With the cost of food continually rising, I am finding that I really save money when I can my own food. Dry beans are very inexpensive to store for food storage. They are wonderful to have. As any other food in our food storages, they too need to be rotated and used. I love beans, but I find they take a lot of time to cook, and I need to plan ahead for when we will be using them. Canned, ready to use beans save a ton of time. At the store, a 15 oz can of beans range from .89-$1.69, depending on the type, and the store. Comparatively, a pint jar of your own canned beans (15-16 oz) costs about .18 cents. Of course you have the initial cost of the jar, but they can be reused indefinately. At the LDS Cannery, you can buy a 25 pound bag of dry beans for about $14.00!Canning your own beans:
Quantity: An average of 5 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 3.25 pounds is needed per canner load of 10 pints-- and average of 3/4 pounds per quart.
Quality: Select mature, dry seeds. Sort out and discard discolored seeds.
Procedure: a. Place dried beans or peas in a large pot and cover with water. Soak 12-18 hours in a cool place. Drain water. To quickly hydrate beans, you may cover sorted and washed beans with boiling water in a saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak 1 hour and drain (this is the way I prefer- much faster!). Cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil 30 minutes.
b. Sterilize jars in the dishwasher. Pull them out when you are ready to use them so they are hot.c. Using a slotted spoon, put beans in jar (use a canning funnel so you won't have a big mess!) leaving about 1 inch headspace (the space between top of rim and the beans).
d. When all jars are filled with the hot, partially cooked beans, use the liquid they were cooked in to fill up the jar. Once again, fill to 1 inch headspace.
e. Using a chopstick or knife, get air bubbles out by placing it on the inside if the jar and gently angling it toward the center.
f. Wipe off all rims of the jars. Make sure they are all clean!
g. Heat lids in simmering water for a couple of minutes to soften the seal.
h. Put lids and rings on jars. Only screw on "finger tight".i. Put in canner. My canner holds 20 pints (stacked), or 7 quarts. Use your canner as directed in the instructions.
j. For elevations 4001-6000 feet (all of Utah County, and most of Utah), process pints for 75 minutes at 13 pounds of
pressure. Process quarts for 90 minutes at 13 pounds of pressure.
13 pounds pressure
Finished product
Katie-
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your post. I'm so glad that we are friends. But I don't love beans that much! I think it is AWESOME that you are canning yours-
Have a great day!