Black Beans

I love the convenience of canned beans.  But I know they are so much cheaper to buy dried.  On my last order from Quail Cove, I got a 5 pound bag of organic black beans for $10.  I decided to pressure can them, so that I could just pop open a jar whenever I needed them.

It's a lengthy process, canning beans!

First, you rinse them and let them soak overnight.  Or, you can boil them for two minutes and let them sit for an hour.

Then, pour out the blackish water and cover with fresh.  This will cut down on the gas factor.  Save the bean water, though.  It's great for watering your plants.

Bring to a boil and let it go for half an hour.  I ended up with 3 pots to hold all the beans!

Add 1 tsp of salt to each quart jar (or 1/2 tsp for pints), if desired.

Pack beans into jars with some juice and pressure can at 11 lbs for 90 minutes (quarts) or 75 minutes (pints).  This is at sea level.  Adjust if you need to.

I ended up with 7+ quarts which I'm guesstimating is about equal to 14 store-bought cans (which would have cost over $20).  So, I saved some money but not much.  Mostly I like not having to worry about BPA leaching, and I can control the sodium, too.

I'll be canning more beans, as I got a ton of them on clearance when a local store was going out of business.  I REALLY want to find a good baked bean recipe to can up.