For me, one of the keys to cooking real food is to have a pantry stocked with real food ‘building blocks’ that I have prepared ahead of time.
I always have a supply of homemade broth/stock, home-canned tomato sauce, applesauce, pickles, and multiple other items. It makes it easy to put together a real-food meal without spending 6 hours in the kitchen each and every day.
I love cooking with dried beans (black beans, red beans, pinto beans, navy beans, you get the picture…), but they can take a lot of time to prepare. If you are starting from scratch, expect to soak them overnight, and then cook them for several hours.
It’s not a complicated process, but it definitely makes deciding to have refried beans for supper at the last minute pretty much impossible.
To combat this problem, I like to make big batches of beans at once.
To preserve my beans, I prefer canning over freezing. Here’s why:
1. My freezer space is limited, and I’d rather use it to store things like meat.
2. I seriously struggle with remembering to take things out of the freezer so they have time to defrost. And a frozen jar of beans takes for.ev.er to thaw out…
3. In the event of a power outage, my canned beans are ready-to-go at a moment’s notice. Even if my freezer was without power and the food in it spoiled, my canned items would be ok.
Now this is very important if you are planning on canning beans:
**You MUST use a pressure canner to can beans– a water bath canner WILL NOT cut it. Any time you are preserving low-acid foods (like beans), a pressure canner is required.**
You can check out my 3-part How to Use a Pressure Canner series here. It’s really not as intimidating as you think– promise!
Got your bag of beans ready? Let’s do this!
How to Pressure Can Beans
Supplies:
- Dried beans (kidney, black beans, pinto, navy, etc) **see my note below regarding amounts
- Water
- Quart or pint sized mason jars with lids/rings (like these)
- A pressure canner (buy one here)
Instructions:
Pick through your beans to remove any foreign objects, then place them in a large bowl and cover with plenty of water. Allow them to soak overnight.
(You can add 2 Tablespoons whey, vinegar, or lemon juice to your soaking water if you wish. Some folks report that it makes them easier to digest- although I haven’t noticed a whole lot of difference. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to try.)
The next morning, drain and rinse the beans. Place in a large pot and cover them by about 2 inches of fresh water. Bring to a boil. (Stir frequently and watch carefully– those beans LOVE to boil over!)
Ladle the hot beans into hot jars (no need to sterilize them, but they should be clean and hot), leaving 1″ headspace. Fill with the cooking liquid, again, leaving 1″ headspace. Put lids and rings on the jars.
**Alternate Method**
The Ball Blue Book recommends boiling the beans for 30 minutes before placing into jars. However, this makes the beans a little on the mushy side. Many folks (including myself) have had good luck with simply soaking the beans overnight, rinsing, and then placing them straight into the jars. Fill the jars with boiling water (leaving 1″ headspace) and then proceed with the canning. This eliminates the hassle of boiling and results in slightly firmer beans.
Place them in a pressure canner and process at 10 pounds* pressure:
- Pints for 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Quarts for 1 hour, 30 minutes
(*You will need to adjust your pressure depending on your altitude. I have to process at 15 pounds pressure since we are at 6,500 feet. My pressure canning tutorial has more info.)
Remove from canner and let cool, checking all lids for proper seals before storing.
Kitchen Notes:
- Bean Amounts: My Ball Blue Book calls for about 3/4 pound of dried beans per quart jar. For my last batch, I used 11 pounds of dried red beans and that filled about 9 quart jars (give or take a little). If you end up with extra, you can always freeze them, or eat them for supper that night.
- After you boil the beans and are ready to put them in jars, they won’t be fully softened. The pressure canner will do the rest of the cooking, so don’t panic. 😉
- Some tutorials do a “quick soak” method which instructs you to bring the dry beans to a boil, let them stand for one hour, and then proceed with canning. I suppose you can do this if you like, but I prefer the overnight soak. It makes sense to me that that would make them slightly easier to digest, but that’s just my uneducated opinion.
- If you like, you can add some salt to each jar (1/2 teaspoon for pints, 1 teaspoon for quarts). This is purely for added flavor- it plays no part in the preservation process. I usually leave mine unsalted and season accordingly when I’m ready to use them.
So what do you do with all those canned beans?
Lots of stuff! Make up a batch of my famous refried beans, add them to burrito filling, make my venison chili recipe, add to soups, or season and eat as-is. The sky is the limit when it comes to the bean. 🙂
PrintHow to Can Dry Beans
Ingredients
- Dried beans (kidney, black beans, pinto, navy, etc)
- Water
- Quart or pint sized mason jars with lids/rings (like these)
- A pressure canner (like this)
Instructions
- Remove any foreign objects from beans
- Place in large bowl and cover with water
- Optional: Add 2 Tablespoons whey, vinegar, or lemon juice to soaking water
- Soak overnight
- Drain and rinse beans
- Place in large pot
- Cover with 2 inches of fresh water
- Bring to a boil, stirring frequently and watching to prevent boiling over
- Ladle beans into hot jars (no need to sterilize as long as they’re clean and hot), leaving 1″ headspace
- Fill with cooking liquid, again, leaving 1″ headspace
- Put lids and rings on jars
- Place jars in pressure canner and process at 10 pounds* pressure:
- Pints for 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Quarts for 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Remove from canner and let cool, checking all lids for proper seals before storing
Notes
(*You will need to adjust your pressure depending on your altitude. I have to process at 15 pounds pressure since we are at 6,500 feet. My pressure canning tutorial has more info.)
Other Canning Goodies:
- How to Can Stock or Broth
- 6 Tips for No-Stress Canning
- How to Can Applesauce (and a detailed water-bath canning tutorial)
- The How to Use a Pressure Canner series
Hi Geat info! About how many cups of cooked beans equals the 3/4 cup per quart jar? Is that dried weight or cooked weight? Thanks!!!
