[Flako]

My wife makes some AWESOME Charro beans and I was wondering if they can be canned.

Ive googled for it but haven't been able to find anything on it.

This dish is made with Pinto Beans. They are cooked as you would regularly cook them but then you add, smoked sausage, Chorizo, Bacon & Pork Grins. You can also ad some nice pickled jalapeños if you like an extra kick. Top it off with a bit of red salsa and cream with a side of bread.

What do you guys think?

 

[yelruh]

I don't see anything that can't be canned individually, so it should be fine.

Use the time/temp for the longest ingredient for the prepared food, I think in this case it's the meat & beans.

The one thing to be careful of is seasonings, I'm careful to check that something cans alright before I use it.

 

[Flako]

So you're saying I would need to can everything by itself and then mix when I want to eat it?

 

[yelruh]

So you're saying I would need to can everything by itself and then mix when I want to eat it?

No, you can mix it all together and can. I would do a trial batch first, because you might not like how it tastes with all the cooking.

When I make chicken soup I have all the ingredients in the jar: chicken, onions, celery, carrots and chicken stock. I have to process it for the chicken because it's the longest time ingredient.

 

[Flako]

Thanks for the advice Ill give it a try and see what I get.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Canning is science, cooking is art. I will look for my canning books. Home made chili is can able, homemade refried beans is not.

 

[Dragonid]

There are two limiting factors that I can see. The meat is going to force a long cook time as yelruh mentioned, which may do unpleasant things to some of the other ingredients. The second factor is the amount of fluids -- is it too thick to allow heat to effectively penetrate evenly?

 

[TxHannah]

The only advice I could suggest would be that if you add spices (I've had charro beans that had cilantro and/or cumin in them) would be to either omit them altogether or go very light on them during canning. Intense heat, pressure and long processing times can make some spices very intense and also make them bitter as heck. I ruined the first batch of spaghetti sauce I ever canned by adding the normal amounts of oregano, basil, thyme and bay leaf that I normally did. It was so bitter it was inedible. You have to simmer your canned foods after opening anyway, and that is IMO when you should finish adding spices and herbs.