After several days of wanting to can, only to realize that I was missing one thing or another, it finally happened! I spent yesterday canning. I got my pinto beans soaking overnight and into the next morning. Then I drug out my wonderful, amazing, incredible camping stove. (I really love this stove, can you tell?). I got it all set up and ready to go. My new pressure canner fits wonderfully 
on there too!
on there too! All I had were small jam jars, but that’s ok. This little farm experiment is all about using what you have and not crying over what you don't. I put my beans in, spices on top of that, water on top of that and a lid! I then shook them, to get the spices mixed in. Only problem is that now my lids and the rims of the jars were dirty! <sigh> I had take all of the lids off and wipe them clean then put them all back on. There is a bit of a learning curve here though. I have never used the pressure canner and assumed that you needed to cover the jars. I don’t know why I thought this, since you don’t do this in a pressure cooker…but I did. I got the whole thing loaded, then double checked my instruction manual. OOPS! Everybody out of the bath! The water was hot, so this was tedious work with the little jar lifter thing I have. It took a while to set the whole thing up again with only 3 inches of water (before the jars are put in).
By the time it was all loaded up again, the bottom layer of jars were submerged! It worked though. I turned on the gas and watched the pressure gauge go! 10lbs of pressure and 240 degrees for 75 minutes. I didn’t realize it when I started, but we were actually low on propane. The stove went out a couple of times, so I had to keep an eye on it. With the flame turned down and a little prayer, we made it the full 75 min. Everything came out great! Bryan had to help get the lid off of the cooker. Apparently, you have to use Vaseline to lube the seals so you can open it. OOPS! Now we know. More learning. For dinner we had a wonderful taco salad with hamburger cooked in spicy chili beans. Mmmm….Samantha (my super bean lover) was in awe over the beans. She kept on saying how amazing they were! Everyone loved them, except Brendan who is very anti-bean. Lol
All in all, my fist canning experience with my new canner was a success! I can’t wait to do more!
Spicy Chili Bean Canning Recipe: (8oz jars)½ c pinto beans – washed and soaked overnight
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Chili Powder
½ Tsp Salt
½ Tsp Garlic Powder
½ Tsp Onion Powder
I just got online to find a recipe for Canning Chili Beans myself :-) Thank you for sharing and I love your blog concept, you go girl! Nothing is better than providing home grown for your family!
ReplyDeleteHere we are, 1 1/2 years later, and I start dusting off the old blog and find that you have been sweet enough to stop by. Thank you so much for your kind words. (I just wish I had seen them earlier. lol)
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