Hmmm… I actually didn’t measure that part out– sorry! However, the 3/4 lb is the dried weight.
How much water does this leave once you open them?
It really depends– usually there isn’t a whole lot of liquid left, though. The beans soak it up.
How much is 3/4lb into cups?
Another GREAT Idea !!!!
Thank You Jill…Will Definitely try this.
@Theresa C – 3/4 lb = 12oz.
1/2 lb or 1 cup = 8oz.
@ACK Bistro Incorrect. Volume (the amount of space something takes up) is not the same as weight (mass).
I’ve never canned beans but this is a good idea! I’m a super busy mom but I buy big bags of organic dry beans as they cost pennies to make meals out of.
we de-gas beans (which makes them easier to digest) by never cooking the beans in the water they were soaked in and skimming off the foam off the top at the beginning boiling stage. I have noticed that it makes a difference! I have never heard of adding vinegar, lemon juice or whey to it! learn something everyday 🙂
You can also rinse store bought canned beans before cooking…and it will de-gas
the beans. I soak beans over night and rinse them again before I resoak
the next day. Many people don’t eat beans because of the gassiness.
The old way of degassing beans was to soak overnight, drain, rinse. Then put in pot to parboil them with 1 tsp baking soda til you can blow on a few in spoon and skins will peel. Then drain cover with fresh water add all other ingredients and cook til soft as you want them.
I forgot to say when parboiling you will see green foam from the gas coming out of beans.
I can’t wait to try canning beans and potatoes from my garden! I never thought about canning those two items before until recently and I have been canning for 35 to 40 years! Thank you for the post!
The tip I use for degassing beans is adding a teaspoon of powdered ginger to the soaking water. Then I drain the beans and add fresh water for cooking. I often add about 1/2 teaspoon of ginger to the cooking water. Oddly enough, it does not cause the beans to have a ginger flavor.
How long do canned beans like this last
I am having a problem with mine. Twice now I have most of my canner full appear to be processed, just one or two qts not sealed.
I label, store, and when I go back, half of those have expanded seals abs didn’t seal properly.
I end up with 2 or 3 properly sealed jars in storage, 1 or two I use immediately, and the rest wasted, for every canner full.
What can I do to solve this??
Thanks for the idea of using vinegar to help with digestion. Im soaking a bunch of black beans now and just added some acv to the water. May add again during the cooking stage to see if that helps.
awesome! They look beautiful! Good job!!!!
I canned pinto beans and they were very soft after canning. This is not a problem for refried beans. I want to can some white beans for other dishes. My husband does not want them as soft as the pinto beans turned out. Will the white beans be as soft as the pinto beans when canned?
Thank you.
Hmmm… So far, I’ve just used one can of my white beans– and I pureed them in a recipe– so I can’t say for sure how soft they are. Sorry! 🙂
The first time I canned beans I used your method, and found them to be too soft. Since then I soak them overnight but I don’t boil them before canning them. The beans turn out great this way. I love having a pantry full of all different types of canned beans!
Good to know Erica!
What is the shelf life of pressure canned dried beans??
I just canned beans for the first time following the original method. I used cannellini beans as they hold their shape very well when cooked. After removing them from the pressure canner, I noticed they had partially turned to mush. I think Erica’s Idea is a good one. And, I will definitely not cook them prior to canning because I soaked them overnight.
I am having the hardest time finding dry cannellini beans. Where did you find them? (I’m in WA, and all I can find is the already canned type at the store, but we LOVE them so much, I want to cut our grocery budget and can them myself instead!)
Try amazon.
How much more did they expand? Did you have to leave extra space?
I soak my beans in the jar overnight. Then rinse in the morning. Refill with warm water, and start in a luke warm pressure cooker. They come out soft, but not too soft. 3/4 cup for pints, 1 1/4 for quarts.
There are several places you can order all kinds of beans on line. Ask Google!! I order organic beans from nuts.com. I am going to try canning canary beans. They are so creamy and good. I want to try using a little veggie bouillon and onion in them.
★★★★★
If you wish to apply water/heat more but don’t like them too soft, you can add ice cream salt to the water you soak and cook them in. Your beans will remain more firm.
★★★★★
The ice cream salt lets you cook longer and hotter for the same firmness.
America’s Test Kitchen has done a study that shows if you brine the beans overnight in a quarter of a cup of sea salt per gallon of water it will toughen the beans so they can stand up to the rigors of pressure canning. Rinse the beans and add to the jars but only fill up to 2/3 or3/4 full. Then add your liquid to the 1 inch line. The liquid should be not not boiling. Be sure and check for b ubbles by running a thin plastic knife around the inside of the jar. Then seal.
All my canned beans come out mushy. Dry canned, no pre soak or pre cook & the result is more like refried beans. Can I reduce cooking time?
no, the time is essential. Are you starting your time once the canner has vented for 10 minutes? Are you canning at the right pressure for your altitude? At 70 mins for pints and 90 mins for quarts if you dry can you should be finding your beans still firm(ish), if I pre cook the beans I find they are too soft for my liking but the soak overnight, do not cook, just can the beans they are perfect. I put the beans in the jars (1/2 c pints, 1 c quarts) cover with water for 12 hrs rinse the beans, keeping them in the jar then cover with boiling water and pressure can. This is the easiest, quickest method with the best results.
★★★★★
I do dry beans one cup per quart jar cover with hot water 1 tsp salt per quart n process the ninety minutes this leaves juice plus u have a former bean
Do you soak the beans at all in the jars or just put the dry beans and water in and put in pressure canner?
