Canned Beans (By Request)

The following recipes are for canned .beans.  You must be familiar with pressure canning to attempt as these are a low acid food.  I taught myself how to use a pressure canner and do water bath process canning a few years ago.  A good place to start is by getting the book:  Ball ... Blue Book of Preserving.  The following recipes are from this cookbook.

Boston Baked Beans

Yield about 6 pints or 3 quarts

1 quart dried navy beans (about 2 pounds)
1/2 lb salt pork, cut into pieces
3 large onions, sliced
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2/3 cup molasses

Rinse beans and sort out any foreign objects.

Cover beans with 3 quarts water; let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place.  Drain.  Cover beans with 3 quarts water in a large saucepot.  Bring beans to a boil; reduce heat.  Cover, simmer until skins begin to crack. Drain, reserving liquid.  Pour beans into a baking dish or bean pot (I used a large Dutch oven).  Add pork and onions.  Combine remaining ingredients and 4 cups reserved bean liquid (add water to make 4 cups if necessary).  Ladle sauce over beans.   Cover; bake at 350F for about 3-1/2 hours.  Add water, if necessary, as beans should be soupy.  Pack hot beans and sauce into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-.piece caps.  Process pints 1 hour and 20 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 35 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.

Follow all recommended safety practices.  Be sure to allow for altitude adjustments.

Pork and Beans

Yield about 6 pints or 3 quarts

1 quart dried navy beans (about 2 pounds)
1/4 pound salt pork, cut in pieces
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 quart tomato juice

Sort through beans removing any foreign objects

Cover beans with cold water and let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place; drain.  Cover beans with boiling water by 2 inches in a large saucepot  Boil three minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes; drain.  Combine onion, sugar, salt, spices and tomato juice; heat to boiling.  Pack 1 cup beans into hot jars; top with a piece of pork; fill jar 3/4 full with beans.  Ladle hot tomato sauce over beans, leaving 1-inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two-piece caps.  Process pints 1 hour and 5 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.

Be sure to follow all safety precautions ... allow for altitude adjustments

Today I made the  Boston Baked Beans ... they look and smell very good .. but I haven't tried them yet.  Last year I made the pork and beans ... they were very good.  It's nice to have canned beans in the pantry ... and by making them at home ... you know the quality of the ingredients used.