The Christian Homekeeper

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Canning Dry Beans: 3 Methods

11/12/2025 / / 0 Comments

 

We use a lot of dried beans here. Sometimes I cook them with a piece of ham or other cured meat. Mostly though I use them as an ingredient in other dishes like chili or soup.

Dried beans are one of the most economical items you can home can. They’re getting expensive in the stores right now so stock up and plan to preserve them by canning some. Canning dry beans does require a pressure canner.

This is not a tutorial on how to use a pressure canner.

If you don’t know how to use one or don’t have one, you’ll need to get that taken care of before canning dried beans. I’ll give instructions for using my Pressure Canner which is a Mirro 23 quart Pressure Canner, and you can take it from there.

An important thing to remember when pressure canning ANYTHING: Time your canning according to the ingredient that needs the most time. So if you put meat in your dried beans, you can them as long as you would a whole quart or pint of meat.

There are several methods you could use to home can dried beans.

Soak, cook, can

In this method you soak the beans in water eight hours or overnight. Then you rinse the beans and put them in clean water and cook them. Finally, you can the cooked beans. I am not personally fond of this method because it cooks the beans twice and they are very mushy. If you like mushy beans, for example if you were going to do nothing with these beans but make re-fried beans, this method might be the best for you.

No-soak, can

This method is definitely the easiest. It works just fine, BUT I can never really work out how much water to add to the beans especially if I have meat in the jars taking up some of the space. I usually end up with lots of water and not enough beans. I’ve experimented with this method a lot and I CAN do it, but I prefer the next method. If you need fast, easy, uncomplicated method, try this one.

Soak, can

This is my go-to method for canning dried beans. I like the soak time, it gives the beans a great texture after they have cooked in the jars. This is the method that I have consistent success with. They’re not mushy. Plus, after soaking I can add meat and I know the beans aren’t going to swell up much more in the jars so I know how much water to use.

Here are instructions for Method #3: Soak, Can.

My Mirro 22 quart Pressure Canner hold 7 quarts. So to fill 7 quarts with beans I’ll use 2 pounds of dried pintos. Its hard to estimate how many dried beans you need for canning because beans dry at different rates. But a rule of thumb is 2 pounds for every 7 quarts of finished beans.

First, wash your beans. Dried beans are an agricultural product so they’re going to have soil, bugs, twigs, rocks, in them. Wash them in clear water and rinse them. Pick through them while you’re washing to remove debris. Beans that float are probably OK but the ones that are discolored should be removed and discarded.

Now that you’ve got your beans washed, put them in a big bowl or pan that is twice as big as you have beans, at least. Cover the beans with water by several inches and check on them throughout the day or before you go to bed if you’re soaking them overnight. They will soak up a lot of water and you may need to add more.

After the 8 hour or over-night soaking time, pour off the water and get your jars and canner ready.

Your lids, rings and jars should be hot. I put them in a saucepan on the oven.

Get a big kettle or pot of water boiling to put in the jars after adding the beans.

I put 3 inches of water in my Mirro 22 quart Pressure Canner and start getting it hot while I prepare the beans in the jars.

In each quart jar you’ll put 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of soaked beans and a chunk of cured meat, if using. This much salt seasons the beans well. If you think you need them to be less salty for recipes, decrease the amount to 1/2 teaspoon.

If you use pints, you’ll use 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of soaked beans in each jar, plus the chunk of meat, if using.

Next, pour boiling water over the beans and meat in each jar, leaving a 1 inch headspace. this water doesn’t HAVE to be boiling but I think it gives the beans a good head start and shortens the heating up process a little.

Wipe the mouths of the jars clean and dry with a clean cloth. Add the hot lids and rings. Tighten the rings just hand tight don’t force it tight.

Put the jars in the pressure canner, I use a rack and I weave a clean cotton cloth between the jars to keep them from bumping into one another and breaking. That doesn’t always happen but I’ve done it a few times so the cloth is a must in my opinion. It works.

Close and lock the Pressure Canner

After you have locked and vented the canner, let it process.

