Another canning problem

[Mackay]

All right ... I'm a dunce. I got my recipes confused and I pressure canned my pintos for 50 minutes instead of the 90 that every recipe Ive looked at says.

So I looked at a bunch of different pressure canning recipes and the times are quite variable.. Green beans requires 45 minutes for example.

So if it takes 45 minutes to preserve green beans why would it take 90 minutes to preserve pinto beans?

I realize that pintos take longer to cook in general.. they were a bit crunchy when I filled the jars..

but after 50 minutes they were great and we had some for dinner last night.

So are those bottles of beans cooked for only 50 minutes that are tender enough dangerous to store? Should I open them all and put them in the freezer? What do you think?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pressure canning is all about botulism. Botulism is clear and odorless. It grows in places that don't have air, like a canning jar. Medical Science has improved quite a bit about botulism. It used to be that 50% of the people that ate food contaminated with botulism died. Now it's only 10%. It's been a few years but the last time I checked the CDC's statistics just a few people in the US died each year from botulism. Botulism is in soil and the air but is kind of rare.

The different processing times come from the density of the product being canned. The goal of pressure canning is not to cook the product. The goal is to get the center of that jar up to 240 degrees. That's the temperature that kills the botulism spores.

Different recipes have been tested to see how long they need to be processed to get that internal temperature up to 240. My recipe for pinto beans shows 75 minutes, but that is for pints. I'm guessing your 90 minutes is for quarts. Beans are dense so they take quite a while. I canned chicken broth Monday and the processing time for a pint of chicken broth is only 20 minutes. Quite a difference. There is a big difference in processing time for whole kernel corn versus cream style corn.

Botulism will not grow in certain things like pickles or jelly. The acidity keeps them from growing. That's why you can water bath them and not have to pressure can.

It's up to you whether you want to take a chance on botulism with those beans. You'll probably be OK. Probably but maybe not.

 

[lesa]

I live in fear of poisoning my family...I would freeze them, just to be on the safe side. You aren't a dunce! Canning is complicated and following the directions is super important. I much prefer cooking that doesn't need to be so exact! I bring Dh in on my pressure canning- he has a more scientific mind (my mind is more in the "by the seat of your pants" category!)

 

[journey11]

I'd go ahead and reprocess them for the correct length of time. I've reprocessed pintos in jars that didn't seal the first time and they were not overly mushy even after the 2nd round. If they are not as firm as you like, consider using them for refried beans in burritos and such, but I don't think you'll have a problem. Don't rely on recipes found online or passed down from older folks who've canned for a lifetime. BBB is the go-to resource for recipes and processing times that are scientifically tested and guaranteed to be safe. Botulism is a rare occurrence, but should it happen, it is not a forgiving experience...not a mistake you'd likely live to make again. I could not in good conscience feed my family anything that I had fudged the canning directions on. Reprocessing correctly is the only way to be sure. Only other option is to freeze it or use within a few days.

BBB recommends pressure canning green beans at 10 pounds pressure 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude. Going longer is not necessarily a problem and perhaps the person who wants to do that likes them to be a lot softer. The longer time needed for dry beans has to do with their density and time needed to reach 240 degrees all the way through, as Ridge said.

 

[Smart Red]

I am with the posters who abide by BBB. Food poisoning is not my idea of showing love and I never mess around with 'adapting' recipes, but follow them to the letter.

 

[Mackay]

I'm recanning... this is exhausting!

 

[Beekissed]

When in doubt, we just run them back through the canner...no problems. Canning isn't as scary as folks hear about with all the urban legends of rural demise from botulism. Most of those stories are just stories and if anyone got sick at all, usually it was due to someone using poor hygiene and canning practices and no common sense when they reopened a jar for eating.

 

[curly_kate]

While I share Bee's attitude about the threat of botulism from home-canned foods, this happened in Ohio a couple of months ago:
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/...s-following-ohio-church-potluck/#.VYLxV_lViko

They found it came from potato salad someone had made from home-canned potatoes. While it's awful that so many people were sick and one died, I feel horrible for whoever it was who'd made that potato salad. That's like my worst nightmare come true!

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...that would be pretty bad. I didn't read in that article that it was from home canned food, but there must have been a follow up article?

 

[Ridgerunner]

http://fox8.com/2015/04/28/contamin...eadly-botulism-at-ohio-church-potluck-dinner/

Check this one out Bee. I'll quote the first line.

Local and state health officials say potato salad made with home-canned potatoes is to blame for the more than 20 cases of botulism in Lancaster, Ohio, last week.