Canning Baked Beans

8 pints

 

2 lb. dried navy beans

1⁄2 lb bacon

1 -3 large onion

2⁄3 cup brown sugar, packed

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons mustard powder

1 cup orange juice (optional)

2⁄3 cup molasses (I use Grandma’s molasses which has a higher concentration of sugar)

 

Soak beans in 3 quarts of water, (make sure they are covered!) for 12-18 hours. Drain but do not rinse. Return beans to pot and cover with 3 quarts of fresh water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat; cover and simmer until the bean skins begin to split. Drain the beans, reserve the liquid. Transfer the beans to a 4-quart or larger covered baking dish. Chop the bacon and onions. Add them to the beans. Combine the brown sugar, salt, mustard, and molasses in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the reserved bean liquid (or 1 cup orange juice and 3 cups water). Pour the sauce mixture over the beans. Don’t stir! Cover the beans and bake them in a preheated 350-degree oven for 3 to 3.5 hours. The consistency should be like a thick soup. Adds more liquid if the beans become too dry. While the beans are baking, prepare your canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot. Ladle the hot beans into your prepared jars, leaving a 1-inch headspace. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive tool, adding more beans as necessary to maintain the proper headspace. Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the lids and caps, hand tightening the bands. Process your filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hr 20minutes (pints) or 1 hr 35minutes (quarts). After the pressure in the canner has returned to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place them on a clean kitchen towel away from drafts. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. For added safety, boil the contents for 15 minutes before tasting or eating. (If you follow accurate canning protocol, that should not be necessary!). It takes a big pot to make this so if you want to double it, prepare two separate pots. My canner only holds 5 quarts so it can only hold a single batch anyways.