Price of Great Value pintos beans per 15.5 oz can: 86¢.
Price of 4 pounds of dried pinto beans: $3.76.
Number of pint jars worth of beans you get from a 4 lb bag: 15.
That brings us to 25¢ per jar because I’m reusing lids. I’ll test each jar tomorrow for a proper seal to see if any of the reused lids failed. But they almost never do.
If you have to buy lids or don’t have Tattler reusable kids then it’s going to cost 55¢ per can and after figuring in labor and electricity it’s probably not worth it. But if you are paying ~$1.40 a can for name brand pintos in a can then it’s still worth it.
This will become burritos, refried beans and other things in the future.
Seems like you need a bigger jar.
I don’t bother canned stuff and I barely know canning.
My little side project making me look into plant powder. Which is food dehydration+ blender. I feel like powders can last months
I used to have a 10 tray dehydrator that was a beast. But it’s got a short somewhere in it and well I am very familiar with electronics. I can’t find out where that short is.
Here’s the problem with using the dehydrator for beans. It can only make refried beans. I want versatility in my ingredients. Sometimes I want whole beans. Sometimes I won’t refried beans. When I’ve canned beans in the past, I might have fried up some smoked hog jowl and put a chili pepper in there for all kinds of flavor. The problem is that limits what you get to make with them when it comes time to cooking.
I never thought about dehydrated bean powder. I’m not much of a bean eater unless.
But there’s a fast growing edible plant (Azolla filiculoides) and when I run out room for it and have to cultivate it and store it outside of growing space.
Powdered form would be decent since I can make smoothies/drinks from that
Problems is I’d have to store the azolla before I was and boil it to be dehydrated
With twins discount on store brand, I think canning beans would be not worth it (especially putting the time and energy from me it takes). Jams, jellies, soups? Those are still worth it generally. It’s interesting though!
Walmart doesn’t offer BOGO type deals. But their house brand is cheap enough that even if another store is offering one Walmart brand is, often, still less money. But even then if you own the equipment and have the time it’s still less money to do it yourself from dry.
Jams, jellys and soups.
I have general rules. If fruit is available for less than $1 a pound. If berries are less than $1.50 a pound. If boneless meat is less than $3 a pound. If bone in meat is less than $4 a pound.
If any of those criteria hit then it’s time to think about canning. At those prices points you can probably can something for less than you can buy it. It helps to remember “a pint is a pound”. Most non-dry items are pretty close to a pound per pint. Meat, tomatoes, blackberriesx whatever. Each pound of food can probably fit in a pint jar if canned. How much would you pay for a can of Spam? Probably about $5. How much is a pound of ham? If it’s $3 or less then it’s going to be cheaper to can your own than buy it. Need blackberry preserves for your PB&J? If Blackberries are less than $1.50 then it’s going to be less money to make your own then buy the cheapest jar of blackberry preserves.
These numbers need constant adjustments for inflation.
I’ll test each jar tomorrow for a proper seal to see if any of the reused lids failed. But they almost never do.
What would it look like when they fail?
If you have to buy lids or don’t have Tattler reusable kids
Huh. I’ve never done canning / jarring myself, so had just kind of assumed the lid assembly was reusable indefinitely. But I guess not?
If lids don’t seal then they aren’t indented and the lid can easily be removed. There are two parts to a canning lid. There’s a disc lid with a rubber seal and then there’s a ring that tightens it down. The lid part is slightly bowed and when it seals it will turn convex into concave. That let you know everything’s good. But even brand new lids can fail. Typical instructions are to put unsealed jars in the fridge and use them right away or to reprocess to seal again.
They do have a finite life. The rubber can be all distorted so that it won’t seal properly or you bend lid trying to get it off.
I was once helping a friend clean and he had a jar of ??? that was totally full, but had a popped lid. He wouldn’t take it on trust that the lid pop was a designed feature meaning he should toss the product. I insisted and he ended up looking it up.
Oof
Thanks!
Do you have experience with the tattler lids? I’ve been paranoid to reuse lids, which like you said makes the cost potentially not worth it. I guess you are right, though, that reusing the non-reusable lids, worst case scenario just doesnt seal, which is noticeable anyway.
I do. When I had a little money I’d buy a box. I never could afford more than one box at a time because they are a little pricey. I try to only use them on things I know I will rotate through quickly so that I can reuse them as much as possible.
I’ve never had any problems with. I wish I had more of them. I would avoid canning tomato based stuff like chili in them because they will stain. It doesn’t affect their use at all, but if you’re into the aesthetics that’s something you should know.
You have to make sure to use the instructions on the side of the box. They are ever so slightly different than regular canning lids and if you don’t follow those instructions exactly you will not have a good time.
If you decide to buy them, they will pay for themselves if you rotate your stock fast enough. And make sure you know what it is you rotate through. On you the kind of person that uses regular mouth or wide mouth more? I definitely use more wide mouth. So that’s what most of mine are.
It looks like they are a dollar a piece right now, so you only need to use them twice to be worthwhile.
Good tip on the tomato, though, cause I’m definitely the type to buy a case of blemished tomatoes on the cheap from a farm to make a big batch of sauce.
I’ve never canned my own beans, though.
Walmart Mainstays brand is almost half the price for one time lids. But yeah, if it’s remotely possible to get Tattler then you should do it.
A number of years ago we hit up a farmers market at the end of tomato season. “What’s the best deal you can get us on 40 pounds?” “Drip by my farm.” “Ok”
40 pounds of perfection, 20 pounds of over ripe, 10 pounds of green tomatoes. $20.
It took hours but we canned years worth of balsamic tomato soup in one go. I made green pasta sauce and fried green tomatoes. So much goodness for almost nothing per serving. I did have to buy more canning jars on the way home just to accommodate the task. Of course new jars come with new lids. I still find lids from that batch when I’m reusing them.
Balsamic Tomato Soup
Servings: 6 cups (three pint jars if canning recipe scales up very nicely)
3 1/2 lb tomatoes
1 2/3 cups stock (chicken or veg) (see note)
3 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste/puree or 3-4 sun dried tomatoes rehydrated and pureed
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp sugar
fresh basil (a little or a lot) finely chopped
! This recipe is great for canning.
! Serve with grilled cheese!
! Amount of stock to add will depend on how big the batch is as the bigger batch will allow more time for the tomatoes to juice out. Add just enough to be an inch below the tops of the tomatoes. This could be as much as the 1 2/3 listed for a single batch. It could be as little as zero cups for a 30 pound batch.- boil water
- one at a time add a tomato and boil for 30 seconds
- remove tomato
- run tomato under cold water or an ice bath till cool
- skin tomato
- quarter and de-seed the tomatoes
- place in stock pot
- add stock to one inch less than the height of the tomatoes
- bring to a boil
- reduce to a simmer for 10-20 min until tomatoes are about to fall apart
- add basil, sugar, vinegar, paste
- stir it all in
- working in batches blend in blender or food processor
- add back to pot
- bring back to a boil
- s&p to taste
if canning:
= fill jars leaving half an inch of head space
= can at 10 lb for 20 min