I add 1c. of dry beans to qt jar fill with hot tap water add 1tsp canning salt and process for 90 minutes. Turns out perfect ,easy peasy
I do this as well, with good results.
I also just put dry beans in a jar with hot water and salt then pressure them. I’ve taught canning classes and this is the method we teach.
Have you thought about grinding the beans and adding them to boiling water to make the refried beans? That would be a quick idea, too.
Hmmm… good idea– never thought of that!
Another AWESOME post! Thank you THANK YOU! It seems so simple, but when you start adding up each can of beans I buy each shopping trip, I could have had SOOOO much more doing it this way! I have had some jars of beans in the pantry patiently waiting for me to cook them…… Now I will! And yes, the pressure cooker is intimidating, I will admit. The hissing and my imagination running wild on its about to blow, LOL! Now I can put some of my JAR collection to use and prove to my husband that there WAS a reason I was saving all of my jars!! LOL! Keep the awesome ideas coming!! I have since made Homemade French Bread and Tortillas from your recipes!! Hopefully I can get my Mom and friends interested in making the effort to make their own!
You can make beans in 1 day to have for dinner. Here’s how I do it: 1 lb of dried beans in pot and cover with water at least 1-2 inches over the beans. Boil for 10 minutes or you can let it come to a boil for a couple minutes and let it sit all day with the lid on. Drain. Place in pressure cooker (a regular pressure cooker, not a canner). Add fresh water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches or up to fill mark of your pot. For refried beans I add 1 T oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1 diced onion, 2 t salt. Place lid on pot. Bring to pressure, when it starts rockin’ turn heat down a little (as long as the indicator is still rocking, I put it on medium high) and time for 50 minutes. Done! The timing may be different depending on your pressure cooker. I have gone through several (my kids have lost the indicator or it has gotten eaten by the garbage disposal) and 50 minutes is about average.
Hey Jill, thanks for confirming what I’ve been doing for years – and I do it the same way. I know folks who add bacon or ham and I have made bean with bacon soup and canned that – just DELISH. Love my home canned beans and so do my family and friends! I have actually canned pints of various beans (including garbanzos) and given them as gifts at Christmas. Add a couple jars of home made jelly and it is such a hit. Blessings girl – this Gramma loves your tips.
Bean with bacon soup….. oh my goodness- yum!
Great idea Jill!
I was thinking of doing entire jars of chili with some of the beans that I grow. Have you ever canned chili?
Not yet– but it’s on my list!
Oh, you’ll love it. I canned some chili for the first time a few weeks ago. I found a recipe online for Chili Con Carne on the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Probably some of the tastiest chili that’s come out of my kitchen!
Can chilli all the time, use over a baked potato for a great supper.
I do it every year …. sometimes a couple times a year depending on how fast we eat it.
I just make a huge pot of my chili (meat and all). While still hot, fill Quart jars and process. Check your book for exact time … it’s pretty extensive, but, I can’t remember off the top of my head.
I do make sure I leave a good full inch of head room because it does expand quite a bit and I usually leave my jars sit on the counter for a good day or day in a half. You will see that they continue to bubble for many hours after being removed from canner. The Chili is really dense and holds the heat.
I absolutely LOVE having Chili ready to go in my canning closet. I keep it all Summer too because we like to have Chili dogs or Chili burgers.
Thanks for this great post. I can many things, but I guess I never even thought of canning beans. This would make life so much easier since I always forget to take my beans out of the freezer. Thank you!
Since I live in Colorado (at about 6,500, too) beans take forever to cook, so I learned to pressure cook (not pressure can, just pressure cook) beans from dry beans to done in just under an hour. With the newer pressure cookers, it’s safe to cook beans, if you follow all the instructions that come with them. I’ve never had a problem. Just my 2 cents, and another way to get beans to the table fairly fast.
We live just outside Denver now but for 18 1/2 years.in southern Colorado a rural area where home stead things were quite common. I know what does this have to do with beans. Well I have learned to use a hot pot new name for electric pressure cooker. My beans take 10to20 minutes to cook. It depends on how you like them mushed or crunchy (you have to experiment). The amount of liquid also depends on how you like them (more liquid the juicer). By the way this will also work in on the stove on if your electric goes out. Just my two cents. Both will work.
Jill, so glad to have found your website! We live about 15 miles from Cheyenne so it’s good to have someone in “the neighborhood” who is writting about all of this. We eat a lot of beans so I will definitely be trying this. I have trouble keeping my stove burner (propane) hot enough to can things. I thought it was the altitude but you are even higher than we are (6,200). What type of stove are you using? Our old house had an electric stove and I never had a problem.
What I have found is that gas pressure fluctuates
I used to can beans that way until 3 years ago when my sister came to visit. She told me I did it the hard way. She had me sort and wash my beans. Then put 1 1/2 cups of the uncooked washed beans in quart size sterile jars, add 1 tsp. salt and fill with water leaving 1 inch head space. Process in pressure canner for 90 minutes. I have done them this way ever since.
This is how I do mine. No need to cook first as they cook while processing. I do black beans, pinto beans with spices for refried beans and garbanzo beans. I am going to try baked beans and chili beans this winter after I get my garden processed.
what pressure do you use? 10 lbs?
I use 15 lbs.
How do I know how much pressure my pressure cooker is giving. All I know is that I put the lid on and wait for the weight to rock. I live in Utah.How do I know I am getting the right lbs of pressure.
You have to know the instructions for your type of canner. It varies by brand and some brands have different weights that you can use for different pressures.
Could I use this method for chic peas?
Yes, you can! 🙂 I found this forum thread with lots of interesting info on the subject: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/harvest/msg0114020120135.html
I don’t have a pressure canner. Can you do this by processing in a hot water bath? How long would it need to process?
