Since 2011 marked our first experiences with water bath canning, I'm super excited to add pressure canning to my list of things to learn more about in 2012! So far, so good! It seems easier than water bath canning, although, I must admit I have this weird (unfounded?) fear of an explosion happening in my kitchen!
Silly fears aside, we started off canning 7 quarts of organic pinto beans (about 3 1/2 pounds dried beans) which is exciting since we eat tons of beans and green chile (burritos, nachos, quesadillas, etc)!
Next, we canned 6 pints of organic kidney beans and 6 pints of organic black beans. The kidneys will be good for this yummy bean salad I make and the pintos will make a yummy side to something that doesn't already have pintos in it...like enchiladas, huevos rancheros, etc ;-)
We haven't done all the hard math on what our savings will be, but I'm sure it will be considerable given the amount of beans we three eat. The quick math, each pint cost us a little over $1 and each quart cost us a little over $2 (considering the purchase of new jars @ about $1 each and dried beans @ about $2 per pound, not considering the canner itself), which is pretty good. Now, each time we re-use the jars and rings, the cost will go down! Plus, we know exactly what's going into our beans and that's the best part!
I can hardly wait to begin canning everything I possibly can this year (that's a lot of can-ning)! The possibilities really are endless!
What is your favorite thing to pressure can? Do you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share?
Linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #8
I've been water bath canning for a long time now. Let's see... When I was a kid, my job was putting the sugar in the jars of cherries, peaches, apricots, and pears. Then my mom, aunts and grandma would do the rest. In the fall, my job was to watch the needle on the pressure canner and warn mom if it got dangerous. (Turns out, it's not an unfounded fear of explosion that you have!)
ReplyDeleteThen, I moved away. Almost ten years later, and the year before she passed away, my mom gave me my own water bath canner and the bible (Ball Blue Book). I have been madly canning ever since. Obsessively, if you ask the little Mrs.
Just last year, I "borrowed" my sister-in-law's pressure canner. It's very small - processing only 3 quarts at a time - but I have yet to return it. I have only done spaghetti sauce (which the Mrs. just throws together), beets and pickled beets (from the bible), and veggie broth (from this site http://veganyumyum.com/2008/10/homemade-vegetable-broth/). So far, they have all been fantastic.
I'm hooked, and only a little freaked out about blowing a hole in the ceiling. Maybe I can get a big 'un for my upcoming birthday!
Belle got a pressure canner from her mom this Christmas. She's not tried it yet, but we're very excited about using it for next years harvests. Beans are a great canning idea, hopefully we can find a spot for them in the garden in 2012.
ReplyDeleteI love that the photo highlights the big warning sticker on the front. Canning beans is a great idea - I do mine from dried each time (as as you say its good to know what goes into them) but the soaking requires more organisation than I normally achieve, so we don't eat them as often as I would like.
ReplyDeleteKaye - What wonderful memories! No one in my family ever canned while I was growing up...oh how I wish they did, both for the memories and the recipes! Thank you so much for sharing your memories! Good luck with that Birthday wish! Is it time to start dropping some hints? ;-)
ReplyDeleteJody - Yay! Belle's mom must really love her ;-) Having a canner definitely opens the possibilities for sowing and harvesting! I'll be opening up more space in the garden this year for some more beans, too!
Liz - Right?! We were struggling with making dried beans as well...the process took so long and then what do you do with all those beans? We were freezing the leftovers, but they don't freeze well at all. With the canner, we just soaked the beans for about 24 hours (we intended on soaking them for 12ish hours, but got busy with other things), threw them in jars and then into the canner and they came out perfect!
I am not much of a canner myself - however - i grew up in a home where LOTS of Corn and Green Beans were canned. Yum-O!
ReplyDeleteI have a ton of dried beans in our emergency supply and I want to be able to use some of them periodically. Since they are dried, I have to soak them for what seems like forever, so when i want beans in a meal, I have to plan days in advance.
ReplyDeleteI do have a pressure canner, I have just been afraid to use it (fear of explosion, loss of limb, having to call the fire department), but if i can soak a bunch of the beans until they are soft-ish and then can them in smaller jars, then I will have them ready for meals.
How long do you soak your beans for? How long do you leave them in the pressure canner? Should they be really soft when you can them or should they be almost soft? Do they come out of the can a big mushy mess or do they hold their shape/taste?
In the last year or so, I've learned to can meat. It is SO easy!
ReplyDeleteKerri - Those are both on our list to can this year!
ReplyDeleteMeredith - How lucky that you have lots of dried beans! I was a little afraid, too, but it worked out just fine! Read your manual cover to cover, then just start! We soaked our beans for about 18 hours (you can soak them from 12 to 24 hours, but 12 twelve is plenty). Then figure out what weight you need to can them at (we have to do 15 pounds because our altitude is so high). We can the quarts for 90 minutes and the pints for 60 minutes (we messed up the pints our first time and canned them for 90 minutes, instead of 60...our beans got really mushy - however, the beans in the quarts, the ones we did right, came out deliciously). As long as you follow the instructions in your manual, you'll be totally fine. Remember that you're only soaking them to release some of their gasses, the canning process cooks them :-) Good luck! Will you tell me how it goes???
loves2spin - Learning how to can meat is one our list this year, too! How wonderful that you know how!
I love my home-canned beans! So convenient and so surprisingly easy to put up! Something else we noticed that you might notice as well. Our home-canned beans do not give us the..um...stomach distress that dried or store-bought canned beans do. Even though I would soak, rinse and properly cook the dried beans, we still had tummy trouble! For some reason, my home-canned beans are much gentler on our systems. Love the post! Have fun with that new canner! Betty
ReplyDelete@ Meredith - the planning ahead is a real pain in the neck! I have lots of dried beans in the pantry but never thought to bottle them until now. I'm totally going to do this!
ReplyDeleteBetty - LOL...we DID notice the lack of...stomach distress! It's kind of amazing! Thanks so much for popping over!
ReplyDeleteKaye & Meredith - I'm so happy you're both thinking about doing this! It is completely worth it!
The reason you aren't having the stomach problems is that you let the beans sprout before you canned them. The sprouting changes the structure of the bean. I always sprout my beans so we don't have the stomach issues.
Delete