looking for "official" oppinions on the safeness of my canned beans

[Robert Z]

I followed the procedure for canning dried beansonly I added some minced garlic, diced onions, and diced country ham to each jar. I also substituted the water for the broth leftover from boiling my country ham for 5 hours. I know this is not "approved" but does it sound safe?

[Canned Nerd]

"Sounds Safe" unfortunately has no meaning. If you did not follow a tested and proven safe recipe, you have assumed a risk outside the safety margins.

 

[Necie]

Check the time for canning the beans and the time for canning ham. I *think* they are the same, but not positive. If the time for the ham is the same for the beans, then you're good to go. If the time to can ham is longer than for beans, then OOPS!

 

I make bean soup and can it....ham, bacon, or pork; beans; celery; carrot; onion; garlic; spice. I just make sure I can it for the ingredient that needs the longest processing.

 

Darlene does a pork and beans or some such, I think....maybe she'll pop on here. I wouldn't toss it til ya hear from her or Violet.

[Violet]

The number one guideline in home canning is NEVER can your own recipes.

So, this is going to be your judgement call.

However, I cannot assure you 100 percent this is safe. The old suggestion of processing foods for the one that has the longest processing time does not hold true.

Especially since so many people put all kinds of ingredients that would be considered unsafe to can.

Plus, when you make up your own recipes the density will not have been tested. Density is also very important in a food. The heat cannot safely penetrate all foods equally and the recipes you make up may be underprocessed just by the thickness of the food alone, not even taking into account the ingredients.

Please, use safe tested recipes for your canning and not take chances. It is too dangerous of a thing to play with.

So, possibly it is safe, since this is a cured meat. As long as it has no added things like whey, which is a milk product, etc. , it may be fine. But, if your beans are too thick, then it may not be safe.... never add anything not called for in a recipe from a safe, reliable source.

BTW, bacon is not safe to add to your soup. It is too fat to add. It is like canning green beans, no bacon is safe to add. It coats the food particles and can allow botulism to survive even in a pressure canner. You are taking risks doing this. Fats shut off oxygen supply, providing the right environment for botulism to grow in the jars.

Ham is another "iffy" thing. If you are using some processed types they have whey, which is a milk product. Some are just plain meats that are smoked, others are a "food product" and not really ham. They have so much stuff added to them.

As I say, "cooking is an art, canning is an exact science". It is for your safety that these guidelines are in place. The recipes from Ball and USDA have been tested in labs to insure they are fine for homecanning. There is a safety tested recipe for pork n beans. It will give exact amounts of each ingredient and need to be followed otherwise the ph and the density will not be accurate.

 

 

 

[Robert Z]

The number one guideline in home canning is NEVER can your own recipes.

So, this is going to be your judgement call.

However, I cannot assure you 100 percent this is safe. The old suggestion of processing foods for the one that has the longest processing time does not hold true.

Especially since so many people put all kinds of ingredients that would be considered unsafe to can.

Plus, when you make up your own recipes the density will not have been tested. Density is also very important in a food. The heat cannot safely penetrate all foods equally and the recipes you make up may be underprocessed just by the thickness of the food alone, not even taking into account the ingredients.

Please, use safe tested recipes for your canning and not take chances. It is too dangerous of a thing to play with.

So, possibly it is safe, since this is a cured meat. As long as it has no added things like whey, which is a milk product, etc. , it may be fine. But, if your beans are too thick, then it may not be safe.... never add anything not called for in a recipe from a safe, reliable source.

BTW, bacon is not safe to add to your soup. It is too fat to add. It is like canning green beans, no bacon is safe to add. It coats the food particles and can allow botulism to survive even in a pressure canner. You are taking risks doing this. Fats shut off oxygen supply, providing the right environment for botulism to grow in the jars.

Ham is another "iffy" thing. If you are using some processed types they have whey, which is a milk product. Some are just plain meats that are smoked, others are a "food product" and not really ham. They have so much stuff added to them.

As I say, "cooking is an art, canning is an exact science". It is for your safety that these guidelines are in place. The recipes from Ball and USDA have been tested in labs to insure they are fine for homecanning. There is a safety tested recipe for pork n beans. It will give exact amounts of each ingredient and need to be followed otherwise the ph and the density will not be accurate.

 

 

I understand what you are saying, and understood before I undertook the endevour. I also hope that anybody else that reads this understands that it is not an approved recipe or method.

 

I did check the ham before I used it, it was a clifty farms country ham and the lable said "ingredients: ham, sodium, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite" so I know there is no milk product or anything else.

 

I brought the beans to a boil then let them sit in the water over night so I am positive they where completely hydrated and had the moisture to carry the heat all the way to the center of the beans. I was very selective of the pieces of ham I chose to chop up and put into the jars with the beans, I simmered the broth I cooked the ham in down to just enough liquid to fill all of my jars and cooled it then removed all of the fat off of the top. When I packed the jars I intentionally left a little extra room to allow for the beans to swell so they would not be packed in real tight so the heat could move around reliably (though why did not swell at all because I soaked them thoroughly and the onions I put in the jar shrank a little under the heat making for more room for the beans).

 

I will reiterate my previous statement that I hope everyone understands that this is not an approved method for canning beans, but my opinion is I think I am ok, and I recognize the risk I am taking by not following the approved recipe.

 

For what it is worth they turne dout AWESOME! Some of the smokey cured flavor fromt he ham carried into the beans, the onions sweetened it a little, and the garlic makes a nice background flavor! I wish I had added a touch of salt and black pepper, but I was erring on the side of caution as I figured the country ham would bring more salt than it did.

 

[rainygardener]

According to my extention office canning classes, whenever you make a mixture of things, like in a soup, you would look up the canning ingredient time for each vegetabkle as if canned seperatly and go by the longest time given.

An example would be, if you were canning tomatoes, potatoes and celery together, you look up the canning time just for each ingredient if canned alone. Whatever the longest timed vegetable is, that's your canning time.

[Violet]

Rainygardener,

I teach food preservation at my extension office, and I must keep curent with guidelines. You will find that not all extension offices are up to date. Your extension agent is not current on the guidelines if this is still what they are telling you. That is considered outdated information. Now if you are doing a mixture you need to follow the one for mixed vegetables. For soup, you would follow the guidelines and fill the jar half full of the solids and half liquid and process according to the safe times.

Other than that, it is not safe to make up any other "recipes" and can them. It is not only due to the ph level, since you will have changed it, but also because of the density of the foods. Each food you add will vary the density in a jar.

 

[rainygardener]

Thank you Violet.

[Darlene]

Thankfully, we are not the USDA, FDA, CEA or CIA.

 

I can many of my own recipes yes, even though the 'authorities' say it is no longer safe...as do many master canners that I know.

 

I tend to err on the side of caution however and side with the accepted authorities only because there are too many variables (density, ingredients, etc. like Violet pointed out) when teaching other people.

 

From what you described though Robert, that might be something I might can myself, as long as the critical ratios are there.