This last weekend I turned these

Into this

I am always amazed at the sense of accomplishment. I was feeling so proud and maybe just a titch smug- until I read my friend Rebecca's blog- oh the envy!

What to Eat Wednesday- Canning Beans

During my trip to Texas, one of my hopes was to can beans with my friend Donna. She has told me over and over again how easy it is to do. But I really wanted to see it done before I jumped in and did it myself. Well we got to do it, and it really is so easy. Much easier than I thought it would be. So here we go.

Canning black beans (or any dry beans)

Beans are exceptionally easy. Normally with canning you have so many pots on the stove, but not with beans.

Wash jars.

Heat a large pot of water to a boil and a small pan of water just to warm.

Sort and pick through beans- discard any bad or broken ones.
(or most of them anyway)


Then rinse them off. (if you want, I didn't)

Put 2/3 cup dry beans to each pint jar. (you could do bigger jars but this is about the size that most recipes call for- doing it this way you don't have any jars sitting open in your fridge-less waste)

Add heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt. You have to add the salt. That is what preserves it.

(add any other seasoning at this point- I was just doing black beans so I did not add anything else. But if you were doing pinto beans, you could add pinto bean seasoning.)

In the small pan of water heat lids, but do not boil.

It gets really steamy in the kitchen!

Pour boiling water into each jar of beans leaving 1 inch head space from the top.


It goes without saying, but I will say it- THE JARS ARE HOT!

Wipe rims of jars. The top and sides. Be sure the rim is very clean and dry, then add the lid (from the pan of hot water) and then screw on the band. Don't screw the band on too tight.

Fill the pressure canner with a little warm water. Add jars into the canner on top of rack.


Fill with more warm water about 1/4-1/3 the way up the jar. Then follow your canners directions on how to close your canner.

Cook for 60 minutes 8# of pressure.

After they are finished, pull the VERY HOT JARS out of your canner. Set them on the counter and wait for that oh-so-thrilling-pop. Resist the urge to push on them yourself to see if they sealed. Just wait. After everything is cooled off-then you can check. Any jars that did not seal can be put in the fridge and eaten soon. * thanks April for helping me see my mistake!

And that is it! You have cooked and canned beans. I am down to four jars. I am going to have to do some canning again soon! I just have to find a pressure canner. During the days canning, we tested out my 2 canners and found out that they were not closing properly. I will have to take them to the county extension after school starts to have them re-tested and find out if they can big fixed.