First things first. It's VERY difficult to come up with elegant language to convincingly talk about the attributes of beans. So I'll butter-bean you up by letting you know this is my new & easier method for canning dry beans.
Here I am tonight, Monday night, at 11:30 p.m. pulling my dried beans out of the cupboard to soak overnight. They were behind the dried paprika peppers. T
his lull between the holidays and seed starting is when I try to get stuff like this done, so maybe you do too.
But first.
The moment you mention beans people do not think of the protein, or fibre or versatility or the myriad of other positives that beans have going for them.
Just think of farts.
I figure if I address it right off the bat we can get those thoughts out of our heads and move on to the work at hand. Canning dried beans. Just keep reading and I promise the thoughts of gas will pass.
While I was purging and reorganizing my apocalyptic basement I found my bean pot. My grandmother's vintage pot that I use to make old fashioned baked beans.
And THAT reminded me that I have a bunch of dried beans that I grew a couple of years ago that need to be canned.
I used to use the guidelines from the National Centre for Home Food Preservation because they are science based and repeatedly tested by smart people. They recommend soaking your dry beans overnight, then boiling them for 30 minutes before canning.
YOU CAN DO THIS, but the result is very mushy beans. Perfect for refried beans, but otherwise too soft.
I've now revised my method. After soaking them overnight, my beans go directly into jars for processing. There is no boiling. It's easier & produces less mushy beans.
You can also use reputable canning books like The Ball Book of Canning and Preserving or The Complete Book of Home Canning by The United States Department of Agriculture for guidelines.
Canning is NOT like a 1970's key party, tinged with the scent of Charlie and regret. There is no fooling around. *Always follow the rules or you might die.*
Table of Contents
How to Can Dried Beans
You can do this with home grown dry beans or ones you buy in a bag at the grocery store.
Supplies
- Dried beans
- Water
- Canning jars, seals & lids
- Salt (optional)
- A pressure canner (I use this weighted gauge pressure canner by Mirro.)
Method
- Soak your beans in water overnight (for 8-12 hours).
Ratio of dried beans to cooked beans: Dried beans double in volume once cooked. 1 cup of dried beans will become 2 cups of cooked beans for example.
2. After soaking, drain and rinse the beans.
4. Add salt* to the bottom of the jar, then add your softened beans and top with boiling water.
5. Add enough boiling water to come within 1" of the rim of the jar.
*The salt is optional & isn't necessary for preservation.
If you're interested in some of the bean varieties I grow and how to make a really easy, really good bean salad I show you both things in this post.
Important Tips
- You *must* use a pressure canner, not a hot water bath.
- After the 12-18 hours of soaking, the beans will have plumped up but will still be pretty hard. That's O.K.
- Boiling. If you want to ensure VERY soft, mushy beans after their overnight soak, boil them in water for 30 minutes. Just top up the water when you see it getting low as the beans boil for 30 minutes. This water you boil the beans in, is then used as your liquid for the canning portion.
- Add ½ tsp. salt per pint jar or 1 teaspoon per quart. The salt is optional & isn't necessary for preservation.
- Fill each jar with beans and liquid to within 1" of the rim. You HAVE to leave 1" of head space This is more room than you might be used to leaving if you can regularly. The beans expand and go nuts during the processing and if you have too much water or beans in the jar you risk your liquid getting sucked right out of the jar during canning leaving you with a bunch of beans but no liquid in your jar.
You can see here that I lost some of my liquid, but not enough to make it worrisome.
IF YOU LOSE MORE THAN ½ OF YOUR LIQUID BECAUSE OF OVER FILLING THEN STORE THE BEANS IN THE FRIDGE.
This is a precautionary best practice.
I use my canned beans for chili con carne, bean salad, refried beans and my favourite use for them is for making this Brazilian Black Bean Soup.
Canning dry beans
Ingredients
- Dried beans
- water
- salt
- jars, lids, seals
- Pressure Canner
Instructions
- Soak dried beans in water overnight (8-12 hours).
- In the morning, drain and rinse the beans.
- Add salt to bottom of canning jars. ½ teaspoon for pint jars, 1 teaspoon for quart.*
- Add soaked beans into clean canning jars. Leave a little more than 1" from the rim of the jar.
- Add boiling water to within 1" of can rim to cover beans. DO NOT OVERFILL.
- Add sealers and rings to jars after wiping rim.
- Process beans in a pressure canner at 10 lbs of pressure. Process 75 minutes for pint jars, 90 minutes for quart.
