Thursday, June 27, 2013

Canning Green Beans

I was recently offered a bushel of green beans by my friend Brenda... beyond excited, I jumped on them! I didn't get any green beans canned last year and was determined to can some this year no matter what. Brenda's husband grew these beans and they were gorgeous, practically blemish-free, and a joy to work with.

Green beans are the first things I learned how to pressure can... My Mama's goal every summer was to can at least 100 quarts of green beans... since I can remember, I've been a part of stringing, breaking, and canning green beans... at my Nanny's house under the apple tree... in my Mama's kitchen with the fan blowing on us (before air conditioning... yes I AM that old!)... green beans were a staple where I grew up.




I put a good movie on (Driving Miss Daisy!) and set to work breaking beans...

After I got them ready, I gave them a good wash.


 Then covered them with water in my big stock pot and blanched them (brought the water to a boil).


I filled my quart jars with beans (I had boiled my jars and had my lids simmering by this time), packing them down lightly and adding cooking water to cover, leaving about an inch headspace. I removed any air bubbles using a plastic chopstick.

I  added a teaspoon of salt to each quart jar (this is optional) then tightened on my hot lids to fingertip tightness.


I processed my green beans in my pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 25 minutes (pints would process for 20 minutes).


After processing, I let the canner cool and the pressure drop to zero naturally... hurrying the cooling can result in jar breakage or lid buckling... gotta let it cool slowly.

Then I removed the jars from the canner and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool... and to listen to the PING! of each successfully sealed jar.

From my bushel of Italian Roma Green Beans I got 18 quarts of canned
beans... and enough left over for supper... YUMMY!!! 

Posted by Pamela at 12:50 PM
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17 comments:

  1. MichelleJune 27, 2013 at 1:11 PM

    My beans are still growing. It will be a while before I can start picking. I still have a lot of canned beans from last year. Which means more for my friends this year. They will love that.

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  2. Kathy CookJune 27, 2013 at 1:54 PM

    We will be canning green beans in a couple of weeks.

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  3. AnonymousJune 27, 2013 at 2:39 PM

    I'm just getting my beans going, can't wait to can some of my own. Last time I canned beans they were old and tough.

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  4. BrendaJune 27, 2013 at 2:48 PM

    Pam...LOVE your blog! And Tony and I are so happy that you are enjoying those beans...and really glad that you wanted them, so that they wouldn't go bad on us! We will be picking corn this weekend, so we'll keep you updated on that as well ;)

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  5. AnonymousJune 27, 2013 at 2:55 PM

    I can not wait till beans are ready here so we can do this... so looking forward to this with my hubby of course.

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  6. Pat RichardsJune 27, 2013 at 7:20 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. runningdoeJuly 4, 2013 at 8:51 AM

    Love this blog....so happy I found you! Sometimes I add bacon or garlic to my green beans. So yummy!

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  8. SavannaJuly 21, 2013 at 2:04 PM

    This is my first year canning green bean and I have a question what exactly do you put in the green beans?

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    Replies
    1. PamelaJuly 21, 2013 at 7:31 PM

      To can? Just water and salt. To eat after opening? Sometimes nothing, just heat and eat... sometimes some bacon grease or some ham. ~~Granny

      Delete
  9. EverStuff ShrimpSeptember 3, 2013 at 5:33 PM

    We're trying green beans right this minute. First time canning them. Thank you for the directions.

    ReplyDelete
  10. justmanetteNovember 1, 2013 at 9:01 PM

    Jealous! When my husband and I were dating, he never liked green beans until he tried my mom's canned beans. He loved them! I haven't grown any in my garden the last couple of years but going to next year. I miss canned green beans...and my mom the most!

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  11. AmandaNovember 14, 2013 at 12:55 PM

    Do you know what variety of green beans these are?

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  12. AmandaNovember 14, 2013 at 12:56 PM

    I had some in Alabama while I was there visiting my family. They were delightful!

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  13. AmandaNovember 14, 2013 at 4:06 PM

    Thank you!!

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  14. UnknownApril 16, 2014 at 2:38 AM

    I love green beans I might have to try doing these in my new canning jars

    ReplyDelete
  15. CherieJune 17, 2015 at 12:55 PM

    Can you use glass mayonnaise jars to can green beans?

    ReplyDelete

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