Canning Chili Beans

I started out by soaking 9 lbs mixed dry beans overnight.  I had some red, kidney, pink, and pinto beans so I used all I had.  First thing this morning I rinsed and added to my 20 qt pot.  I measured all the spices last night so these were added next.  Then I poured in 6 qts of home canned tomato juice and 6 qts of home canned crushed tomatoes.  I was short about 1 cup of juice in the end so adding more tomatoes/juice was an excellent decision.  I ended up just adding some water to the last 7 jars to stretch it. Brought this to a boil and boiled 5 minutes.  I then filled each qt jar with the bean mixture to within 2 inches of rim.  Next I added some of the liquid to each jar to within 1 in and capped the jars.  Processed for 90 minutes.

The recipe I used was:

Soak overnight 2 #s of pinto or kidney beans.  Drain liquid.  Add 2 qts tomato juice 1 cup chopped onions, 6 TBSP chili powder, 2 TBSP salt, 1/4 tsp blk pepper and 1 pint of tomatoes.  Boil 5 minutes, pack into hot jars leaving 2 inches head space.  Add liquid to leave 1/2 inch final head space.  Process 10 #; 75 minutes pints, 90 minutes quarts.

You can use a variety of beans which I did and I used a little more tomatoes and tomato juice than what was called for.  The spices I used were: chili powder, cumin, salt (half of what the recipe called for), black pepper, onion powder, and I used dehydrated onions that I had dehydrated last winter.  You can adjust the spices to suit your taste BUT NEVER adjust the processing time.

I got  20 qts and 1 pt of chili beans and can't wait to make some chili.  All I have to do when I get ready to make chili is to brown 1 # of hamburger or ground turkey, add some chopped onion and green pepper, add 1 qt of chili beans and 1 qt of crushed tomatoes or tomato juice.  Simmer for 15 minutes and sit back and enjoy.  I  serve grated cheese, chopped onions and crackers on the side.  Yum, Yum.

Jars ready for the liquid.  I love my huge strainer spoon.

Liquid added, removing the air bubbles.

Making sure I have the 1" head space.  See the old gravy spoon, I use it to remove liquid if I have to much.  It is perfectly shaped to use for this.

Finished product, I can see now that tomorrow when I remove the rings I will have  to use some elbow grease to clean the outside of the jars.  Never skip this step, it can harbor bacteria and makes it near impossible to clean the jar after the contents are used.  I've bought many used jars where this step has not been done and it makes for some difficult  cleaning.  

http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2012/10/carnival-of-home-preserving-31-come.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LauraWilliamsMusings+%28Laura+Williams%27+Musings%29

http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2012/10/mondays-homestead-barn-hop-82/