Notes
- * salt is just for flavour and isn't a part of the preservation process. If you want to eliminate the salt, you can safely do that.
- If you want really mushy beans you can boil them for 30 minutes in between their overnight soak and canning. Then use the bean water as your canning liquid instead of fresh boiled water.
- If you're canning multiple types of beans you can either soak and can them individually OR if you want a mixed combination for a bean salad or chili, you can can them together.
- It's very important to not overfill the jar. If you do, your liquid will be sucked out of the jar during the canning process leaving the beans inside dry.
SOME QUESTIONS YOU PROBABLY HAVE
Do dried beans ever go bad?? Nope. They do not. They'll keep indefinitely as long as they're kept dry. Older dried beans (2 years or older) might need to be cooked slightly longer to soften them up.
Yeah, but what would I use them in? Homemade canned beans can be used in chili, to make baked beans, and my favourite quick lunch Easy Bean Salad with feta cheese.
Beans are good for you? Indeed. Beans are full of protein and fibre. In order of the amount of protein per cup of cooked beans:
- soybeans - 31.32 grams
- kidney beans - 15.35 grams
- black beans - 15.24 grams
- navy beans - 14.98 grams
- chick peas - 14.53 grams
One last thing ...
What happens when you make a bean & onion casserole? Tear gas. 💧💨
Tear gas - that was a good one. I used to think that if I won the lottery, I would hire an chemist to come up with a pill/gum/candy you could take while consuming beans or any other gaseous food. They would include some sort of chemical that brought a delicious aroma to internal gas. Then when gas escaped, people would be asking you - oh boy that smelled so good. What flavor of Toot-be-gone did you use? When I was falling asleep while driving I would try to come up with a really cute name for the pill/gum/candy and that would helped with driving.
This is perfect timing. I just placed an order for heritage beans from Manitoba. I love growing beans to the dry stage on the vine and then opening the pods to see the little miracles inside. I've never thought of canning them. I usually just soak overnight (if I remember) and then make a batch of soup.
I would like to add my agreement that perhaps there's a typographical error in the pressure times - it should be 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts. I agree that the boiling step a good one to leave out though, as the beans retain more of their shape and are more useful in different recipes. It's really handy to be able to reach in your pantry for a jar of canned beans anytime the mood for great tasting fiber hits you!
Hi Norma, you're right, thanks! It was a typo. The hour somehow disappeared. I've fixed it now. ~ karen!
This may be a silly question, but why not just leave the beans in their dried state? When you want to eat them, prep them overnight.
Seems a bit easier than the canning process.
Hi Theresa! Scroll on up to the explanation I gave to Randy. :) ~ karen!
Karen, please check the processing times before anyone tries this. Shouldn't they be an hour and 15 minutes and an hour and 30 minutes?
As you mentioned, follow the rules or you could die!!!!!!!!
Yes, Yes! I've changed it. It was a typo. thanks. ~ karen!
Dad makes him and mom a pot of tear gas most every night. And I have to walk past their door at night. It's very disturbing. 😆
In other subjects, I suggest adding at least a teaspoon of baking soda to the soaking beans (add before the water or before the beans, or dissolve in the water first). Why? It helps to DE-GAS the beans. Yep. It's not perfect, but it definitely helps. Using Kombu seaweed is supposed to do the same (but mom buys that kind cause it doesn't have salt, & ... well... like I said, I have to walk past their room every night... & hold my breath.) 😂 I use hot water when soaking my beans (& salt), but I'm not canning them. I don't know how using cold water and baking soda works, but it probably just takes longer to dissolve. I'm sure it's fine. I just can't stand to see it sitting there, not dissolving. It bothers me. Lol. Ok, there were my two cents. :)
That's true! About the baking soda, I mean. Although from everything I've read, some people feel it works and others don't. :/ I keep meaning to do a side by side comparison. Which would be an interesting test to perform and evaluate.😆 ~ karen!
Interesting, yeah, that's A word for it. Lol.
I think the amount makes a difference too. I just don't remember how many cups of dry beans per tsp of baking soda, or vise versa, it's supposed to be. Maybe 1 tsp per cup? Or 2, or 3? Ugh. I know using the correct amount is a big difference, I just don't recall what it is, argh! (To make up for that, I know I can just fit 2 cups dry in my soaking bowl, so I use 1 or 3 tsp baking soda. Whichever one I think of. It really helps when its the correct one. I haven't done beans in a while, wish I had notes - & that I could always find them!)
