods of home food preservation, canning, drying, fermenting, curing, freezing, and storing fresh foods.

• Understand why pressure canning is necessary to preserve foods.
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• Preserve many tomato products utilizing scientific information with traditional tools.
• How modern canning tools, such as the steam canner and steam juicer, revolutionized preserving methods.
• Understanding how to decipher information shared by the National Center of Home Food Preservation.
• Discover how easy it is to can meat, fish, soups, and stews.

These topics and many more are available withinThe Sustainable Canning Course. Reserve your spot now, and begin gleaning the necessary information needed to preserve foods as a modern sustainable homesteader does.

Pressure Canning Dried Beans

Due to the fact that dried beans are considered a low acidic item, pressure canning is the only method deemed safe for canning. This even applies toward canning black bean and corn salsa.

Do not get frazzled. Pressure canning dried bean is extremely easy….now, exhale and let’s get it done. Here’s a few tips to keep in mind:

Pounds per Canner

Based on the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website, an average of 5 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts. For 9-pint jars, roughly 3¼ pounds of dried beans is needed to fill a 16-quart pressure canner.

Add Ingredients

Dried beans are typically canned using water and beans. However, why not can them to your liking? Adding items such as herbs, spices, even fresh jalapenos creates an amazingly delicious product. How much should you add? As much as you’d like! Just remember, herbs and spices can amplify in flavor the longer they sit on the shelf.

Processing Times

The processing time and correct PSI for canning dried beans are as follows:

DIAL GAUGE PRESSURE CANNER –

WEIGHTED GAUGE PRESSURE CANNER –

My Book

The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest is a comprehensive book covering multiple methods for preserving foods in the comfort of your home. Learn how to safely can, dry, ferment, cure, freeze, and store foods fresh as a sustainable homesteader would. The tips, tricks, and recipes within this book will provide you the confidence and knowledge needed to own your food source.

Prep Work

There is a little work which is required prior to beginning the canning process. The following steps listed in this section will assist in creating a perfectly delicious shelf stable product.

• Begin by sort and discard shrived and discolored dried beans.
• Next, soak the desired dried bean of choice in water for a minimal for 8 hours. Make sure the water is covering them at all times.
• The final step is to boil the soaked bean for no more than 5 minutes. This allows for hot packing (hot jar, hot food).

The beans will not be fully cooked at this point and that’s okay! They will cook the remainder of the way in the pressure canner.

Ball advises to cook dried beans for 30 minutes prior to canning them. I skip this step. Yes, I said that. I find the final product to be overcooked and mushy with this method. Don’t worry, this does not violate any safe canning methods in any way, shape, or form.

Equipment

• pressure canner
• stainless steel stockpot
• colander
• large glass or stainless steel pot to soak beans
• jar funnel
• slotted spoon
• air bubble remover
• kettle for boiling water

Instructions

Once the prep work is completed, pressure canning the beans will be the next step.

1. Using a slotted spoon, fill clean jars with beans making sure to leave a 1-inch headspace.
2. Add boiling water to jars, leaving a 1-inch headspace.
3. Season with herbs, spices, or produce such as jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, or can as is.
4. Remove air bubbles, add additional water as needed, again, ensuring a 1-inch headspace is achieved.
5. Add warmed lids and rings to finger tight, follow the processing time indicated above.

Storing Canned Dried Beans

Once processed, allow the jars to cool at room temperature, undisturbed, for up to 12 hours.

Making sure to check that all lids have sealed by gently pressing down the center of the lid. If the lid flexes, the jars have not vacuum sealed. Store unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use as quickly as possible.

It is best to store home canned good in a cool dark location. Ideally, the temperature should range between 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Below freezing or above 85 degrees can affect the food within the jars.

See Also

Dandelion Honey Recipe (Easy & Delish) - Carlo Cao

Printable Recipe Card

For your convenience a printable recipe is available. Enjoy!

Make sure to take a look at 12 must have canning tools for your kitchen. Especially for preserving dried beans and other pressure canning food items.

Remember, seasoning each jar is a great way for preserving dried beans. Utilize spices, herbs, jalapeno peppers to create a ready to consume jar.