No, unfortunately, you definitely need a pressure canner to do the beans. Because they are a low-acid food, a water bath canner just isn’t safe enough.
This is a great tutorial. I’ve tried to can beans before, but it never works out. I love the chemistry of the process…will follow your direction!
Hope it works well for you Robert!
Can I add bacon? I am going to get back into canning this summer. Have to purchase a pressure cooker first as I sold my other one about 20 years ago when I quit canning! Big mistake! Anyway, I’ve never canned beans before and will be happy to try it. Thanks for the tutorial!
Yes, I definitely think you could add bacon–however– you might want to do a quick Google search to find out if you need to adjust the cooking times.
Quick question: My All American instruction manual has much lower processing times at higher altitudes. It doesn’t list kidney beans or black beans specifically, but for example lima beans are only supposed to be processed at 15 lbs pressure for 30 minutes? Ack! Doing my canner for the first time, what do I do?
I got my main instructions from the Ball Blue Book. It’s the best, I think. 🙂
I’ve been freezing my beans but would much rather can for the same reasons you listed. I’m curious though – what is the shelf life of the canned beans?
We’ve been canning beans for several years, and while Ball says 1 year, we’ve been able to use ours well past 5 years. Not that they last that long of course, but it’s been known to happen when a jar gets ‘lost’ in the back of the pantry…
I am going to pressure my dry beans at fifteen pounds of pressure. Will 35 minutes be enough?
I can my dry beans, too. Very handy ! …I cook mine with fatback, so I process them 100 minutes @15 pounds of pressure, just like I would do if I were canning meat.
Yum on the fatback!
Would this help to use up dried beans that are older? I have friends that store more than they used within a few year and now they are hard to cook
I’ve never tried pressure canning old beans, but I’ve heard folks say it works, so it might be worth a try?
I’m a newbie to all this…is a pressure cooker and pressure canner the same thing?
No- they are different. This link explains it well– http://www.foodsafety.wisc.edu/consumer/fact_sheets/pressurecannerandcooker.pdf 🙂
Why does my beans turn out soft and real mush on the bottom of the jars?
I tried soaking in hot water for 3 hours and canning at differ pressure
10 lbs. & 15 lbs. both for 90 minutes still mush can you please help me
I read “somewhere” that the alkalinity of the water can make them mushy, so softened water should not be used.
Like Brenda (above posting), I can my beans without cooking them first. I use the same proportions as she does (1 1/2 c dry washed beans per quart jar, 1 tsp salt, fill with water). The beans are always tender but not overcooked after processing. if we’ve had a baked ham with a bone, I simmer the bone til the ham falls off and I will then can beans with ham in them. I use cup of dry beans per quart jar in that case and no salt, as the ham tends to be salty enough. I put about 1/2 c. of ham chunks in the bottom of the jar, add the beans, and use the broth from simmering the ham bone for the liquid. Yummy!!! Most of the beans I can get done a couple jars at a time to fill up my canner when whatever else I’m canning doesn’t do so! If you’re canning the beans dry, so quick and easy to add a jar or two to fill up the canner!
Alright. You guys have me convinced to definitely try this next time around! Sounds even easier, and I’m all about that. 😉
How long do you cook
How much pressure/lbs and for how long?
Oops, I left out something important~ I do not soak the beans either, before canning them! Just wash them and sort them.
yep- no soaking. I love doing a couple jars of several kinds in one batch.
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I’m so glad to see some posts about dry canning beans the way I do. I clean and rinse them- and can them. No need to soak or cook. I’ve done it this way for a couple of years now. EASY! I mainly can black, pinto and red kidney beans. And it’s something you can do any time of the year. I wait until beans go on sale and then I stock up, and can away.
★★★★★
I soaked 4lbs of pinto beans overnight and then rinsed them. I put 1tsp of taco seasoning in the bottom of each jar and filled with beans and fresh water and pressure canned pints for 90 mins. All ready for meatless tacos.
I BOUGHT NAVY BEANS BY MISTAKE WANTING TO MAKE BAKED BEANS. WHAT CAN I DO WITH THEM? HOW DO I USE THEM?
You should still be able to use them to make baked beans– or substitute in any other bean dish. 🙂
Is it ok to add jalapenos, if so…would I get the beans ready in jars and then add jalapenos?
I don’t see why that would be a problem. 🙂 I’ve never tried it, but I think adding them to the hot jars and then dumping the beans on top should be perfectly fine.
be careful with jalapenos …. most peppers get hotter the longer they are stored
Hi–down here on the CO plains, we grow almost everything we eat. This year we are trying kidney beans and it is working out (so far). Has anyone ever tried canning fresh kidney beans?
Hmmm… No, I haven’t done much with fresh beans– just dried ones. I imagine it would be pretty similar though. I bet the Ball Blue Book might have some ideas for you. 🙂
I have been canning beans for about 20 yrs now, but I have never cooked them before as you do I just let the pressure cooker do that for me. we have 2 cookers so I do a lot of jars at once. The beans are nice and tender chilli or hummus or anything else with beans are a snap!! love to pressure cook. We live in the desert so I only need to cook mine for 75 min for pints and 90 min for qts. I loved your site. we only have an acre but we plant a garden and do a lot of canning
So, my husband canned pinto beans using a water bath. We took one of the cans off of the shelf for dinner, the beans tasted “funny” so we and our kids stopped eating them. Now I’m worried! What should we do? Just wait to see if we start feeling sick?
Yes, beans must be canned with a pressure canner because they are low acid. I don’t really have any advice for you as far as the sickness thing- sorry! I hope everything is ok!