If you have never pressure canned, find someone who has to do it with you first, that’s my suggestion, any way. I pressure canned by myself with my Mother on the phone the first time.

Process these quarts of dried beans with meat for 90 minutes. If you happen to use pints process them for 75 minutes after venting.  This is according to the National Center for Home Preservation at the University of Georgia.

After the canning time is up, remove the canner from the heat and let it naturally depressurize. Don’t remove the weight yet. If you do, you risk all the liquid being sucked out of the beans.

When the canner is decompressed, remove the jars and let them cool on the countertop. They’ll still be really hot, probably boiling, so be very careful.

After they cool check to see that the lids are all popped downward and then you can store the jars.

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

11/07/2025 / / 2 Comments

Last September I harvested a bunch of apples. I think the varieties were Red and Golden Delicious and a few Granny Smith.  I dehydrated them and canned a bunch too. I made apple pie filling and canned that. I’ll put a recipe for that here soon.

With the peelings and cores I made apple cider vinegar.  It’s super simple. I filled a 2 quart jar with the peels and cores, covered them with pure water and covered it with a piece of paper towel held down with a canning ring.

I left this in my herbal cabinet for 2 1/2 months, checking it every couple of weeks.  A few days ago I saw that it was developing a mother!  Then today I removed the mother to a bottle and strained out the vinegar into the bottle with the mother. That’s all there was to it.

It smells delicious. I’m so happy to have 2 quarts of this wonderful vinegar.  Here are a couple of photos. I hope you will try to make apple cider vinegar the next time you peel a few apples!

You can just barely see the mother in the bottom of the bottle

 

Homemade Ranch Dressing

07/24/2025 /

The key to a great homemade Ranch Dressing is FRESH ingredients. I make this recipe all summer long. Even my non-ranch dressing loving husband enjoys it.

 

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar

1 to 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, to taste, this is optional but it really lends a nice flavor

1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh chives, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

 

Mix everything well. I mix it in a widemouth pint Mason jar.  Cover and refrigerate to mellow.

Lemon Balm And Its Uses

06/27/2025 /

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is one of my favorite herbs. It’s in the mint family so it has a square stem and a lovely fragrance.  It’s leaves have a distinctive lemony aroma and it tastes so good in teas. Sometimes it will have either pale pink or whiteish flowers.

There are a lot of uses for Lemon Balm but I’ll just share what I use it for. Remember though that I am not a health care professional, read my disclaimer page located in the right sidebar.

Lemon Balm contains a isomer called citral. It’s similar to citronella which keeps insects away. Lemon Balm is a good natural insect repellant.  So you can keep a pot of it on your deck, porch or pool to help with that. If you put it in the ground to grow, it will soon take over your whole garden. That’s why most people grow mint in big pots. The pots can be set into the ground if desired but the mint will grow over the edges of the pot into the ground!

It also contains a chemical called rosmarinic acid. This chemical works to give relief from anxiety and nervousness.  Lemon Balm does have a calming effect when used in a tea. It’s a lot like chamomile in how gently it works.

Another thing that Lemon Balm is good for is digestion. If you have a little trouble with indigestion after eating, a cup of Lemon Balm tea can really help. Like most mints it contains menthol which has a relaxing effect on the muscles of the digestive tract.

To get the benefits of it’s calming effect or muscle relaxing effects, I make a tea using about 2 teaspoons of dried Lemon Balm, 1  or 2 teaspoons of honey and 6 ounces of very hot, but not boiling, water. Let it steep for 5-8 minutes.  I would drink this 3 or 4 times a day to get good relief. You don’t need to sweeten it if you’d rather not, it’s very tasty by itself. You don’t want to use boiling water on herbs, it destroys a lot of the helpful chemicals in the herbs.

Lemon Balm is good as a tea because it has that lemony-minty flavor, but you can also add it to any other tea for a nice, bright lift in the flavor.  I enjoy adding some dried Lemon Balm to my English Breakfast tea.

