Canning with a Pressure Cooker Questions

[Mackay]

Hi!
I just got my new Fagor 10 quart pressure cooker/canner and I have a few questions that the instructions just don't seem to cover.

I am about to can red kidney beans. I soaked them over night and they are ready to go.

Do I cook these beans in the pressure cooker first before filling my mason jars
And then pressure cook to can them?

The Fagor instructions give times for general cooking so for red beans that were dried they say 10 tp 12 minutes on high pressure.
This seems to me that this is for when you are just cooking them in the pot.

When the beans are in the jars and Im doing the canning process is it also 10 to 12 minutes?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Arrow

 

[patandchickens]

oh no, it will be MUCH longer than that - typical pressure canning times are like an hour or more.

A quick google finds http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic3240.htm saying for baked beans, 65 min for pints or 75 min for quarts. It should be something like that but probably someone will come along with more or better references.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Mackay]

Thanks Patandchickens.

What I ended up doing was just cooking the beans in the pressure cooker. It did only take 10 minutes for the soaked beans to cook.

Then I filled by boiled jars and closed them up and put them back in the pressure cooker. At PSI of 250 I will now plan to cook for 50 minutes, as your link said for Lima Beans, which was the closest I could see to red beans.

Hope this works or I will have wasted my day and we will be eating a lot of beans this week!

What I want to know is if I could have avoided precooking the beans and just pressure cooking them in the jars.

Arrow

Guess I oughta find a book somewhere

 

[Cassandra]

Did you grow them yourself? (I'm sorry, is this WAY OT?) I love red beans and they aren't commonly grown in my neck of the woods. I've never heard of it, anyway.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but wouldn't it be easier and save more space to just dry them?

Just curious.

Cassandra

 

[Mackay]

Hi Cassandra,

Nope, didn't grow them. I purchased them bulk for food storage. I'm really just experimenting around, having never canned a thing in my life.

We are planning a big move to the county next year and I will plant beans.

I just figured that if things got bad, precooked beans is a real convenience. I'm just playing today. Really cooking them in the pressure cooker is so fast it seems silly to can them.

But my stupid book doesn't say if when you put stuff in the jars if it is raw or cooked... or maybe its me thats stupid..

Arrow

 

[Cassandra]

I agree, there is just no convenience like being able to open a can of beans that is already cooked! The dry ones take forever, don't they? But I am going to try this pressure cooking business. My family's new favorite dish is refried beans. I see a lot of that in my future. LOL

Cassandra

 

[Mackay]

I really like the Fagor line of pressure cookers and I was looking at them all at Bed Bath and Beyond store but you can do a search and buy on line. I got mine at www.Overstock.com and less expensive too.

They make a small one about 4 quarts for daily use That I am thinking about. Make sure you buy stainless steel, not aluminum. They really cut down on cooking time and hence energy.

Arrow

 

[Mackay]

Pat,

I just went through that site you offered. It has all my answers. Thanks again.

Arrow

 

[mrs.puff]

I know this is kinda late-- but you should invest in a book called "Putting Food By". It's got recipes for everything to can, freeze, dry, root cellar, etc. This book will tell you though, that there's not much point in wasting the energy to can beans, when you can just keep them dry, unless you're REALLY into convenience. I know I'd rather just pop open a jar of already cooked beans! I rarely plan ahead to have my beans soaked!

 

[Veggie PAK]

Wow! This is an old one! Anyway, I've been reading a lot lately about vacuum canning dry goods with a Food Saver machine or similar machine or device. It seems tremendously easier than canning cooked beans for convenience. Put the beans in the jar, put the lid on, loosely screw the ring on, vacuum out the air, and that's it. It's supposed to extend the shelf life for years. Much less chance of spoilage that way. (dry) You can vacuum can flour, wheat berries, sugar, beans, corn, anything dry, basically. I'm going to check it out further. I think it's a way you can drastically increase your food storage.