LDS Emergency Preparedness

When canning dry beans is it necessary to rehydrate by soaking them before you can them?

Thank you for your question.  We use the USDA Home Canning guides to answer canning questions and the procedure to safely can dry beans at home includes soaking time as well as 30 minutes of cooking time (prior to processing).  You can do an overnight soak (in cool water, in a cool place or a refrigerator), or you can do a quick-soak by gently boiling the sorted and washed beans for about 2 minutes, then continue to soak for 1 hour off of the heat. (you’ll need approximately 8 cups water for 1 lb of dry beans to rehydrate).  After you’ve soaked the beans using either method, we recommend that you drain, rinse well, and re-cover with fresh water and then boil for 30 minutes.  Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart (or 1/2 tsp to each pint) if desired, then fill your jars with the hot beans and liquid, leaving a 1-inch headspace.

In order to make sure your home-canned beans are safe to eat, you’ll need to process them in a Pressure Canner.  In elevations between 4,000 and 6,000 feet (most of Utah County), we need to process to 13lbs pressure if using a dial-gauge canner, or at 15lbs pressure if using a weighted gauge.  Quarts need to be processed for 90 minutes at that pressure, and pints for 75 minutes at that pressure.