Ideally, Lemon Balm, and most all other herbs, should be cut in the morning before the heat of the day takes over. In the morning the essential oils in the herbs are at their peak. Try not to wash them before drying them, just shake them off, pull off any dead or brown leaves and pull off anything that isn’t herb.

I dry Lemon Balm at 95 degrees F for about 6 hours. Depending on how moist the herb is, it could take a longer or shorter time. After it’s dried I chop it up in my food processor and store it in a glass jar.

Jewelweed Salve

06/18/2025 /
I made Jewelweed salve yesterday. As I was trimming out the Virginia Creeper that had taken hold on my house, crepe myrtle and all the surrounding area, I decided to pull up some of the jewelweed that we allow to grow there. I got more an three wheelbarrow loads of vines and trimmings removed.
The jewelweed is tender and has a lot of “juice” this time of year, the stems have not yet gotten hard and woody. So they make really good salve.

Jewelweed – Impatiens capensis, also known as Spotted Touch Me Not

I had prepared for making the salve the week before by purchasing a liter of olive oil. So I twisted the jewelweed stems and leaves and placed them in a saucepan, then covered those with olive oil.
I let this very slowly and barely simmer for about 6 hours. I let it go that long mainly because I was busy but you could let it simmer for just 2 hours and still get a good extraction when the plants are so juicy.

Jewelweed oil made with olive oil

Then I strained the plant material and added 1/3 cup of beeswax pastilles to every cup of oil.

Beeswax

I had 2 cups of oil exactly, so I added 2/3 cup beeswax. Then I poured that mixture into my clean containers and let them cool completely before adding the lids.

Jewelweed salve while it was still hot and in a liquid state.

You can add other essential oils or plant oils to salves made this way. Some add oils that have a good fragrance like lavender. I don’t mind the fragrance of jewelweed so I don’t add anything else.
Jewelweed salve is great for poison ivy, it gives relief from the itching and speeds up the healing process. It’s healing properties are pretty amazing. You can use it for bee stings and other insect bites or plant rashes to heal and relive itching.

Solidified jewelweed salve, cooled and ready for the lids

If you’re ever out and know that you are exposed to poison ivy, there is probably jewelweed growing nearby, so be sure you can identify it, pick a stem of it and squeeze the juice from the stem or leaves onto the area you think was exposed to the poison ivy and rub it in gently.
Then get thee to the soap (preferably lye soap) and water and wash that urushiol from the ivy off yourself! You can reapply the jewelweed numerous times.

Dehydrating Sourdough Starter

06/02/2025 /

Did you know that you can dehydrate and then freeze sourdough starter to preserve it?  It is a fabulous way to have already live starter on hand.

Here are instructions for creating a starter, maintaining it and then dehydrating, storing and using it later. I am trying to keep it simple so everyone will be able to make starter and preserve it.

Sourdough Starter

First you make your starter. I don’t do it exactly like the professionals. I just put 1 cup of flour, enough pure water to make it like a thick pancake batter, stir it really well, cover it with a clean cotton cloth and let it sit 12 hours.

After 12 hours I pour off any liquid (it’s called hooch because it’s alcohol-smelling) and I pour off about half the starter. Then I feed it again. When I feed I use 1/2 cup flour and a scant 1/2 cup of pure water, or enough water to make it like a thick pancake batter.

Wait 12 hours and do that again. So I pour off and feed it every 12 hours. That’s how to build a really strong sourdough starter. About 3-4 hours after a feeding is when the starter will usually be ready to use. It should be bubbly and have increased in size a little.

Now, here are some Notes. 

  • You don’t have to pour off the starter if you want a bunch of starter. Most recipes only call for a little starter, but sometimes you need a whole lot. So keep the starter from feeding to feeding instead of pouring it off.  You CAN pour off any hooch accumulated. Hooch will make your final bread product more sour tasting, so if you like that, just keep the hooch in the starter.  It will take longer for this to be ready to use but you can build the volume of your starter like this.

 

  • The kind of flour you use is up to you but I use white bread flour. I also have made starter using whole grain flour, rye flour and spelt flour.  Unless you’re advanced in sourdough making or gluten-free, you can just start with white bread flour. It’s the easiest.  For instructions on those other flours and gluten-free, you’ll have to wait a while, I’ll address those in a future post.

