# Onions in my Canned Beans



## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

I'm getting ready to attempt to can beans. I've looked at the recipes on NCHFP for baked beans, beans with tomato sauce and beans with molasses sauce. And I've determined that by modifying my dried herbs and spices, I can adapt these recipes to be darn similar to the homemade beans I make. 

However, there is one exception. Onion. No matter the type of beans I make - I typically add about 3 onions per lb of beans. The beans with tomato sauce allow 1 Tablelspoon of chopped onion - not even close! And I know I just can't put in 100 times more onion.

Has anyone had any success in using onion powder in place of fresh onions? I'm assuming dehydrated onion flakes would be a no-no.

FWIW I'm planning on attempting Indian Spiced Kidney Beans (Rajma), Indian Spiced Chick Peas (Chole) and Bean Hole Beans (using navy beans).


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Onions are intended to be added at serving time after the jar is opened and given the amount of onions you want to use that would be the safe approach.

However, per the guidelines, you can safely use a limited amount of dehydrated onions (flakes or chopped) IF you first rehydrate them and do it in vinegar, not water. That will maintain the acidic pH. Otherwise, you are right that more than the 1 T is a no-no.

Onion powder would be safe but the taste would be affected. The better success would be if you added them at serving time. Not every recipe can be safely canned.


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## Ruby (May 10, 2002)

I just read this, I was wondering why you cannot use lots of onions if your canning something in a pressure cooker.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> I was wondering why you cannot use lots of onions if your canning something in a pressure cooker.


I assume you mean a pressure canner rather than a 'cooker'. You cannot safely can using a pressure cooker as they are too small and invalidate the processing times.

As to why, according to the safety guidelines, it is because adding the onions change both the density (thickness) of the food AND the pH so the listed processing times would no longer be valid. An unknown amount of extra time would be needed.

You can learn more about both density and pH guidelines at NCHFP. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2010)

Which brings up an interesting question, when canning salsa, what if you add more onions? do you need to add more vinegar(or lemon juice)? I can an awful lot of salsa, and only the past summer ever used an approved recipe.....


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## Our Little Farm (Apr 26, 2010)

judylou said:


> I assume you mean a pressure canner rather than a 'cooker'. You cannot safely can using a pressure cooker as they are too small and invalidate the processing times.
> 
> As to why, according to the safety guidelines, it is because adding the onions change both the density (thickness) of the food AND the pH so the listed processing times would no longer be valid. An unknown amount of extra time would be needed.
> 
> You can learn more about both density and pH guidelines at NCHFP. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/


Surely you just can for the longest time ingredient, the same as you would for a stew or soup in a pressure canner?


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

Here's part 1 of 2 where a woman takes dry beans and cans them with onion. I've done it once, and they were delicious. Still here. Have been thinking about doing it again. Didn't think it was a problem, but I'm not an expert. 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcw2pTmKRuE[/ame]


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

It is always your choice of course - abiding by the current guidelines or not. Many do as they prefer that level of assured safety. But many are comfortable with modifying or even ignoring them and accepting the associated risks. And heaven knows there is all sorts of unsafe info posted on the internet and it should be used with care and consideration for the credentials of the source of that information.

May luck be with you and them. 



> Surely you just can for the longest time ingredient, the same as you would for a stew or soup in a pressure canner?


That is a very old guideline. Once lab testing established that pH does not remain stable during shelf storage (it rises into the unsafe range), that some bacteria are able to survive pressure canning, and that the density of the food in the jar slows heat penetration, it hasn't been approved as a sufficient safety measure since the 1996-1998 guideline revisions. Unfortunately IMO many still use it. Their choice.

The same is true of salsa. Adding more of ANY of the low acid ingredients changes the pH and the density and invalidates the recommended processing times. NCHFP provides detailed information on why canning your own recipes for salsa is especially risky and strongly recommend using only approved recipes.

But it is always your choice to make.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

I'm still wondering if anyone has tried onion powder as a substitute. And if so, what the results were.

Seriously - the suggestion to add my onions at serving time is one of the more ridiculous things I heard. Just what I want - a bowl full of baked beans and raw onions. 

And FWIW - I never said I was going to can my own recipe. I asked if I can substitute onion powder in a already approved recipe.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> Seriously - the suggestion to add my onions at serving time is one of the more ridiculous things I heard. Just what I want - a bowl full of baked beans and raw onions.


My apologies if you were offended. The assumption is that you will be further cooking the beans prior to serving and if so then sauteed onions can easily be added at that time and cooked with the beans.



> And FWIW - I never said I was going to can my own recipe. I asked if I can substitute onion powder in a already approved recipe.
> Reply With Quote


I don't think anyone said you were planning to can your own recipe, however you did mention you were attempting "Indian Spiced Kidney Beans (Rajma), Indian Spiced Chick Peas (Chole) and Bean Hole Beans (using navy beans). Are there canning recipes for those dishes? If not then assuming you were using your own recipes would be a logical assumption.

As to the onion powder as a substitute. There certainly is no safety issue however onion powder is noted for turning bitter when exposed to high heat as it would be in canning and for imparting a gritty texture to the food. Thus the suggestion I made above for using rehydrated dried onion flakes instead.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

I was perusing my Ball Blue Book this morning - and I happened on a recipe for Baked Beans that uses 3 onions per 2 lbs of beans. Granted they don't have a lick of tomato in their supposed Baked Beans. They also use 1 cup of onions in their Beans in Tomato Sauce. Both recipes have a lot more onion than what is on the NCHFP site. So it looks like I may be able to attempt to can beans my way. 

I had only looked in my Ball Complete Book previously - assumed anything in the BBB would be in the complete book!


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

Ummm, I have a question. I don't know how to word it without it coming off a bit rude (which I'm REALLY not trying to be). Honestly confused by this one.

How is it that powdered onions won't change the PH of the recipe but using real onions and/or rehydrating dried ones will?


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> How is it that powdered onions won't change the PH of the recipe but using real onions and/or rehydrating dried ones will?


It is a very good question and a common one too.  Any dried herbs or seasonings (like powdered onions or garlic) can be safety used without affecting the overall pH of the recipe because they contain minimal or no water once dried. The drying process has also reduced much of the bacteria they contained when fresh and eliminated one of the things the bacteria need to reproduce - moisture.

Water is always alkaline and the more water in a particular vegetable the more alkaline (low acid) its pH. Dried ingredients, when added to a recipe, act as a desiccant. They reconstitute using whatever the liquid is in the recipe rather than bringing to the recipe additional alkaline water. So they not only do not ADD water but they also bind up some of whatever water may be in the other ingredients.

And reconstituted onions or garlic or herbs can only be added if they are first reconstituted in vinegar, not water. I think I mentioned that above but if not I should have.

Hope this helps.


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