How to Can Dried Beans
Pressure canning dried beans at home saves a lot of time, as you can batch cook them and then they’re ready to eat whenever you want them for a recipe. You can jar a single type of dried beans or your own custom soup or chili blend. You can leave your canned beans plain and completely unseasoned so that they are more versatile for different recipes, add salt, or add canning-safe dried seasonings before jarring them.
Equipment
- large pot
- glass canning jars, rings, and new lids
- canning funnel (optional but helpful)
Ingredients
- 5 lbs dried beans (approx) (for 7 quarts or 14 pints, approx 12 oz dried beans per quart jar)
- water to soak
- water or broth to simmer
- salt (optional, 1 tsp per quart or ½ tsp per pint)
Instructions
clean & pre-soak your beans:
- Pick through your dried beans, checking for any small stones, twigs, or other foreign matter. Remove these if present and rinse your dried beans thoroughly. Stir the pot of water and discard any hollow beans that float (these may have pest damage or be empty hulls).
- Drain the rinse water and then refill and soak your pot of beans using one of the following methods:
- Overnight Soak Method: Soak rinsed beans in a large pot of water with plenty of room for the beans to expand (the pot should be no more than 1/2 to 3/5ths full of dried beans before adding water). Cover and let soak in a cool place for 12-18 hours (refrigerate if your kitchen is hot).
- Quick Soak Method: Proceed as for the overnight soak, but bring the pot of beans and water to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil for two minutes, remove from heat, cover, and let soak for at least an hour.
simmer the soaked beans:
- After your beans have soaked overnight (or heated and quick-soaked), drain and rinse them gently.
- Refill the pot with clean water to cover the beans by at least 2″.
- Bring to a low boil over medium heat, gently stirring periodically so they don’t scorch on the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer the beans for thirty minutes before hot-packing them into your canning jars.
prep pressure canner & jars:
- Wash your canning jars and new canning lids in hot soapy water and rinse well.
- If you are using reusable lids (like Tattler or Harvest Guard, or Weck jars), follow manufacturer directions to prepare lids and rings.
- Fill your pressure canner with the recommended amount of water (check your canner manual, but at least several inches for this long processing time) and preheat it.
- Preheat the jars in the canner on low-medium heat while the beans simmer (see next step), or keep them hot in your oven, dishwasher, or using your preferred method.
pack beans in jars:
- Using a jar funnel and ladle or slotted spoon, fill your quart or pint jars with the hot beans.
- Add salt (and any other optional canning-safe seasonings) to the jars if you like. Add one teaspoon of salt per quart jar, or ½ teaspoon per pint.
- Divide the hot cooking broth among the jars, leaving 1″ of headspace below the rim at the top of the jar.. If you don’t have enough bean cooking liquid, top the jars up with boiling water or stock.
- Debubble the jars with a small spatula, chopstick, or butter knife. Top up with additional liquid if necessary to maintain proper 1" headspace.
- Wipe the jar rims with a clean, damp cloth or paper towel.
- Top with new canning lids (or properly prepared reusable lids). Tighten the rings finger-tight (or according to manufacturer directions).
pressure-can the beans:
- Place the hot jars in the preheated pressure canner and seal the lid. Heat on medium heat. Vent the canner for 10 minutes once it starts steaming, then add the weight and bring the canner up to pressure over medium low heat.
- Process at 10 lbs of pressure (weighted canner) or 11 lbs (dial gauge). Adjust pressure as needed for your altitude over 1000 sf (15 lbs with weighted canner, consult altitude chart for dial gauge).
- Reset processing timer to zero if canner pressure drops below minimum at any point during processing.
- Process for a full 75 minutes for pints, or 90 minutes for quarts or mixed batches of pints and quarts.
- Turn off the heat after the processing time is up. Let the canner rest undisturbed until the pressure returns to zero- do not remove the weight early to vent the steam faster.
- As soon as the pressure releases completely, carefully remove the canner lid.
Cool, check seals, and store:
- Wait another couple minutes, then remove the jars with jar tongs or hot pads, and place them on a towel or cooling rack. Cover jars with a towel if there are cold drafts.
- Leave undisturbed overnight or for at least 8-12 hours when the jars are fully cooled.
- Remove the rings, check for seals, and wash the jars with warm, soapy water.
- Refrigerate any jars of canned beans that did not seal and use those jars promptly. You could reprocess them with new lids within 24 hours of the first processing. You can also transfer to freezer-safe containers and freeze.
Notes
Label the jars and store in a cool, dark place. For best quality, enjoy most home-canned goods within 12-18 months, although they will be safe to eat while the seals are intact. Nutritional value and flavor declines slightly with longer storage (or improper storage conditions).
Discard the contents of any jars that lose seals in storage, smell off, are bubbling, or hiss when opened, and sterilize the jar before using them again.
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