Canning Baked Beans or Pork and Beans
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Canning baked beans gives you the convenience of being able to enjoy homemade right off the shelf! Just open the jar, heat it up, and enjoy! And unlike store-bought canned baked beans, this doesn’t have any of the junk ingredients. Canned in a pressure canner, your baked beans or pork and beans will keep for up to a year.
Be sure to also try our Homemade Canned Chili Con Carne!
Pressure canning can definitely be an intimidating thing for anyone who has never tried it, but once you get the hang of it there’s really nothing to it. And a large canner holds quite a bit, so I like to make a large batch so that I can have multiple jars of these homemade canned baked beans on hand. Canning baked beans is easy and is a satisfying accomplishment!
Don’t worry if the consistency of your baked beans is soupy after cooking them, the beans will continue to absorb the liquid after going through the pressure canning process and sitting in the jars for a few days.
If you prefer canning Pork and Beans” instead, which very similar but with a little less sugar and generally no molasses, simply reduce the amount of brown sugar to a 1/4-1/3 cup and either eliminate or only add a little molasses. You still have the option of cooking the beans on the stove or baking in the oven.
Canning Baked Beans Recipe
Let’s get started!
Rinse the beans and rapidly boil them in unsalted water for 2 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover and let soak for 1 hour. Drain and discard the liquid. Return the beans to the pot with 6.75 quarts of water and bring to a boil, the immediately drain again – this time reserving the liquid. Set aside the beans and liquid.
In a very large stock pot (at least a 10-quart pot) fry the bacon until crispy then drain the fat. Draining the fat is essential for the bottles to seal when you pressure can them.
Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add all remaining ingredients, including the beans and their liquid.
You have two options for cooking the beans: 1) Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 3-4 hours, stirring once or twice. If needed, add a little water while cooking to keep the beans “soupy”. (Be sure to use an oven-safe lid or cover tightly with foil), or 2) Cover and simmer on low-medium on the stovetop for 60-90 minutes or until the beans are soft (depending on how old the beans are they may require longer). Keep in mind though that the beans will continue to cook in the pressure canner so don’t let them get mushy.
I recommend at least a 10 quart stock pot. Mine was 8 quarts and as you can see it’s nearly filled to the brim!
Pack into hot, sterilized canning jars leaving 1 inch of head space and cover jars with seals and rims. Follow your canner’s instructions and process at 10 lbs pressure: Quart jars for 75 minutes, pint jars for 65 minutes. (Adjust for altitude as needed.) I’m using my Presto 23-quart Pressure Canner and Cookerwhich is still going strong after several years.
Per your canner’s instructions, remove pressure canner from heat and allow the pressure to release on its own. Remove jars and place them on a kitchen towel on the counter top and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Jars are sealed when the jar lids are depressed.
For best storage, store in a dark and relatively cool place (though room temperature is fine). Shelf life is at least 1 year.
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Canning Baked Beans or Pork and Beans
Ingredients
- 3 pounds dried navy or white beans
- 3/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons ground dry mustard
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 large yellow onions , chopped
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds bacon , diced
- 3 bay leaves
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and rapidly boil them in unsalted water for 2 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover and let soak for 1 hour. Drain and discard the liquid. Return the beans to the pot with 6.75 quarts of water and bring to a boil, then immediately drain again - this time reserving the liquid. Set aside the beans and liquid.
- In a very large stock pot (at least a 10-quart pot) fry the bacon until crispy then drain the fat. Draining the fat is essential for the bottles to seal when you pressure can them. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add all remaining ingredients, including the beans and their liquid.
- You have two options for cooking the beans: 1) Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 3-4 hours, stirring once or twice. If needed, add a little water while cooking to keep the beans "soupy". (Be sure to use an oven-safe lid or cover tightly with foil), or 2) Cover and simmer on low-medium on the stovetop for 60-90 minutes or until the beans are soft (depending on how old the beans are they may require longer). Keep in mind though that the beans will continue to cook in the pressure canner so don't let them get mushy.
- Pack into hot, sterilized canning jars leaving 1 inch of head space and cover jars with seals and rims. Follow your pressure canner's instructions and process at 10 lbs pressure: Quart jars for 75 minutes, pint jars for 65 minutes. (Adjust for altitude as needed.)Per your canner's instructions, remove pressure canner from heat and allow the pressure to release on its own. Remove jars and place them on a kitchen towel on the counter top and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Jars are sealed when the jar lids are depressed.Note: the consistency may be soupy initially but the beans will continue to soak up liquid as they sit.
- For best storage, store in a dark and relatively cool place (though room temperature is fine). Shelf life is at least 1 year.Makes about 7 1/2 quarts or 15 pints.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Can I used canned northern beans, instead of dried beans?
Hi Tom, if you’re not going to can the baked beans, yes. But if you’re going to can them in a pressure canner use dried beans otherwise the texture of the beans will be mushy.
Do you cover jars with water in pressure canner?
No, you do not. Every pressure canner will have its own set of instructions and will tell you how many quarts of water to add. You can download instruction manuals online for practically every model, new or old.
Do baked beans have to be pressure canned? or can they be water bath processed ??
Hi Linda, they absolutely must be pressure canned or they will not be safe to eat.
can I use black beans for this?
I’ve never seen black beans used for this, Louise, though I don’t see why you couldn’t. It will obviously totally alter the color (possibly the texture and flavor, I’m not sure) but if that doesn’t bother you go ahead and give it a try.
Instead of step one, can I soak the navy beans overnight? And then add the 6.75 quarts of water ?
Absolutely delicious! It’s amazing I had any left to actually can after my family dove into it, lol :) I’ll be making another batch for canning this week.
Wonderful, Theresa, thank you!
Can lean ground chuck be used instead og bacon.
Hi Barbara, yes, you can substitute that for the bacon.
if you cook them on the stove 3-4 hours then pressure can won’t that be a little to much. Can you let them cook for an hour and then can to prevent over cooking.
Hi Preacher, they maintain their shape well and are not overcooked. You can definitely try it for less time initially if you like and then check the texture after it’s canned to see if you prefer it that way.
The time for processing is wrong,beans are 75 min for pints and 90 for quarts
Hi Sonya, the times I gave are correct. I just added the diagram from the National Center for Home Food Preservation in this post, you can have a look.
beans with pork contains a meat product, so must be canned for 90min as with any meat product
Thank you. I saw that, too. According to info I’ve seen, it requires 90 min for quarts & 75 min for pints in the pressure canner if any beef or pork pieces are in the food. And, I would recommend cutting way back on the pre-cooking. Cook just enough to get the (hydrated) bean to liquid ratio correct before pressure canning. This recipe looks great and I will be trying it. Love reading the recipes on this site.
My husband loves baked beans! These would be perfect for him!
I loves me some beans in just about any form. For as much canning as I do, I’ve never used a pressure canner. I’d love to have a bunch of jars of these beans in the pantry!
Thanks for sharing. I love boston baked beans, but have never thought to can them so I can have them on hand. I just got a pressure cooker for Christmas, and am thinking I will have to try this!
Can you believe I’ve never used a presser cooker (or canner) before? I’d love to be able to can a huge batch of beans like this – they sound delicious!
I’ve been wanting to get a canned forever but I haven’t made the plunge yet! Love reading about poeple that use them! I bet that these Baked Beans are so good!!
This is great! I miss canning, I used to do it a lot.
Canning is just perfect thing to do, for preserve favorites and also for gifting. Thanks for sharing your tips on successful canning.