 

  • The more pure your water is the better. If you don’t have a whole house water filtration system (I don’t) you can use a filter like a Brita that will remove impurities like chlorine. That’s what I use. Chlorine in your water will hinder your starter.  I won’t say it’s impossible but you will see a marked difference in your starter if you use filtered water.  Or you could use fancy schmancy bottled water that contains no chlorine.

 

  • As a general rule you should feed your starter every 12 hours.  After a couple of feedings you should see it become bubbly and fragrant.  This most often occurs about 3-4 hours after feeding. This is when it’s ready to use for baking.

 

  • If you can, get yourself a seedling mat from Amazon. Here is the one I have, this is not an affiliate link.  Seedling Mat.  You can see that it is not expensive.  It has made all the difference in the world for my starters.  I wrap it around my wide mouth mason jar and hold it there with the rubber band that came with it.  The gentle heat helps the starter take off. You’ll have to work with it and remove the starter jar from the mat now and then, put it back , etc. to find the optimum time on the heat.

  • If you decide you’re not going to bake and don’t want to continue to feed the starter daily you can cover it with a lid and move it to the refrigerator. You should feed it weekly if it is in the fridge.

 

OR ……  you can dehydrate your starter and store it in the freezer for ….. well practically forever.  A year any way.

Dehydrating Sourdough Starter

I use a Cosori 6 tray dehydrator.  This is not an affiliate link.  My Excalibur finally fell apart. It still works though so I will use it now and then I’m sure.  I am thinking of taking it outdoors under a shelter to use,

I spread about 1/2 cup of the active, just fed about 3-4 hours ago, starter on some parchment paper which I have laid on one of the Cosori trays.  I spread it as thinly as I can but I’ve seen some people just spread it to maybe 1/4 inch.  It will all work.

Then after all the trays are filled, I set the temperature on 95*F. That’s as low as the Cosori goes. You could go lower to 90*F if you want.  It’s important not to go higher or you will kill some of the wild yeast and bacteria and you want to keep as much of that alive as possible.

You can see the little baggie in this photo

Crispy, crumbly, dehydrated starter   

I had in my mind that it would take a long time to dry the starter but it only took maybe 3 hours. I think that is because I spread it so thinly. You want it to be completely dry and crisp.

You could do this in an oven if the temperature can be set low enough. You could prop open the oven door, but you’d need to really keep an eye on the temperature because you definitely don’t want to bake the starter.

Then when it is dry, I fold up the parchment paper over the starter and break it into small pieces. I do this so I don’t touch it with my hands, which are clean of course but I don’t want to get the little crumbs all over my hands.

I put about 1/4 cup in a baggie and then put all the baggies in the freezer. MY PLAN though is to put the dehydrated starter into small, 1/4 pint jars and put those in the freezer. Since the starter is dry, it will not expand and cause the jars to break.

Baggies containing dehydrated starter in a Zwilling Vacuum bag, ready for the freezer

I have put all the baggies into a Zwilling vacuum bag for now.

Using the dehydrated starter

I will store the baggies or jars until time to use them and then I’ll scoop out about 2 Tablespoons of the starter and place it into a wide mouth mason jar, then add a scant 1/4 cup of pure water to the starter and stir vigorously. Wait for 4-5 minutes, stir again.

Now it should be softened up and ready for the first feeding.  Add 1/4 cup flour and beat the mixture really well, incorporating lots of air.  Cover with a clean cloth and let it sit in a warm place for 12 hours.

Dehydrated starter and water. After 12 hours it’s time for the second feeding. The second feeding will be just like the starter feedings I described above, 1/2 cup flour and a scant 1/2 cup pure water to make that thick batter.

Rehydrated starter, ready to sit for 12 hours.

Then you can continue on with this starter just like you began. If you have questions, please ask!  I think you’ll love having starter on hand that you don’t have to feed til you’re ready.

 

 

 

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