I have never boiled beans prior to canning but it would save time on the recipe end. Love your advice it brightens my day.
Hey Karen:
You've inspired me to can beans, but first I need to find a place that can check the gauge on my pressure canner. I have one I haven't used in years since I didn't know where to get the gauge checked (and I understand one needs to do this regularly.) I'm in Nova Scotia. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Papelle
Hi Papelle! That's the reason I didn't get a gauge canner! The only advice I can give is to say that fire departments can check the gauges of your fire extinguisher, so maybe they can do the same for a canning gauge? I know in the US they have Extension offices for this sort of thing, but I'm really not sure where you're supposed to get them serviced in Canada. :/ ~ karen!
Thanks Karen. I'll try that out. I'll let you know if that's a possibility.
I hadn't realized there were pressure canners without gauges. I'll have to check them out.
P.
The US is now fazing out the service and recommend to buy a new gauge. I did and it was a breeze to replace. I also heard that rinsing the beans after soaking overnight removed some of whatever is responsible and lessens the effects. I also found a newly discovered variety of a very old bean discovered in a cave long forgotten by some native Anastazi Americans. It has a different protein composition and they don't require overnight soaking and are really delicious beans. Pretty in a jar, also. I can only find them on the internet from company out west that revived the bean.
I really appreciate that you're promoting safe canning, there's some sketchy stuff out there. I do water bath and pressure canning and love it, I haven't done beans yet but now I am intrigued and I do happen to have loads of beans in my pantry. Hmmm.
As soon as I'm done checking my emails I'll be getting mine into jars after their overnight soak. ~ karen!
I am a UCANR Master Gardener and I hang around with UCANR Master Food Preservers (and Master Bee Keepers--yes, I live a VERY exciting life!). Here is another great resource for canning. https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html#gsc.tab=0
https://mfp.ucanr.edu/Resources_/Recipes_and_Information/
I admit that I do not garden. I buy all my various forms of vegetation from a grocery store, which carries many varieties of dried beans. Far more varieties than I realized existed. Since dry beans have an incredible shelf life and most all cook within an hour or so, what is the advantage to canning them? My uneducated presumption is that home-canned beans are then 'ready to eat', just like beans sold in a can at the store? Or are there other reasons to home can them rather than store them dry?
Hey Randy! Home canned beans are one of the things that taste VASTLY better than store bought. I was quite astonished when I first made them. And I like to have odd varieties. But the *main* reason I do can dried beans is because it's good time management and convenient. You can spend one hour cooking beans for one dinner. Or you can spend one hour canning beans for the next 20 dinners. (omitting the time of the overnight soak) That's a savings of 19 hours. I think. I'm really not very involved with the math side of my brain. Finally, every time I want to serve beans, whether I'm making soup or a side dish, I can do it instantly, which makes me much more likely to eat them. ~ karen!
Thanks Karen, it makes perfect sense. As always I learn new things with every post of yours that I read.
Also uses less freezer space. (If you make up a large batch to save cooking time, etc, they've got to go somewhere.
What do you mean by pressure canner? Is this different from a pressure cooker or a big pot with a lid? I'm confused. And old. What was the question?
:) Yes a pressure canner is different than a pressure cooker and also different than a pot with a lid. Pot with a lid you can use to water bath something. A pressure cooker you use to cook food. A pressure canner, which is higher pressure than a pressure cooker, is used to can food. ~ karen!
Thanks!
Hi Karen! I’ve been eyeing pressure canning but the weight inaccuracy possibility has been making me uneasy. How do you get your weights checked/gauged? Or do you take them as they come… Also how’d you choose the canner brand? Not the usual Presto or the incredibly expensive American?
And good morning to you.
You know I check every morning first to see if there’s an “Art of Doing Stuff “! A nice positive note to start the day. Thank you.
Hi Terry! There are two types of pressure canners. A gauged canner and a weighted canner. The Prestos and All American are gauge canners and their gauges, like a fire extinguisher, need to be adjusted over time. I bought canner that uses weights instead. The reason I got the weighted canner was because those weights don't need adjusting or checking. ~ karen!
Hi Karen,
I'm definitely going to try this method. Just one question, why such a difference in processing time? Not 75 minutes or 90 for pints or quarts respectively?
Thanks
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca. That was a typo! It was meant to be 1hr 15 minutes and 1hr 30 minutes. ~ karen!