Love my canned beans. Hubby asked me the other weekend why was I canning dried beans. FOR THE CONVENIENCE! Last night I finely diced up the 1/2 chicken I had left, dumped in a large can of tomato soup (yes store bought), a jar of my black beans and a package of tomatoes I vacuumed packed and froze this summer added some onions and chili powder. Hubby will turn on crock pot this afternoon and chili done for supper. Just add crackers!
So I came to this site as it said beans and beacon but have failed to see time to cook with beacon
With bacon it is the same time 90 min
So, aren’t you supposed to boil low acid canned foods for about 10-20 minutes before eating?
I don’t–as long as you use a pressure canner to can low-acid stuff, I don’t think it’s a problem.
My father, a health inspector way back when, always had us boil ANY low acid canned foods for 10 minutes, even store bought. One of my sisters does that to this day. I have never bothered and don’t seem the worse for it, but it does no harm to do so. Any heat- sensitive vitamin loss would have already happened in the canning process.
Interesting! And you’re right–it probably can’t hurt.
i have read that whatever you do in a waterbath after opening boil the food meat or anything else you keep boiling up to 121°C for 10 minutes i am from europe and you can’t find here a pressure canner i bought mine in the USA it’s a real shame not be able to buy one in EU
OK, I am about 4000 feet and did my quarts at 15 lbs for 90 mins and very few of the lids stayed on. Yes, I cleaned the mouths of the jars and no I didn’t over fill. Any other tips? My local friends say only cook 20-30 mins -they say I was overcooking.
Hmmm… usually when I’ve had non-sealers, it’s b/c I underfill or overfill. Were you lids new? Maybe if they were old, the sealant was bad or something?
Sounds like the heat was to high
I love canning beans: Boston Baked Beans, Chili, Split pea soup. I’ll can up plain beans and lentils for soups, stews and salads. Makes things so nice. Last batch of pintos I canned up I added a garlic clove, some cumin and chili powder to make a refried bean mix. I’d love to try having the refried beans made up first, but they are too thick and won’t can properly. I do soak the beans before canning, but I’ve cooked them afterwords. I think I’ll try your way next time I can some. It won’t be long, I’m out of pea soup again.
I have canning some yummy soups on my to-do list!
If the beans are old, don’t add salt until after they have been cooked. The salt will keep them from softening.
Just a bit curious about the water you are soaking these beans in. In my experience I have found if you don’t use HOT water to start the soak with, the beans will start to sprout over-night. I just use very hot or boiling water to stop this process.
Thanks for the recipe!!!
I will be using it soon.
Hmmm…. I’ve never had them sprout overnight–interesting! I’m sure starting with hot water won’t hurt though. 🙂
I actually had it happen to me earlier this year, a first for me to be sure.
I don’t always soak my beans before cooking but I try to do it because we like the taste better.
I also add a bit of chopped ham, or some fried bacon, or even some salt pork fried and then put in the beans.
I like to soak them and then put them in a crock-pot to cook overnight on low. Then the next day when we are ready for them they are ready, cooked and very well done. Without all the fuss of having to check on them all day and keep stirring them too.
This is the method I’ve used for years and has always worked for me. Clean and sort beans. Wash through several waters and add water to cover plus about 2 inches. Bring to a boil add teaspoon baking soda and boil 5 minutes. Drain well and add a med onion quartered along with fresh hot water to cover plus about 2 or 3 inches. Cook about 1 1/2 hours, add salt and pepper to taste and cook another 15 minutes. Ladle into jars and seal with lids that have been in boiling water. I store these in an extra fridge and they will last a good three to six months. Also the soda removes the gas that everyone complains about.
I wonder if it’s possible to increase the acidity in order to can them in a water bath? I don’t really have the ability to by a pressure cooker right now, and I would love to be able to can soups, pumpkin puree, and beans. What would you sugggest or must I get a pressure cooker?
Your best option would be to fully cook and then freeze the beans.
how do you feel about the canning jars that have the metal lids?
Have you ever tried canning the beans without precooking them? I found out about it on YouTube. You put 1/2 cup of beans in a pint jar or 1 cup in a quart. Add 1/2 tsp salt to the pint or 1 tsp. to the quart. Fill within 1 inch of the top of the jar with water and process the same amount of time you did for the cooked beans. So easy and much faster with less mess and they are wonderful.
funny, i was wondering them same.
I have some questions…
So, are you canning cooked dried beans or partially cooked? At first I thought they were literally dry in a jar. Do they get softer with time after you’ve canned them?
The beans are soaked, and then briefly boiled so they are hot before placing in jars. The canning process cooks them the rest of the way.
if you like beans this much just grow them by the ton, costs about nothing and you don’t have to look for you favorite beans any longer! i think your stores soon will be short of everything so learn to grow… soon!
If I cooked the beans with jalapeños, onions, and spices to make refried beans. Would that change the time and pressure for pressure canning them? I have never used a pressure canner before, but am wanting to….although, a bit nervous!
Just a few comments to some of the questions I’ve seen here.
1. Dry Beans ( cooked, partially cooked or dry-dry) absolutely MUST BE processed in a PRESSURE CANNER.
2. No matter what recipe you’re using; they MUST BE pressure canned for the full 90 minutes.
3. Water bathing beans is NOT SAFE…PERIOD. Neither is “steam canning” or “Oven-canning”. DON”T take a chance on killing your family !
4. Personally I wait to add salt until I open the jars to make dinner.
I’ve always canned my beans dry, washed but not soaked, using the ham broth made from the ham bones and trimmings; but I add a ham and skin chunk to each jar, and 1 1/2 cups of dry, washed beans.
