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Such beans as these! Canning beans at home, and bean tortillas.

This was gonna be a quick post about how much I like canning beans at home, but the seal didn’t take on two jars, so it’s also a post on how to use a can of black beans and a can of chick peas you hadn’t expected to have on hand.

Canning Beans at Home:

I didn’t grow up eating a lot of beans – and I certainly didn’t grow up canning beans at home. The only canning we did was making freezer Canning beans at homejam, or pickles – simply water bath level stuff. Sometime in my early twenties I encountered hummus. I know all you whippersnappers have been eating hummus since the dawn to time – well, the dawn of time was my early twenties and hummus wasn’t really big on the scene before then. Buying little pots of hummus is expensive – especially when you practically live off of it because you’re a recent convert to veganism, living in your grandmother’s basement with a faulty hot-plate, and paying your way through university. Solution? Make your own!

The store brand of chick peas at (blasted) Superstore was fairly cheap, and they are also the best source of tahini that isn’t priced like liquid gold. But the prices of canned chick peas have been rising, so I started making my own from dried beans. Turns out I don’t really like the smell created by boiling beans for an hour. But like every good hipster, I love mason jars, so eventually I bought a pressure canner and started canning beans at home!

my pressure canner**************************
Before we get started, please please please remember that not only are pressure canners potentially dangerous (know how how to use yours, and check the safety features before each use), but the food you prepare can also be dangerous if you aren’t careful – so please check the Ball and USDA yearly information on home canning before you travel this road – I’m not advocating my method, simply reporting what I do – YMMV, RTFM, and all that jazz.
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Here’s what I do (not the recommended and approved method):

  1. Soak beans overnight or longer – this will cause them to double in size.
  2. Fill big Wide Mouth Mason Jars a little more than half-way with beans.
  3. Fill to and inch below the lid with water.
  4. Wipe down the lids and rims with vinegar.
  5. Screw on reusable Tattler lids and rubber seals.
    1. Screw the retaining lids all the way on, then back off a quarter turn. These need to be loose to allow heated gasses to escape, otherwise: Cracked Jar Disappointment!
  6. Seal the canner, bring to a boil, set the pressure (15lbs for my situation), reduce the heat once it reaches a boil (according to your canner’s instructions), and set the timer for 90 minutes.
  7. Let the canner cool naturally.
  8. Tighten the lids and remove the jars.
  9. Let them cool, remove the retaining rings, check the seals, and store!

Black Bean Tortillas:

See that step above? Part of 9: Check the seals. For me at least this is sometimes an issue and I’m left with a couple of unsealed pots of beans, in this case quite a lot of beans. 1 jar of chick peas and 1 jar of black beans to be more precise.

I threw these into the food processor with a cup of white flour, some salt and some garlic powder, and let it go to town creating a thick dough. Roll that out in a couple of batches, cut and deep fry – finishing in a 250 degree F oven.

Lay off – I know the instructions aren’t precise, they’re guidelines – delicious guidelines!