Sorry, no. The fat coats the green beans in a way in which it can protect botulism spores even during processing. That is what I was taught. You can always ask at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.

Add the cooked bacon when your heating them up and serving them..

I have canned green beans with potatoes or cooked ham and chopped onions. No problem. Never tried bacon. Maybe bacon bits would work for the flavor.

Ham and bacon, come from the same place. Unless the thing is done in a pressure canner, it probably would not be safe. Bacon bits, of the soy origin may work though.

If you add potatoes or ham or whatever, you need to then process for the food that would take the longest processing time. I don't think that after 90 min. the beans would be all that great. I would have no processing time for adding the dried soy bacon bits.
If you add potatoes, then you need to add time, too, it would require 40 min. for quarts compared to 25 min. for plain green beans.
The bacon is more fatty than the ham, and it is my understanding it is the way in which it coats the green beans that makes it unsafe.

ceresone,

Fat is supposed to be one of the things to avoid in canning because of the safety issues Linda Lou explained. (Though tiny amounts seem to be OK, for example, many approved jam recipes allow for 1/4 tsp butter to cut down foaming; don't know how much bacon ou are talking about, whether you mean you put one strip of bacon in the whole pot of beans or one strip in each jar....)

I LOVE beans with bacon too --- and/or with a sprinkle of toasted almonds! Yum.

I've discovered bacon freezes really well. Since I don't use much of it, just a strip or two at a time for seasoning a few recipes like beans or chili, when I buy a package I separate it into batches of just one or two strips, put wax paper between them and freeze it in a Ziploc baggie.

You might try cooking some up and freezing it in small batches, so you could just add it to the can when you're heating it up, as Ken suggests?

Enjoy your beans............ yummmmmmmmmmm

Zabby

I use a pressure cooker and I make Ham or Bacon Green Beans and Potatos with onions.(When I use bacon I fry it and then add it to the pot.) I make it up like I was going to eat it now. And after it is done I place it the jars. Then I pressure cook it for 2hrs. and 45 min. When I make this I make 150 plus quarts. To last the winter. And I have never had a problem with it. Should I be worried??????

Bacon, even when cooked still has fat that can leech into other foods. If you want the best solution, blanch the beans and bacon together and then drain and freeze instead. Placing the beans and bacon or ham on a big cookie sheet in the freezer will help to keep them seperate when stored in bags. Canned beans to me are nearly tasteless and lack the crisp fresh flavor and color. Cinning makes the beans look kind of gray and pale. I think you still might be pushing the envelope a bit even with 2hrs and 45 min, as by that time they are 'SERIOUSLY' cooked, and might be total mush whne heated and served. Because I don't own a pressure canner, I use my freezer (full upright) to freeze things like cut corn, peas, waxed beans, and green beans, broccoli, I even make canadian bacon (very lean) and slice and freeze that too. I also use FoodSaver bags for most larger sized things.

Yes, you should still be worried. The bacon can still harbor botulism because the fat surrounds the food particles . Bacon cannot be safely added to green beans. You are taking a risk.

Can bacon be safely added to green beans when canning them?

Bacon, which is very high in fat, should not be added to vegetables or tomato vegetable mixtures that are to be canned. Fat can protect Clostridium boutlinum spores that produce botulism toxin so that the usual processing times will be too short to kill them. Because processing times for fish are so long, it is all right to add oil in some instances. Please refer to the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin 539, for directions.

Barbara Willenberg, Nutritional Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Adding bacon to green beans.

bump to salvage

Hi,

I'm asking this for information only because I have so much anxiety even making high acid things like pickles that I would never, ever try anything pressure canned. However, I just bought the new BBB and noticed that the recipe calls for chunks of salt pork in the boston baked beans. It seems that would be fattier than bacon? This canning stuff is so confusing...

Lu

Don't try to compare recipes Lu or it will REALLY confuse you. ;) It is that trying to use one recipe to justify a change in another that gets folks into trouble most of the time.

Big differences here is that the salt pork in the Boston baked beans is cooked with the beans for 4-5 hours at 350 degrees - so a very long cooking time at high temps - and then it's removed before canning. Plus with reconstituted dry beans any botulism they may have had is already dead from the drying and long exposure to air. They will absorb the fats as they swell where fresh green beans would just be coated. OK?

I'm sorry to hear you are afraid to try pressure canning as it opens such a big new world of canning possibilities. As long as you use a tested and approved recipe from the BBB you are quite safe.

Dave

The baked beans also have a lot of sugar and tomato sauce to change the ph, unlike green beans. It is also how the fat coats each type of food, as was said.
You cannot compare the two types of food and come up with the same results... different variables.

True baked beans have no tomato and the amount of sugar, is quite small, its usually brown sugar and a little molasses. The true baked beans are better if frozen. I like to use slab bacon as opposed to salt pork or pork fat back. Have posted the true Boston baked bean recipe I use within another thread. My baked beans are in a 250 degree oven for about 7-8 hours,, then, I remove the cover on the pot and crank up the oven to 350 for the last half hour. Its also the time to check them to see if there is still liquid in there, if not, add a little water. One time, mine were a bit light on molasses, so I added a bit more at the last half hour. I do like adding a little ketchup when serving them.

Yes, I'm another person who likes bacon with their green beans, and so do my girls.

I don't can the bacon with the beans, I just dice up a couple of slices of bacon and fry them crisp, then dump the drained canned beans into that pan, right along with the bacon. Stir until the beans are hot and uniformly mixed with the bacon. Sometimes I sprinkle some almonds on top. My girls love these and it takes just a couple of minutes longer than just reheating plain beans do.

Annie

I always add the bacon to my green beans while canning as the flavor permeates the whole container when doing so. Adding them on reheating does not provide anywhere the same flavor.
Not wanting to add the frying fat that is so plentiful with bacon, I used Armour Cooked Bacon Bits which come in 1 pound unrefrigerated bag at Costco. I would rather process a longer time to get the infused taste of the bacon. No floating fat is evident in the jar and the bacon pieces are dry when in your hand.
Now when I raw pack chicken parts, that is where the jar is full of visible fat.
Jim in So. Calif.

Jim,
Do as you wish, but it is not considered safe to can bacon with beans. If it were, you would find that information in the canning guidelines.
http://missourifamilies.org/quick/foodsafetyqa/qafs186.htm
Can bacon be safely added to green beans when canning them?

At this time, a scientifically-tested recipe with the proper processing time that results in a safe canned product does not exist.

Therefore we do not recommend home canning of green beans and bacon.

Jessica Kovarik, RD, LD, Extension Associate, University of Missouri Extension

I am glad to finally know about canning green beans with bacon. I am attempting to start canning and like others LOVE the taste of beans with bacon. Since the bacon method is considered unsafe, I am wondering if you can add some chicken bouillon to the beans. When I cook mine I add 1 bouillon cube, bacon and nature seasoning. Since I can't can them with the bacon because of the fat, can I put the bouillon in since it's ok to add salt?

Sorry no one responded to your last question Amanda. It has been a year since you asked. I did not see it or I would have responded even though I might not be the best source of info.
I regularly use chicken base in place of salt in canning. It has about 850mg. of sodium per teaspoon so there is no need to add additional salt.
I checked the label of the brand I am using now and calories from fat are listed at 0%. It does have a little palm oil in it but I believe that if a product has less than 1% of a substance, the manufacturer can list it at zero.
I also use beef and ham stock mixes depending on what I am canning (in place of salt).
When canning raw chicken, I always add 1 Tsp. per quart jar as the broth that is produced after you remove the chicken pieces are as good as you can get.
Ironically, I am canning green beans tonight.
Jim in So Calif