Canning Navy Bean & Ham Soup

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Over the weekend I canned up some navy bean & ham soup. My canning shelves are looking pretty bleak now as most all of last summer’s canning has been consumed and I have a few jars of chicken noodle – less soup left. I love the convenience and economy of good food ready to go on the shelf. Here was my recipe…

Navy Bean & Ham Soup for Canning

8 cups dried navy beans (aka small white beans)
1 ½ gallons water
2 T salt
2lbs ham meat cut in bite size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup molasses
1/3 cup Sucanat or brown sugar
1t pepper
extra water, as needed
salt to taste

Begin by cooking the beans. Put the 8 cups of dried beans in a large stock pot (I used a 14 quart pot) and add water and 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 2 hours.

When beans are done cooking add the ham, diced tomatoes, molasses, Sucanat or brown sugar, and pepper. At this point you may need to add more water to make sure you have plenty of soup broth. I added another 3 to 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil let it cook for a few minutes to blend flavors. Taste and add salt if it needs it.

Fill hot quart jars with hot soup leaving 1 inch of head space. Put lids and rings on. Place in canner. Can soup (quarts) for 90 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure and pint jars for 75 minutes at 10lbs of pressure (if you live at higher elevations be sure to check what pressure you need for canning http://www.simplycanning.com/altitude-adjustments.html ).

Here it is in pics…

Put beans in large stock pot. Add water and salt…








Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat,  and cook for 2 hours…


Chop up one large onion and add to soup along with ham, diced tomatoes, molasses and Sucanat (or brown sugar), and pepper. At this point I found I needed to add more water. I added another 3 or 4 cups of water, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of soup broth. Bring to a boil and it let simmer for a few minutes (taste and add salt if you like)…



Fill quart (or pint) canning jars with soup. Put lid and ring on…



Place jars in canner….




Can soup at 10lbs pressure for 90 minutes (quarts) or 75 minutes (pints). This recipe gave me 7 quart jars and 6 pint jars.



Comments

  1. allisamazingJuly 24, 2012 at 2:33 PM

    This looks delicious and I am going to try it. I just finished cleaning the pantry and it is ready to start stocking for another year. I was just wondering, what size of can of diced tomatoes did you use?

    ReplyDelete
  2. BerniceJuly 24, 2012 at 2:42 PM

    Hi Crystal
    I Love Love Ham and Bean soup on a fall/winter nite with cornbread yumm, but I have never canned anything,and am a little frightened by it,can I make this and freeze it in Ziplock bags?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJuly 24, 2012 at 8:00 PM

      Yes you could freeze it.. I would cook the beans for 3 hours instead of 2 since they won't have further cooking time in the canner.

      Crystal :)

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 5:53 AM

    Thank you so much for your helpful ideas. I have been reading your newsletter for many years. This year I will have to put those ideas to use on a more regular basis as we are moving and becoming a household of one income rather than two.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJuly 25, 2012 at 6:12 AM

    Can you process this without a pressure cooker? I only know how to do hot water bath. I don't even own a canner at this time.

    Thanks for your recipe. I can't wait to try this for us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalJuly 25, 2012 at 9:11 PM

      Hi Pat... no you can't YakimaBee is correct.. you can only can low acid foods with a pressure canner. Freezing would be the best option.. just cook the beans for 3 hours instead of 2 before making the soup, then freeze.

      Crystal :)

      Delete
  5. YakimaBeeJuly 25, 2012 at 8:44 PM

    No, you cannot use a hot water bath for this. You must use a pressure canner. Low acid food like ham and beans must be processed in a pressure canner. If you don't have one you can freeze this soup. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 9:24 PM

    Crystal~
    I want to try this when life settles down a bit. Thanks for including the information about freezing in the comments--I haven't done any canning for years and then only I only canned jams. I hold all you expert canners in high esteem:)
    Blessings,
    Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  7. Galleon's Gold JewelryJuly 29, 2012 at 9:19 PM

    I love this recipe---am anxious to try it. I was wondering, do you have a list of all the items you can and/or freeze for winter? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalAugust 1, 2012 at 9:27 PM

      HI Galleon's Gold Jewelry,


      I have never made a list. I can whatever my garden produces.. typically green beans, 3 bean salad, pickled beets, spaghetti sauce, salsa, etc… I don’t can a lot of fruit. I find I can buy fairly good quality jam for a reasonable price and I prefer to serve my family fresh fruit instead of canned.

      After the garden canning I move onto convenience foods.. soups, chili, beef stew, beans, etc.. I also can meats.. chicken, salmon and beef.

      I don’t have all of these items on the shelf at all times. I can when the opportunity is there.

      Crystal :)

      Delete
    2. Galleon's Gold JewelryAugust 5, 2012 at 7:48 PM

      Thank you very much!

      Delete
  8. gracielynn'sAugust 2, 2012 at 5:45 AM

    Crystal..
    Love the recipe . thanks so much for adding it.

    I have always been taught to never add salt at the beginning of cooking beans. Best to add a half teaspoon of baking soda which helps break down the shell. but salt toughens the bean.

    just a thought .
    keep up the great work :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalAugust 5, 2012 at 8:08 PM

      You are welcome!! I always salt my beans.. makes wonderful tasting beans and bean broth and never had a problem with tough beans.. I know acidic ingredients, such as tomatoes, will toughen beans.

      Crystal :)

      Delete
  9. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2012 at 12:22 PM

    do you use pre cooked ham?

    ReplyDelete
  10. bevAugust 29, 2013 at 7:45 AM

    I just did a batch of noodless chicken soup. My jars look exactly like yours except 2 the meat is not at the bottom. Is that an issue? All my jars sealed, but one of the jars was not bubbling when I removed it from the canner after the 90 minutes processing. I also could smell the chicken soup. Everything sealed - should I worry about the jars in the batch that I could smell the soup?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalAugust 29, 2013 at 8:50 AM

      Hi Bev, it does not matte where the meat is in the jars, as long as they are sealed. Some jars may not be boiling when you bring them out of the canner. They have cooled off and the boiling has stopped. If the jars are sealed, it should be just fine. Smelling chicken soup is also normal. Crystal :)

      Delete
  11. bevAugust 30, 2013 at 10:27 AM

    Wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownJanuary 25, 2014 at 10:57 PM

    Is it ok to add carrots, celery and other veggies? As long as I pressure it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousApril 23, 2014 at 6:40 PM

    Hello, is there a reason you use canned tomatoes versus fresh? I prefer to use fresh where possible...I have home canned tomatoes but would rather not use the home canned ones bc tomatoes are so labor intensive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalApril 24, 2014 at 7:54 PM

      I use fresh in the summer when I have a garden full of them.. :) You could use fresh in this recipe just fine..

      Delete
  14. AnonymousAugust 13, 2014 at 10:55 AM

    Hello,
    I have never put tomatoes or any type of sweetener in my bean soup, but I have never canned bean soup either. Is it necessary to add the molasses/sweetener and tomatoes? I also like to put carrots in my soup would I make sure they are cooked first or would it be okay to just add them when I add everything else to the beans and bring to a boil?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CrystalAugust 13, 2014 at 7:15 PM

      Hi Anon, you can make any type of soup you would like.. this recipe is more of a baked bean flavor.. but you can remove or add as you desire. Just make sure you can the whole batch for the amount of time of the longest food needing canning (typically meat and beans require the longest canning time).. You can add the veggies at any point. They will cook as the soup is canning.

      Delete

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