My pressure canner and I aren't getting along very well. I bought it used on Craigslist and it seems to be in perfect working order so I can only assume that we have an operator error on our hands. I'm about ready to throw the canner in the garbage, so any advice or encouragement is welcome!
First let me update you on the vegetable soup I made a week or two ago: The flavor of the broth was delicious, a few of the cans lost enough liquid that I believe some could be called a vegetable stew, and the vegetables were such mush that there was absolutely no texture at all. Not entirely enjoyable, but edible. In the USDA book it says to hot pack, so does that mean I could fill the jars with my veggies and then just pour the hot broth over the top, would that help with the sogginess?
I canned dried black beans this weekend following the USDA guidelines to a T. I did one canner load of pints with no problems. Several of them did lose from 1/2 to 1 inch of liquid, but I figured that some of that was due in part to absorption as the beans cooked. When I did my second canner load I decided to do quarts. This time I increased my liquid:bean ratio by a good amount hoping to compensate for absorption. I processed them as directed (90 min. @ 15#) and 4 of the 6 in the load did not seal and some appeared to have lost ALL of their liquid. Of the cans that didn't seal were both wide mouth and regular, so I know it's not my lids. I wiped them before putting the lids on, as I always do, so I have no idea what went wrong. The cans sat out on the counter overnight, so I don't know if they're still good or not. I have absolutely no desire to try to reprocess them and even if I did wouldn't they be so overcooked that the nutrients, flavor and texture would pretty much be destroyed? What can I do with them in the meantime? Can I bring them back to a boil and then freeze them? Make chili and try to can that? I keep thinking that if I threw them out it'd only be $2 or $3 and that doesn't bother me nearly as much as throwing away an entire Sunday afternoon. I think Costco will be getting my bean business back.
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7 months ago
awhh....sounds disappointing. so much work with little reward but let's put it in perspective. you are learning and your family won't starve because of your failure or perceived failure. Lessons are better learned through what didn't go right as opposed to everything working seamlessly. I would taste the beans and if the taste is suitable, I would mix them into chili, soups or freeze plain just so your time won't be a total scratch. I love black beans in my chili. Use less meat or no meat and make a great big pot of chili. Eat off of it tonight and freeze the left-overs. We should plan to get together to can....we can put our heads together and figure out what happended so you won't repeat this again. Keep your head up!!!!
ReplyDeleteDo you have potatoes in your veggie soup? Sometimes, depending on the variety, I've found that the starchier kind just break down making everything very stew like...
ReplyDeleteYou can absolutely freeze the black beans, though when they thaw the beans will be a little mushy, but are awesome for quesadillas or nachos. I do that when a jar doesn't seal. I use the following method for canning dry beans: http://www.culinarycafe.com/Canning/Canning_Peas_Beans.html I'm not sure how that differs from the USDA method - but its always worked for me.
Every once in a while I get a bad box of lids, don't blame it all on yourself, maybe the lids were just a little wonky.