It’s great to preserve some of your garden's bounty to use
during the cold winter months. There is
nothing like pulling a jar of preserves from the pantry shelf while the snow’s
falling and the wind’s howling and getting a little whiff that takes you right
back to summer.
For the best green beans, pick fresh tender pods first thing
in the morning. Growing and picking from your own garden is always best, but
purchasing from a local farm market will be just as good.
You will need about 1 pound of green beans for each pint jar
and 2 pounds of beans for each quart jar.
Please Note:
When canning green beans you must process them in a pressure
canner. There is a higher risk of
botulism when canning low acid foods, such as green beans. Pressure canning is the only recognized safe
option. Dilly Beans, which are pickled green beans, are preserved in vinegar so can be water bathed.
Check the directions that came with your pressure canner to
determine how many jars your canner will hold.
I like to can my green beans in wide mouth pints jars. They’re easier to
fill and easy to remove when cooking. My
canner will hold 12 regular mouth pint jars or 10 wide mouth pint jars.
Green beans can be hot packed or cold packed. A cold pack is
also called raw pack. I prefer to hot
pack my green beans and is the method explained here but I will also include the
cold (raw) pack method.
Garden fresh green beans |
What You'll Need:
- Approximately 1 pound per pint and 2 pounds of green beans per quart
- Canning Salt, (optional)
- Wide mouth jars with lids and bands
- Jar lifter, pots, bowl, spoons, knife, and various canning tools
- Pressure Canner
My daughter Dawn helping prepare the green beans for canning |
How To Hot Pack:
Prepare the pressure canner by following the directions that
came with your canner.
Sterilize jars and keep them hot. Place lids in simmering
water until ready to use. Do not boil lids.
Remove string and any bad areas on green beans and trim off ends.
Wash the beans |
Wash and rinse beans thoroughly. Break or cut freshly gathered beans into 2-inch
pieces. The beans look better when finished if they're the same size, but don't worry about it. It's OK to have different sizes unless you're entering them in your local fair.
Break or cut beans into 2 inch pieces |
Place beans in a large pot and cover with boiling water.
Boil for 4 to 5 minutes.
Pack hot beans tightly into hot jars leaving a 1 inch
headspace.
Pack hot beans into hot jars |
Add ½ teaspoon of salt to pints and 1 teaspoon of salt to quart jars.
Add salt |
Ladle boiling water over beans leaving 1 inch headspace. Remember
to remove air bubbles.
Add boiling water |
Wipe jar rim and apply the 2 piece lid. Tighten to finger tip tight, meaning turn
just until you meet resistance.
Process filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude.
When the pressure canner has cooled down, remove jars and allow to cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
Place jars in pressure canner |
When the pressure canner has cooled down, remove jars and allow to cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
Label and store in a cool dry area or pantry.
How To Cold (Raw) Pack
Cold pack is a little quicker but you don’t get as many
beans in each jar as you do when hot packing.
Prepare pressure canner, sterilize jars and simmer lids.
Pack hot jars tightly with raw green beans, cover with
boiling water, leaving a 1 inch head space.
Remove air bubbles.
Wipe rim and apply the 2 piece lid to fingertip tight.
Place filled jars in pressure canner. Process pints for 20
minutes at 10 pounds of pressure and quarts for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of
pressure.
Let canner cool then remove jars. Check lids for seal. Store in a cool dry area or pantry.
Here’s a handy chart to adjust for altitude or if you have a Dial Gauge
Pressure Canner
Adjustments for
Pressure Canner
|
||
Altitude in Feet
|
Dial Gauge Canner
|
Weighted Gauge Canner
|
0-1000
|
10
|
10
|
1001-2000
|
11
|
15
|
2001-4000
|
12
|
15
|
4001-6000
|
13
|
15
|
6001-8000
|
14
|
15
|
8000-10,000
|
15
|
15
|
What have you canned, frozen or preserved from your garden so far this year? Do you have a favorite family recipe for canning certain garden vegetables? I'd love to hear about them,
Elizabeth
Other Recipes:
Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish
Natural Tomato Soup
Canning Rabbit Meat
Elizabeth
My work area: I love my vintage funnels and measuring spoons |
Other Recipes:
Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish
Natural Tomato Soup
Canning Rabbit Meat
Great blog you've got here.. It's difficult to find quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate the step by step instructions, really helps a newbie canner like me! Take care!! Janis Wagner
ReplyDeleteGlad my post helped you!
DeleteAfter going over a number of the posts on your web page, I seriously like your technique of writing and the pics.very helpful and seeing the photos helps when cooking or canning. Please visit my website too and let me know how you think or if you have suggestions. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWell thank you. Everyone has a different writing style and things that are pleasing to the eye to one person may not be to another. I'm sure your blog is wonderful. I'll take a look, thanks again
ReplyDeleteThank you for another fantastic post! There are many canning sites but not any I get that kind of directions and photos. I have a food preservation presentation next week, and I'm going to do this! Thanks so much, Inga
ReplyDeleteInga, thank you. Glad the post helped. For me photos with the directions are easiest. Or a cool food preservation demo! Good luck!
ReplyDelete