I love canning. I wish we were able to do a garden at our house but since we can't we still try to can local/regional produce. Pulling a jar of delicious food from the cabinet that you lovingly "put up" is a great feeling. Mainly we can tomatoes and green beans, but this weekend we're trying our hand at dried beans. We canned black, navy, and kidney beans.
We use canned beans a lot in the winter for soups, stews, chili, and other throw-together dishes. Aluminum cans contain a BPA lining that's not so great for you, so canning your own beans and other veggies is a great idea. Plus dried beans taste better than canned beans, they are also cheaper and you control the sodium.
We did not soak or cook our beans first, we like the texture to be a bit firmer. However that is not the recommended USDA way so do what feels safe for you and consult your extension office if you have questions.
To start we cleaned and sterilized our jars and lids. Added 1/2 cup of dried beans and filled the rest of the jar with boiling water, leaving 1 inch of head space. Then processed them at 10 lbs pressure for 75 min in our pressure cooker. They look like they are a little less than the cans at the store but we're ok with that. We can't wait to toss them into some warm winter yumminess for a convenient and healthy supper.
Great idea and so much better than buying tinned beans. i agree they are a great addition in soups and stews. Thanks for sharing! Rebecca x
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