Canning – Barbecue Beans

I’ve tried a few recipes for canning barbecue beans and have been less than thrilled with them. Last fall I came across this recipe from sbcanning (a site I recommend for all things canning) and tucked it away in my “to try” pile. This week I finally got around to trying it and–oh my–it was so good that I made a second batch a few days later.

As I said, I found this recipe on sbcanning.com.

Yield: This recipe makes 6 pints.

Ingredients

• 1 lb navy beans
• 1/2 cup chopped leeks (I used leeks but next time I might be inclined to use onions that I already have since I don’t typically purchase leeks)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 tsp. mustard powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup vinegar (The recipe says you can use either cider or white. I used white.)

Instructions

Put dry beans in large pot and add 8 cups water. Cook on high until it comes to a boil and boil for two minutes.

Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 30-45 minutes.

While the beans are sitting, in a separate sauce pan combine 2 cups water, molasses, vinegar, salt, pepper, ketchup, maple syrup, mustard, and brown sugar. Cook to a slow boil.

Drain the beans.

Add 8 cups of fresh water and the chopped leeks.

Cook at full boil for 15 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, fill the 6 pint jars about 3/4 full of the beans onion mixture. Ladle the sauce into the jars leaving 1 inch headspace.\

Wipe rims, remove air space, and adjust two piece caps.

Process 11 pounds pressure for 75 minutes. For my altitude here in Kamloops  11 pounds pressure was sufficient. Check the altitude for your location and adjust accordingly.

I served them with rice and a garden salad. They would be great with ribs, corn on the cob, or pretty much anything. I had some of the sauce left over from the batch I made today and I’ll be using it with chicken for supper this evening. Yumm-o!