All good points, except cook time is only 75 minutes for pints. Here’s a great reference for all pressure canning: http://msuextension.org/publications/HomeHealthandFamily/MT198329HR.pdf
I have just put my first “canner of pinto beans on the stove. Am trying the method of not cooking before hand. Our elevation is about 4300 feet and I usually pressure at 15 pounds for 40 minutes for a meal of beans. Am excited about this first experiment into canning dry beans. I have been using pressure canners and pressure cookers all my life. (I am 73) Don’t fear them. Just use wisdom and you will love them.
I use 3/4 cup of dry beans per quart jar. Just use clean jars. Add dry beans and fill with water to the top. Let soak over night. I drain an refill jars with clean water. Then process. This way there is more gravy with the beans. You can also put dried beans in a jar fill with water and process. But there is no gravy in the jar.
MEGW.: Yes, I did neglect to say I only can dry beans in QUART jars. Sorry. To me, it just doesn’t make any sense to use pint jars for these. 😉
Thank you so much for the information here. I have been wanting to can my own beans forever. I did kidney beans and they turned out wonderful! I eat them a lot on salads, so I threw in a tsp of celtic sea salt & the flavor was wonderful! Soooo much better than canned from the store!
Next I’m doing black beans and then will do a few pinto. This is a huge money saver and since I was able to use organic beans I’m getting a much better product for a fraction of the price.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Way to go Kris! It’s fun, huh? 😉
Just my two scents on the soft beans… I actually like my beans to be really really soft – So much so that the beans contribute to the soup to make it thicker. I pour two cups dry beans (half northern white and half pinto) into my slow cooker before bed. Fill to the top with water and set on “low”. Next morning I drain off all the water and add fresh to the top. I add in about 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 tablespoon garlic plus salt and pepper. Keep slow cooker on low all day – maybe 8 hours. Then, transfer to a heavy pot on the stovetop. I add 1/4 cup bacon grease and cook rapidly until the liquid decreases and thickens. Serve with cast iron fried cornbread and fried potatoes. Delish.
Awesome tips Christa!
I love your encouragement to can beans. I ran out recently and really needed to get it done. And your right with the recent cold spells canning beans is lovely. Warms the house a bit to. 🙂
However, the reason I am writing the comment was in your recipe you say to bring the beans to a boil, but you do not say how long to boil them for. I look in my ball book and it said for 30 mins before processing them. I thought you might want to edit the recipe to include that detail.
Blessing during this lovely winter.
Siobhan
I usually bring mine to a boil and then put them into the jars then. They cook the rest of the way during the canning process, and I think it helps them not to be quite a mushy. 😉
Thanks. That helps I will do that next time then.
Blessings,
Siobhan
I have been canning beans with the waterbath method for years and have never had a problem with them. Soak them overnight rinse them 3 cups of beans to a jar no more cover with water add salt if desired (I usually don’t salt till I use them) Process them for 3 hours in a boiling water bath. They come out perfect. I never cook them before I can them and they are nice and firm.
Is this pressure canner the same as a pressure cooker? Or is it specific for canning
They are two separate tools. You can not use a pressure cooker to can because it cannot reach the required pressure (by dial gauge, since it does not have one) and does not come with a weight that goes from 5 lb, 10 lb to 15 lb. There are people who can but do not follow the Ball Canning Book and take chances by cutting corners.
First go at canning dry beans. Bad choice that we also decided to make Hamburger soup for the shop the same evening. So, also, having not read the instructions lately, vented the pressure cooker to get all 3 batches done. 🙂 I know, why would we push ourselves to make so much in one night. Not to mention the soup. Ok, 7 pounds of beans of various types. Some by themselves and mixed some. Processed them for the rec. time and vented, causing them to lose water past the seal. Do you think they will be fine or should we scrap the 20 jars we did and start over with more patience? They look OK, just that the water is low and it looks like a gel inside the jar. ( Soup turned out AWESOME!)
LOVE this post, Jill! Thank you so much for sharing! I am going to be sharing this via social media this week! Already pinned it. Yay! you are such a blessing! xo
Your website was really helpful and I followed everything to the T. However, is it normal to have an inch of water boil out of the jars during the canning process? I started with an inch of space at the top and ended with over 2 inches of space in the jars. The beans were still covered with liquid, but it looks a little funny. Also only three out of 12 jars ended up sealing, so frustrating. Lastly, with the three jars that did seal, are they shelf worthy with that much water missing? I’m not giving up, but if you have some pointers that would be great!
I realized that one thing that I didn’t do exactly right was waiting for the pressure to go down on it’s own. After the cooking time, I let it sit for about 30 min and then got impatient to look at my work so I took off the weight and let the pressure escape quickly…do you think that caused most of my jars not to seal?
Yes if the pressure changes rapidly that can cause the jars to not seal properly.
Sometimes I lose liquid in mine too. However, if you had trouble with the rest of the batch sealing, it may have been because there wasn’t enough headspace. Sometimes that will result in the lids not sealing.
My next batch went much smoother. I realized that by pulling off the weight before it had depressurized by itself had caused the liquid to boil out of the jars while depressurizing too fast. I also found that I had the lids on the the first batch too loose so the screw part was a little bit above the glass rim, so the bean liquid got between the seal and the screw part of the lid, dried, and then glued the seal part of the lid to the screw part and kept it up off the glass rim at the time it would have sealed. *Eyeroll* Did you follow that? 🙂 Anyway, I figured some stuff out and have had better success since. THANK YOU!
YAY for learning experiences! I’m so glad you were able to trouble-shoot. 😉
My daughter and I are going to spend several hours tomorrow canning black and pinto beans. THANKS for posting these directions. In your original recipe you say to process quarts for 30 min, but several of the comments say it has to be 90 min. Which is correct?
