#1 yes, taste is a personal thing but we like them. #2 sure you can remove it. #3 assuming you can get all of that many jars ready to go into the canner at the same time then no problem. But IMO one person alone simply can't jar 18 pints without loss of food temp and letting some sit and cool while you are jarring up the next batch isn't recommended. Food temps must be maintained. If you can get an assembly line going then it can work but I'd recommend you do and try 1 batch first. Why waste all that food if you discover you don't even like them? There are many previous discussions here on the baked bean recipe so you might want to do a search and browse through them for more input. As to the canner fitting on the burner, yes it is a common problem which is why most either use gas stoves/burners or invest in the special canner burner available for their model of electric stove. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Baked Beans

Great Northern do well IMO - canned several pints using them and this recipe a couple of weeks back. But there are many varieties commonly used for "baked beans" including pinto, cranberry, red kidney, etc. It really is your choice depending on the flavor and texture you are after. You can even mix varieties. Navy gives you the texture you'd find in most commercial canned pork and beans and GN is more like commercial "baked beans". But really exceptional backed beans can be made using Cannellini or Arikara or Jacobs Cattle if you can find them. Dave

Mermaidinthegarden said: "Ooh, I would like to join this one too! I don't have very many varieties yet, but beans are what got me started on heirlooms." and "I was so excited to see the bubble envelope in the mail today, but .... nothing left inside but my list. :-(" Now that there is a damn shame, as they say. I would be more than happy to share some of my bounty from this swap. Mchill320 did an awesome job, and it will be years before I could grow them all. If interested, send me your mailing info (and your wish list, if you want) and I'll see what I can do. Rick This post was edited by rdback on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 15:57

There are still all those ingredients that came from a laboratory. Grandma used to tell me that if it wasn't food 50 years ago, it's not food now. So we still have the added chemical ingredients, which I dislike and avoid whenever I can. As I mentioned, that can of baked beans doesn't have anything in it that I can't pronounce. I love beans. Nearly all beans, any beans. I like them in soup or in burritos, I make a pot of pinto beans and cornbread and that can be a meal for me for a couple of days and I'm happy. I've been known to eat last night's cold baked beans in a sandwich for breakfast, love 'em. Maybe that's it, I love 'em all. I prefer homemade to canned, of course, but I don't find commercially canned beans to be any "mushier" than my homecanned ones. Of course, I come from Michigan, we grow a lot of beans and are the major supplier of dried beans to Europe. 90% of our cranberry beans go to Italy, and I think I eat a good portion of the remaining 10%, LOL. I don't think I've ever met a bean I didn't like except those big, dry and mealy Limas. Cake I can take or leave, even the homemade ones. Like cheesecake, it's OK, but I'm relatively apathetic. Cake mix cake, though, has that metallic flavor and feels like a sponge in my mouth, until it falls apart into those spongy little crumbs. As I've mentioned, Ashley actually likes that texture, Shaun mentioned that she did too, and I don't think that someone else using them indicates a moral deficiency of any kind. Just don't argue that they are cheaper or faster, because they aren't and the savings in time is only a few minutes over making a scratch cake. So, my cake baking will remain relegated to weddings and holidays, Ashley can make Duncan Hines cupcakes if she chooses to and frost them with Nutella. I'll take seconds on the baked beans, any way you can make them, although I prefer them with maple syrup and some nice smoky bacon. Annie