# canning kidney beans



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

What does it take to can kidney beans so they come out close to what you buy in the store? 

I use a lot of them (salads, hotdish, chili, etc.) and would like to can my own.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Rehydrate them as you would for cooking (12-18 hours & don't skimp). Boil for 30 min. & pack hot into jars leaving 1" headspace. Cover with boiling water & process pints for 75 minutes & qts. for 90 min. at 10 lbs. pressure.

Another method is to put 3/4 cup of dried beans in a pint jar (1 1/2 cup for a quart) and cover with water and let soak for the time given. Drain, cover with boiling water and proceed as above.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

For chili or eating as is, substitute tomato juice for water when packing in the jars. Kick it up a bit and use chili sauce spices when making the tomato juice. 

Martin


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

suitcase_sally said:


> Rehydrate them as you would for cooking (12-18 hours & don't skimp). Boil for 30 min. & pack hot into jars leaving 1" headspace. Cover with boiling water & process pints for 75 minutes & qts. for 90 min. at 10 lbs. pressure.
> 
> Another method is to put 3/4 cup of dried beans in a pint jar (1 1/2 cup for a quart) and cover with water and let soak for the time given. Drain, cover with boiling water and proceed as above.


Sounds pretty simple. Thanks.

If you only use plain water how do they taste? The label on store bought cans says - water, sugar. salt and spice.


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## jmtinmi (Feb 25, 2009)

suitcase_sally said:


> Another method is to put 3/4 cup of dried beans in a pint jar (1 1/2 cup for a quart) and cover with water and let soak for the time given. Drain, cover with boiling water and proceed as above.



Just a thought and I think that I read somewhere also, not to use city tap water (chlorine) as it may toughen the beans. I either use filtered (Berkey) water, or let my tap water sit out overnight so the chlorine will evaporate. This step probably isn't necessary, but I don't mind the extra step and consider it cheap insurance.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

Please follow the first directions Suitcase Sally listed as it's what is recommended in the Ball Blue Book except that the BBB suggests the addition of salt. You may or may not want that due to your own dietary needs/health.

I had some problems with the new "platinum" lids sealing jars of pinto beans and spoke with our Extension home economist. She is old enough that she is a proficient canner rather than someone with just "book learnin'" so I am confident in her advice. We went through all the steps I used--one by one from the BBB--and while we never really could find a fault in my technique, she said something very interesting. She told me that when canning dried beans, because they are so low acid (actually NO acid), it was particularly important to follow directions rather than a shortcut method such as adding boiling water to a jar of soaked beans. She said it didn't give them adequate time to properly hydrate before processing and that jars were more likely to lose the vacuum as the beans absorbed liquid after processing. Just my two cents' worth. I'll continue to do it "by the book."


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

jmtinmi said:


> Just a thought and I think that I read somewhere also, not to use city tap water (chlorine) as it may toughen the beans.


I have a pamphlet from the Michigan Bean Commission that say that HARD water will toughen the beans, and my water is so hard that I have to chisel it out the faucet, but I haven't found it to be a problem. Many recipes call for a bit of baking soda added to the water and I know that soda is a water softener.


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