My directions say 1 hour, 30 minutes. So it’s the same as 90 min. 🙂
I canned pinto beans and black eyed peas last weekend. Followed your instructions but when I took them out of the canner almost all the liquid was gone. I did the 1″ head space, my jars lids were tight. Do you think the beans soaked the liquid up or it boiled out? I’m wondering if my pressure cooker was not functioning properly? Any suggestions? The jars all sealed. Thanks !
Hi Jill, I have canned all kinds of things and was talking about canning more beans as ours are all gone. I really like having them on hand because of having a fast meal and in case of power outage they can be warmed up on a grill. Also, for the person who was talking about buying a canner, have you thought to look at flea markets and thrift shops? Sometimes people sell them for next to nothing, I got an All American Canner for less than $80 in perfect condition and looks like it hasn’t been used more than once or twice or a neighbor may have one they will be glad to let you borrow.
i got my antique canner from my 80 y/o neighbors 25 years ago – the kind with the 10 screw handle tighteners…..i took it to my county ext office to have it calibrated and ask what pound of pressure i needed for cooking at my alt (4500′). perfect idea to go for a used canner but check it out before use with the ext office and it should be good to go.
That happens with my beans sometimes, too. I think the beans soak up a lot of the liquid. As long as they are sealed, you should be OK.
So I have just finished processing my pinto beans and have taken the lid off the pressure canner. My beans are not out yet but I pulled one jar out. They look like they are still a bit uncooked. I still see the pinto freckles on the skins. Does this mean I need to pressure them more? First time pressure canner. Thanks
It’s hard to say unless you open a jar and test them to see if they are soft.
Hello Jill I’m hoping you can help?! I have just canned come beans last night in some home canned ham hock broth. I had forgotten about the elevation 6500 and pressured them at 15 for 75 min which is what the recipe called for. Do you suppose they are ok? First time doing them. Opened a jar last night and they are cooked completely through. (I ate 1/2 a jar they were so good). Should I re-pressure and do you think they would turn to mush?
Thank you!
What time would you suggest for half pint jars? Half the time of pints?
do you ever fill a pressure canner with a variety of jars of beans….. say if the canner holds 17 pints, and you fill it with 5 jars of pinto beans, 7 jars of kidney beans, and 5 jars of black beans?? they would all take the same amount of canning time..right??
the reason i ask, is….. i may not want 17 jars of pinto beans, and 17 jars of black beans…
for me, a variety of beans would be more practical.
just found your blog, and so fa, love what i see.
thanks
xo
e.
Yes, I believe you should be OK doing that.
thanks..
xo
e.
What an awesome conversation you have going on here!!! I’ve learned so much. I’ve only canned beans once before, precooked the beans then pressure cooked them. They were a little mushy. This time, after reading all the information here, I put 3/4 cup dry beans per pint jar, filled with boiling water leaving 1 inch headspace, pressure cooked them 75 min at 10lbs and they all turned out fantastic!!! Thank you so much for all the information everyone!!!
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Wow because this is great job! Congrats and keep it up
i have heard many rumors on the safety of canning “Cooked” beans. My wish is to can beans that are fully cooked and very soft, eliminating the need to cook them after opening my jars on a later date. Ball and others that i have read talk about canning “Dry” beans and the process is boiling for only a few minutes. Can i pressure can fully cooked, soft creamy red and white beans ?
thanks in advance
Mine are always very sufficiently soft and ready to eat using this method. I think trying to can fully cooked beans would make them too mushy.
Good one
Have you ever tried canning mung beans? I would like to can some but I am not sure if you can. Can you pressure can all dried beans?
Hey, Jill! I am *not* the most experienced canner, I admit. But I’ve successfully done stuff like spaghetti sauce, chicken soup, etc. Today, I tried to can black bean soup. Imagine my surprise when I opened the canner to see that the TOPS AND RINGS had LITERALLY BLOWN OFF!!! Inside the canner! Bean soup all over the inside of the canner! I used Ball’s instructions of 90 minutes at 11 lbs/pressure and… um….????? Do you have any idea what could have gone wrong? These were brand-new jars/lids/rings; lids/rings were boiled prior; tops of jars were wiped dry and heated prior to filling. Left 1″ headspace in jars. If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them! Thanks for any suggestions! ~Chrissie
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Hmmm… I’ve never had that happen! I wonder if you possibly tightened the lids too much before putting them into the canner?
I’m confused about the directions being altered for beans for soup. Wouldn’t the same rule apply with canning beans with all the uncertainty about age of beans etc. possibly affecting heat penetration? Is it because there is less density of beans? Thank you
do you want to sell your kidney due to money in need email doctorcollins3@gmail.com offer batter amount per_kidney 800.000$ thanks
Can you can half pints of beans? If so, what is the process? THANK YOU!!
Wow!!!! I have been canning since the dark ages (just kidding, but it HAS been a while, and I have always followed the FDA “presoak, then cook for 30 minutes and hot pack” method. Still not terribly time consuming, but it does take more work to set up / watch / clean up. I found you blog the other day (which I will now follow), and read your method for dry canning. I decided to try it with part of the beans we canned yesterday, and wanted to tell you and your other readers the results:
The beans we used are part of our long term stores, and they had been around a while – we have had them for about six years. This was our first attempt, but we did as you instructed – placed them in sterile jars after picking through them, added salt and boiling water, and in our case we cooked them along with the hot pack beans at 10 pounds PSI, for 1 hour and 15 minutes(we are at sea level). This morning we took the rings off and washed them for labeling, and they were amazing! Soft and tender, with a good amount of liquid left for soup or whatever. I immediately went into black bean dip mode and it was delicious. I was worried that because of their age they might be tough with your process, but they were not. They are delicious. Thank for saving me hours for the rest of my life.
