We go through a lot of beans. It's one of the few vegetables my husband will eat, plus it's a great accompaniment to BBQ. Sometimes if we're having a big BBQ I will make a big ol pot of fresh beans...but most of the time I prefer to have home canned beans ready. There are a number of steps to get them finished, but the really are worth it!
We started this batch with one each of our home cured & smoked venison hock, and hog hock.
These are placed into a large stockpot with about 20 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for a few hours until the meat comes off the bone. Once you allow it to cool, you will have an ugly blob of fat on top that is easy to scoop off.
From there strain the stock and put it aside. Remove any skin and bones from the meat; and reserve the meat (the meat will be used in a batch of pinto beans later in the week).
Today we're canning a 16 bean soup mix, using dried onion, kielbasa sausage, and some of the stock. The beans must be rinsed and sorted....
Bring the stock back up to a boil, this will be the liquid used to can the beans. Meanwhile prepare the jars by sterilizing them. Add 1 Tablespoon of minced onion to each jar.
Next add a few slices of the keilbalsa to each jar.
Next drain the soaked beans, and spoon them into the jars.
Pour the boiling stock over the beans and fill jar to within 1" of the top.
Cap the jars and process in the pressure canner (appropriate altitude directions) for 90 minutes.
When done, you have a quick and easy side dish...just heat and eat!
Other notes....it takes about 2 1/4 pounds of beans per quart. I used 3 - 20oz bags of 16 bean mixture and finished with 12 pints and 2 quarts.
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