Yesterday it was time to can the black beans I’ve been collecting in my cupboard. Yes, I think I’ve had a theme going this week, but it was kind of slow at work – at least at the beginning of the week when I decided this was the week to get some canning done. Of course, as soon as I embarked on this adventure, the work came in, and I was swamped. 🙂

I’d snagged a good deal on about 5 pounds of dried black beans at the grocery store a while back. I put black beans in my chili, and I also like to make a corn and black bean salad/salsa in the summer, so these beans will definitely come in handy. Plus, if they’re canned, I know we’ll eat them. When they sit in the cupboard in those bags, they always seem to get passed over for something else.

I’ve discovered that canning dried beans is easy peasy, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy canned beans at the store again. It’s way cheaper to can your own dried beans, and I like the fact that I don’t have to add salt to the pints unless I want to. Don’t tell Kevin, but that’s what I did! He’s a salt-a-holic. 🙂

Start off by rinsing and sorting the beans – you’ll find rocks, twigs, and just about anything, and you definitely don’t want that going into your jars! Soak the dried beans overnight. Since I was doing 5 pounds at once, I used my huge canning stockpot. Cover the beans with cold water, about 2-3 inches over the top of the beans. Mine soaked up a lot of the water before I went to bed, so I just added more cold water to have the 2-3 inches extra.

In the morning, drain the beans. You’ll be surprised how dirty these beans are! Put the beans back in your stockpot, and cover with fresh cold water. Put on the stove and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 30 minutes at this gentle boil – not a hard boil, or the beans will split.

Fill pint jars approximately 3/4 full with the cooked beans, and add the cooking water (or boiling water if you prefer) just to cover the beans. Leave a 1-inch headspace. Place lids and rings; tighten just to finger tight.

Process pints in a pressure canner for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

I worked up 5 pounds of dried black beans, and I ended up with 20 pints – a full canner for me. 🙂