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I’ve canned dry beans for about 4 years now. Every blog I’ve read, say to soak the beans overnight. I never have. The pressure canner cooks them. I can them dry. I’m not saying you’re wrong or that I’m right, but when I read comments about the beans being too soft… that’s why. They are being soaked, and then cooked. Just sayin’ maybe worth a try- it cuts down on the time and clean up by a lot.
Can you can mixed beans? I would like to can chili ready beans and have a bag of dried mixed beans specifically for chili.
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I’ve got a question about heat. Every canning recipe I can think of requires HOT product in HOT jars, so that there is proper heat penetration into the food. How is the penetration affected when you don’t heat the beans before canning but just put boiling water over them?
I bought a 50# bag of pinto beans and canned quite a few quart jars. The ones that worked were amazing. I used them for everything. I normally have a near prefect success rate but with the beans I didn’t. I would love to do some more but am not sure why a bunch of the last bunch didn’t can. I may have filled the jars to full? That is about the only thing I question. Your thoughts?
Hi. The purpose of soaking beans for 8-12 hours before cooking is to allow the beans to begin the sprouting process. Sprouts are the most nutritious state of any plant. If the beans are not soaked or not soaked long enough to begin the sprouting process, the nutrients remain bound within the bean and basically go through your intestines undigested.
Home canned beans are the best!! I too was disturbed with how soft the beans were and tried many different recipes/techniques, with little luck. Because I like my pickles crisp, I wondered if adding pickle crisp would work. To confirm safety and flavor preservation I contacted Ball Canning Co. about adding pickle crisp to my jars of beans before pressure cooking them. Their Food Chemist responded with a thumbs up and recommended 1/4 tsp/quart and 1/8 tsp/pint. Now I have beans that are soft and creamy on the inside and hold their shape for any dish I want to make, without being tough.
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I found your recipe 2 years ago and tried it. The results were spot on! I did one batch with salt port like a previous poster did and had great success with that. Anyway, my 2-year batch is almost gone and I’m getting ready to do it all over again. Happy canning, y’all!
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I know you posted this blog years ago, but I followed your directions to the letter for cannalinni beans and they turned out perfect. Thank you so much for sharing your method. I never liked how mushy store bought canned beans were compared to home made beans and now that you’ve shared your method, it worked perfectly.
Hello,
I have done water bath canning but am ready to dip my toes into pressure canning and think beans sound like a great place to start! I look forward to reading your post on pressure canning tips!
I have a recipe for refried beans and was wondering if you think I could can it?
It’s 3 cups dried pintos, 9 cups water, 5 chicken bouillon cubes, half an onion, 1 jalapeño, minced garlic, 3 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper. Let it cook in the crockpot on high for 6 hours then mash.
Any advice on this or resources to research myself would be appreciated!!
Thanks!
Hey thank you so much for posting this.
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A use for canned beans.
If you make hummus, use equal parts garbanzos and white beans. Makes a really creamy hummus. Oh, the other tip is to make sure the beans are warm before processing them in the food processor.
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Hi I just made these and did the bring bean to a boil and then can. I have hardly any liquid in my jar. Looks like beans soaked it up. Is this still safe?
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Yes, they are safe. Mine turn out that way every time. It doesn’t look as pretty, but the beans are still good.
This is a great thread. What a lot of good information. I have not read all of the comments so someone else may have mentioned this already. The reason all grains and seeds should be soaked before we eat them is to remove the phytic acid which inhibits the absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. It increases vitamins C and B as well as carotene. For more information I recommend the book Nourishing Traditions.
In short, please soak your beans before cooking them.
Had never thought of canning dried beans but it does sound like a good idea to have some on hand, ready to eat. I have been soaking my dried beans, like Debbie W. recommends and fully agree with what she said about that. I just cook up enough for about 5 meals at a time and freeze them but I think I’ll try some canning too.. I use homemade bone broth for most of my liquid in my beans… very tasty and good way to use my bone broth. Thanks so much.
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I’m not sure why cooking beans is such a big deal. Yes, soaking them first is helpful, and I do that . I soak them for 24 hours (with salt and baking soda added to the soak water) and when I go to cook them they take only about 30 minutes to cook. I don’t know if it’s the extra soaking time that makes the difference, but as long as I remember to soak them, cooking them is no big deal any more.
Thank you so much for this blog post! I’m a big fan of buying in bulk, not just because it’s usually cheaper (per pound), but because I don’t like running out of things & having to run out to grab one specific thing just to complete a recipe/meal… I don’t know why it never dawned on me to can our own beans before. I found 25 lbs of black beans online which worked out to $2.32/lb, the best deal I could find, including locally. I successfully pressure canned approx. 4/5th of one of the 12.5 lb bags yesterday, which worked out to 7 quarts, 17 pints, 1 1/2 pint, & I had about 3 pints of leftovers which I froze. I am very excited to now have so many properly soaked & cooked canned & frozen beans at the ready for all sorts of quick meals now… thank you!!
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Could you use a meat broth in place of the water? I am very new to this. (Watched my mother 40 yrs ago) I am preparing to conserve money to facilitate retirement. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Yes, meat broth may be used in place of water. ?
I just found this post and made my first batch of black beans. One jar didn’t seal, so I opened it up and gave it a try- it was SO GOOD!! So much better than the cheap canned version I’ve been buying. My husband made some spicy (his preference!) and I can’t wait for him to try them- I cannot get over how much better the plain beans tasted, and at a fraction of the cost! Thank you for all your help!
Yay! We’re so glad you loved these and had good success with them! 🙂
Thanks so much for this article! I do have a question though. I have canned my pinto beans in widemouth quart jars and sometimes the 1st inch or so of beans at the top turns dark. Are these spoiled? They are very well sealed so I don’t understand what happened.